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Vietnam Travel Tips
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Do's & Don'ts
Vietnam is a friendly and safe place to travel. With a sprinkling of
common sense, your trip should be smooth and trouble free. Tourists
usually complain about over-aggressive street vendors, tour
operators with a bad attitude and dangerous driving. However, with a
cool head and sensible planning, one can avoid these problems.
DO’S
Greetings are no
different to western countries, there are no cultural formalities
that as a foreigner you would be expected to know or practise.
Vietnamese dress conservatively. Despite the heat, it’s best not to
show off too much skin. If you do, especially girls, you’ll only
draw stares from the locals.
Dress well when visiting pagodas. No shorts or tatty beer t-shirts.
Shoes are fine, and rarely will you have to remove them. If unsure,
just follow what the locals do.
Drink plenty of bottled water, especially when walking around
sightseeing. No need to carry huge bottles around with you, a vendor
is never far away and no doubt they will find you before you find
them.
Keep your cash, credit cards, airline tickets and other valuables in
a safe place.
Travel with recommend tour agencies. Even if you plan to buy tickets
when in country, research your journey a little first on the
Internet. A good resource is Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum, where
fellow tourists discuss travel in Vietnam. This way you avoid
unreliable tour agencies and badly run hotels.
DON’TS
Wear a lot of jewellery or take a bag with you. Violent crime is
highly unusual in Vietnam, but petty crime is more apparent. If you
have a bag, or tout a digital camera around your neck, you are a
potential target.
When taking a ride by motorbike taxi (xe om) make sure your bag, if
any, is not on display or easy to grab. Bag snatches, although still
rare, are probably the most likely crime a tourist would encounter,
and it raises the probability immensely if you are tailing a camera
or a laptop in the wind.
Don’t wear singlet, shorts, skirts or dresses, or revealing clothes
to temples or pagodas.
Physical displays of affection between lovers in public are frowned
upon. That’s why you may come across couples holding hands but not
hugging or kissing.
Losing your temper in Vietnam means a loss of face. Keep a cool head
and remain polite, you’ll have a greater chance of getting what you
want.
Remember, this is Vietnam, a developing country, and things don’t
quite work as you are maybe used to. Don’t be paranoid about your
safety, just be aware of your surroundings.
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