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 Traveller's Tales: Advise for travellers in Vietnam
Heed our handy tips on safe travel in Vietnam. You may read about travel warnings, health, what to wear, travel with kids, travel with pets, local weather, local government, medical information and traffic information in the area.Also, you might want to read our
Central Vietnam city guide,
Halong Bay city guide,
Hanoi city guide,
Ho Chi Minh city guide,
and Phan Thiet city guide.
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| C Fisher |
13 September 2003 |
Stayed at Lucky Star Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Hanoi is a gorgeous city with much more Western appeal than HCMC. I had some very beautiful clothing made for me in some of the many shops along the main streets. It was a nice, comfortable feeling in Hanoi. Beware, however, of postcard sellers. A young boy put his hand under the strap of my dress to distract me while his friend was aiming for my purse on the other side. A sharp response is all that is needed to shoo these young ones, but beware all the same.
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| D Nguyen |
12 July 2003 |
Stayed at Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Watch out for Hanoi taxi drivers. They will drive you around for a longer distance to get more money. You could pay 2 to 3 times amount you are supposed to pay if you don't know the direction. Have a map ready and instruct them to drive.
Hanoi's Hilton taxi drivers are good, they did not drive around.
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| M Griffin |
10 June 2003 |
Stayed at Continental Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Bring deodorant. You will sweat a lot in Saigon.
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| G Robb |
15 March 2003 |
Stayed at Hoi An Hotel - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Hoi An sadly is over-run with organised very persistent (mostly) children hawking postcards etc. to the point it will drive tourists away - you can't even have a meal in peace. I saw some ugly scenes where diners eventually lost their patience. You could have a very nice holiday in Hoi An by making the Hoi An Hotel your base and escaping to and spending time around the lovely swimming pool - fortifying your resistance to those kids...
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| H Aladwani |
13 March 2003 |
Stayed at Sofitel Plaza Hanoi - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Ate at Bobby Chins, nice atmosphere, good food, friendly service.
Got around by any taxi flagged down in the street. Very convenient.
Took a tour to Ninh Binh which included a small boat ride (2 per boat) down a river. At the end of the river locals were very adamant that you purchase 2 drinks and a small bag of munchies for your oars people. I disliked this immensely. First of all they sell these 3 items for $3 which is a lot of money for those items. Secondly I have read that often the oars people do not eat or drink the items and simply return them at the end of the trip to the vendors for a fee, therewith taking the tourists "for a ride". Nobody liked this feeling and was extremely irritated by it. It would be much better if we simply gave the oarsmen $2 at the end of the trip.
Also we stopped at a Tourist Shop along the way. There were some girls doing the stiching. These girls get only $10 per month! for working a whole day, while the work they do in one day gets sold for $4. I think that is total exploitation! Again, everyone was shocked at this. The tourist shop of course charged much more money than outside, no problem, but as long as it passes on some of the money to the girls - which at $10 a month it obviously didn't do. I can guarantee you that you will lose much tourist business as a result of such exploitation because it will come out on the internet eventually.
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| L Sew nam |
13 March 2003 |
Stayed at Lucky Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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The people in Hanoi were not violent or dangerous. But they always tried to squeeze money from tourists wherever they were from. So I would like to advise those taking taxi or trishaw in Hanoi. I had all negotiated for a fixed price but the driver or rider did not keep their words. One taxi driver tried to pass off a 2,000 VND as 20,000 VND as a change to me. One trishaw driver changed his words of 15,000 VND to 15 US$.
The low priced seafood stalls were worthy to patronize. However, it was unpleasant that almost every one who went with me to Hua Lu boat ride was "forced" to buy table clothes from the boat operator.
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| C Makino |
02 March 2003 |
Stayed at Omni Saigon Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Vietnam is a shopping and food paradise. Careful when booking your car/driver in HCM - during our tour we were taken to some remote restaurant and charged 10 times what we were charged for the exactly the same thing the day before. The dollar amount was only $18 but we couldn't argue it since we were in the middle of nowhere. Also remember shopping is a game - be pleasant when you are bargaining - don't get ugly.
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| C Kasahara |
19 February 2003 |
Stayed at Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Ho Chi Min city was very noisy, busy, dusty place but you can find some interesting street vendours and real life of Ho Chi Min people. We got around by walk mostly and some by taxi. Be careful to catch a taxi from the street. I was ripped-off by the driver, the fare meter shows 2,000(VD) but there was a trick, the driver put a very small sticker right next to the final digit to make it 20,000(VD)!! We didn't know until when we got off to pay the taxi fare. We claimed him it is too expensive for 2 minutes ride but he was very upset and told us there is extra "0" digit from the beginning! We didn't want any trouble after all only women travellers so we paid but did not make sense at all...
The tour we joined was good. A day trip to Mekon river with English speaking guide including lunch at only $7 per person. This is worth to join than going to see it by yourself and it's cheaper.
Do not ever be caught by cyclo drivers. They are waiting for you at anywhere and ask for "big money". Hard to bargain them since the city is full of tourists.
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| A Sitthiwong |
30 January 2003 |
Stayed at Bong Sen Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Even though the hotel is in the center of the city, there are so many pickpockets.
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| C Sheridan |
22 January 2003 |
Stayed at Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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We decided to have some clothes made - however once the tailor had our business they were not interested in making any alternations. We had to argue with them to make simple alterations, and even then they were not done correctly. This wasted most of our time in Hoi An, and we did not get time to do much sightseeing. Also, be careful when invited to visit someone's home - they will try and sell you something!
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