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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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| S Takamoto |
06 September 2002 |
Stayed at Hoi An Riverside Resort - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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The private beach provided by the hotel is GREAT. It's beautiful, and more secluded than the public one nearby. There are many locals persistently selling their goods, so be prepared. The food you can order on the beach from the sponsoring restaurant there is a great deal. In town- we loved the food at Yellow River; we visited the Hoi An Orphanage- they have posted visitor hours- and even though that was sad and hard it ws still a valuable experience.
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| D Robinson |
06 September 2002 |
Stayed at Guoman Hanoi Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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We took a tour to the Perfumed Pergoda and felt that the information lacked the true details. The tour was great, and the guide excellent, but it should have stipulated that there was a climb Pergoda up a quite steep mountain. It can be a physical challenge although there are plenty of stops along the way. Please also be aware that trousers should be worn when visiting such places as these details are not always given until it is too late. Be aware of very pushy sales people, do not take anything (especially "Remember Me Beads") and be firm, but polite and friendly, when you say no. On the whole the people are great, very friendly and interesting. There is much to learn and quite a lot of history that is intriguing.
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| A Cross |
05 September 2002 |
Stayed at New World Hotel Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Taxis are widely available and all agreed to use the meter without exception. One independent taxi operator though had a meter that ran at an alarmingly high rate. As soon as we noticed this, we had him pull over & we got out. The soultion is to look for taxis belonging to one of the large companies - easy to spot as they're all painted the same.
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| D Robinson |
04 September 2002 |
Stayed at Saigon Morin - Hue, Vietnam.
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There were many tours available at reasonable rates. We took a trip along the perfumed river which was good value for money. Watch out for people trying to sell things. Do not take anything unless you really want it and be definite, but polite and friendly, when you say no! Otherwise we found people to be very nice towards Westerners.
We ate in the hotel and the meals were very good, especially the buffet where you get a chance to try a variety of Vietnamese dishes on offer. The cyclo's are a good way of seeing Hue and reasonably priced, they do expect a good tip though so budget that in.
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| C Clements |
04 September 2002 |
Stayed at Lucky Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Sapa is beautiful. Do not stay on the boat at Halong Bay unless you like cockroaches.
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| J Hoag |
13 August 2002 |
Stayed at Lucky Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Vietnam was completely different than all the other countries we visited during our trip. It was the one we were most interested in seeing but it was also the one we had watch out for scams the most. It seemed that we had to check every shopping bag to make sure they put all the items we purchased into it and we had to agree on prices for nearly everything (except the hotel, they were all sincerely honest and helpful people).
After a while it became annoying that we felt we had to be so vigilantly watchful even after being in Indonesia, Thailand, and China, but it wasn't much worse than just plain old common sense travelling caution. Our time in Hanoi and Vietnam in general was shorter than we planned and we will definitely go back. We enjoyed being in the city of Hanoi and seeing all it has to offer but we'd like to get out and beging to explore the countryside and coastal regions in the center of the country. The French influence is everywhere so if you get tired of Vietnamese food it's easy to find great bread and cheese (of all things) when you want it. Most Asian countries don't have that much cheese.
Military sites, including museums, etc. are very one sided and can come off as propoganda more so than informative but nonetheless it's interesting to see them and see the Vietnamese peoples reactions to them. They're quite sincere.
You should plan to do at least one day tour to see something outside of the city but don't plan anything else on the day as the return times can vary significantly depending on the tour group. The buses that pick people up from their hotels will often not be able to drop you off there at the end because they're not allowed to back into the Old Quarter after a certain time in the evening... or so we're told by a few of them. Whether it's true or not we're not sure but that matters less than having to be some where in the evening, like the airport as one of the couples on our tour had to be, and then having to rush to get back to their hotel to get luggage.
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| R Bliss |
12 August 2002 |
Stayed at Bong Sen Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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I have been to Vietnam four times now (once in Hanoi and Halong Bay; once in Hanoi, Hue, and Hoi An; and twice in Saigon) and I have always loved it. I live in Thailand, and I find Vietnam to be cleaner and the people to be generally more efficient. This trip was marred by the theft of my wife's purse (a Fendi bad that I have given her on her birthday!) on the day that we were to leave. The bag contained her passport and visa. It was then that we were introduced to Vietnamese government bureaucrasy. We were able to get an emergency replacement passport at the U.S. consolate very quickly, but we had to stay an extra 24 hours to get the new visa (they originally said that it would take an extra week), and the total extra cost to us was about $400 (between passport and visa fees,
extra night's hotel and food, etc.). I imagine that in just about any other country, we could have taken care of the replacement visa at the immigration desk at the airport, and in fact we were led to believe that we would be able to. But when we arrived at the airport for our flight, they sent us back to the immigration office downtown.
Nevertheless, despite the official anti-US propaganda, I continue to find the Vietnamese people to be charming and genuinely friendly to Americans. I will go back.
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| G Wu |
03 August 2002 |
Stayed at Majestic Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Saigon wasn't my favorite place on the trip. The location of the Majestic is actually a drawback since you get harrassed by people as soon as you walk out the door.
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| L Pyke |
01 August 2002 |
Stayed at Palace Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Saigon is a great city, it's full of life and buzzing constantly. It's not the cleanest place but you shouldn't be expecting it to be anyway! There are also a lot of children begging. If you don't want to give them anything they will leave you alone if you ignore them.
We stayed for 3 days which was really enough for us. The major sights can be covered in a couple of full days at leisure and the rest of the time can be spent trying to cross the street!!
It looks crazy but you have to follow the locals and just step out onto the road (there are no traffic lights, well only a few at big junctions) and walk very slowly and steadily to the other side. The traffic (mostly motorbikes) will move around you!! DO NOT RUN!
Cyclos are fun and you can hire taxis, which are really cheap, for the whole day if you want to.
We went on a river boat cruise/dinner on the last night. The boat was pretty tacky and the food wasn't great and the cruise was just a view of big container ships!
Have a good trip!
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| R Gween |
01 August 2002 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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The History Museum and Revolutionary Museum are a few blocks north of the hotel. Both are located right beside each other. History Museum leans to hard on pottery shards and building artifacts, though for the price it is probably worth the mere hour it takes to see everything. Revolutionary Museum is much more interesting and depicts the struggle the Vietnamese have had since the late 19th century with the French, the Japanese, and the Americans. Pretty factual and not heavy-handed with the propaganda. On the way from the hotel to the Museum is the Army Hotel, which has a nice outdoor pool available with towel for $3.
Walking or cyclo is the best way to get around. Use the cyclo in the Old Quarter so you can let the driver worry about traffic; gives you a chance to look around and not be concerned with traffic. Elsewhere, use your feet because Hanoi is a great city to wander around. I took 2 tours with Kangaroo Cafe (just west of Hoan Kiem lake), one to Halong Bay/Cat Ba Island and one to Sapa.
Halong Bay is a geological wonder, though the water isn't that clean. Arrange to stay on a boat for a night. Cat Ba Island is crappie and not worth the trip. Sapa is simply a wonderful mountain area with plenty of hill tribe people decked out in costume. Bring your boots and your climbing legs. Relax here a few days before or after Hanoi and you will love it. In Hanoi, we had many of our meals at gourmet buffet restaurants. Definitely go to Brothers Cafe and the various buffets at the Melia Hotel. $10 gets you a feast of really high class food. Hard to imagine how you could do better. Check out the Museum of Ethnology; a taxi ride here from the hotel is about $5. Skip Snake Village and the handicraft villages. There is not much to see; th entire focus is on selling a product, not demonstrating how anything is made.
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