Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Travel light regarding clothes and shoes as you can buy everything in Vietnam. The Vietnamese love westerners, be prepared for lots of questions and your children will be adored, especially if of fair complexion as it is so different. The roads are chaos: thousands of motorbikes carrying families, fridges, pigs- its madness. Also, crossing the road takes extra care as bikes do not stop; they go around you. Not for the faint-hearted. It will be very hot and humid especially further south so bring hats and lots of water (6000 dong for a liter bottle is a good price - about 15,000 dong to $1 and you can use both currencies). Haggling is good fun and even water is to be haggled for. Always approach it with a smile. Wet wipes/anti bacterial dry hand wash is always recommended and take a toilet paper roll for when you are out and about. Bring on portable bathrooms if you are prepared.

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Vietnamese codes of behaviour are based on Confucianism, with its strict social hierarchy, respect for authority and emphasis on conformity.

One of the hardest things to get used to is people saying yes or agreeing to something when really they mean no, or it won’t get done or there’s a major problem. This is in part a desire to please and in part a means of avoiding confrontation. The key is to expect nothing to happen as planned and build plenty of flexibility into your schedule. The other point of frustration is likely to be when dealing with the endless, all-powerful bureaucracy.

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Slow but, on the whole, reliable. Letters and postcards leaving Vietnam can take anything from four days to a month, depending on where you are; obviously mail takes longer from the countryside.

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Vietnam has a good variety of lightweight, transportable souvenirs. You’ll find them on sale in all the main tourist areas, though Hanoi and HCMC probably offer the greatest variety.

Silk is probably high on most people’s list, either tailored or as uncut cloth. Hoi An, in central Vietnam, has become the place to get clothes made, but you’ll also find good tailors in Hanoi along Hang Gai and in HCMC. Beautifully embroidered cottons are another popular choice, as are printed T-shirts in a whole range of designs.

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Giving small gifts to those who have performed a special service or with whom you have a working relationship is greatly appreciated. Anything from your local area, such as cakes, sweets, chinaware or photo books or calendars, is a good idea. Otherwise, inexpensive make-up, perfume, jewellery and pretty toiletries go down well with women, while men will prefer pens, cigarette lighters, imported cigarettes, whisky or other spirits and car/biking magazines. For children, obviously small toys such as inflatable playground balls and skipping ropes are popular and easy to transport. Or how about drawing books/pads of paper and pencils or crayons, erasers, model cars, small-size T-shirts and other clothes.

When presenting gifts, don’t expect effusive thanks as this isn’t Vietnamese style. Whatever their reaction, you can be sure that the gift was appreciated.

The main cities now boast top-rank hotels at very reasonable prices thanks to a recent building boom and a drop in tourist numbers. Even new, mid-market hotels now offer satellite TV, minibar, IDD phone and spacious bathrooms as standard. At the cheaper end, the small, private hotels (called mini-hotels in the north and “rooms for rent” in the south) often provide the best value for money. At this level standards vary enormously, but in general the newer the hotel the better the facilities. As a rule of thumb, count on paying a minimum of $20-30 for a reasonable room with ensuite bathroom, hot water, TV, fridge and phone.

Outside the main cities and tourist areas accommodation is more limited, and may well consist of just one state-owned hotel. Often it will be a rather dowdy, relatively expensive place, not always very clean and with poor standards of service. In the south, the hotels may not have hot running water. Toilets may be of the squat variety and drains a bit iffy. In which case, it’s always worth asking to see another room.

Almost everything is negotiable in Vietnam (with the notable exception of meals) and bargaining is very much part of the Vietnamese way of life. All tourists are regarded as wealthy - which we are compared to most locals - but that doesn’t mean you’ll always be quoted an outrageous price; small shopkeepers and restaurateurs will often charge you the local rate.

When bargaining it helps if you know some Vietnamese numbers and have a general idea of the going rate for the item. Otherwise, the trick is to remain friendly, be realistic and make the process fun. If you manage to reduce the price by 40%, you’re doing well. In most cases it’ll be more like 10-20%. A common ploy is to start moving away if you’re on the verge of agreement. But don’t bargain just for the sake of it - if your price is agreed, then you are honour bound to purchase. And always keep a sense of perspective: don’t waste time and energy haggling over what only amounts to a few cents.

A cyclo is a three-wheeled, bucket-seat rickshaw where the passenger sits in front facing the traffic - a somewhat scary experience to begin with! Although the government is trying to phase cyclos out in city centres, for the moment they’re still widely available and offer the best means of transport for a short journey. The price depends on how fancy the rickshaw is (those waiting outside posh hotels will obviously charge more) and how good you are at bargaining. As a rough guide, a short 5-10 minute ride should cost around 8,000-10,000d. You can also hire them by the hour, in which case count on paying 10,000-15,000d per hour.

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There are five classes on Vietnamese trains: hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper, soft sleeper and “super berths” (soft sleeper with air-con), though only the long-distance expresses offer the full range. For short journeys hard or soft seat carriages are fine, though most Vietnamese people can only afford hard seat so these carriages tend to be packed out.
For longer journeys, particularly overnight, try and get a sleeping berth. Hard sleeper consists of six bunk beds in one compartment (two tiers of three). In most cases the seats have padding and it’s reasonably comfortable; the exception is the night train to Lao Cai, when you just get a hard wooden bunk and a mat to sleep on. Prices for the bottom bunk are highest and the top bunk is the cheapest, partly because you have to climb up and also because there’s very little space between the bunk and the ceiling. Soft sleeper compartments have four bunks (two tiers of two) which are all priced the same. Note that sleeping berths get booked up well in advance, so it’s best to make your reservation as early as possible.

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Within the cities, you’re probably best off exploring by yourself, though local agents offer tailor-made or group tours if required.

Going further afield, it depends how adventurous you are, how much time and money you have, and whether or not you like travelling in a group. The easiest and cheapest option is to join a tour offered by one of the so-called “travellers’ cafés” in Hanoi, HCMC, Hué, Nha Trang or Hoi An (see recommendations). These cafés organise tours to the main sights, such as the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels out of HCMC, or to Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa and the Perfume Pagoda from Hanoi. The tours are cheap and offer amazing value for money, but don’t expect too much as far as quality of hotel, transport and guides are concerned. They’re usually more than adequate, however, and can be excellent if you strike it lucky.

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