Vietnam ; What you need to know by planning a trip

Vietnam is one of the safest travel countries. But here, as in any other country there are a number of features whose knowledge will minimize the likelihood of unexpected situations and will allow without hustle and excitement to enjoy the journey.

Vietnam ; What you need to know by planning a trip. Photo Credit: Boaz, Flick

Vietnam ; What you need to know by planning a trip

At the stage of the idea

• If you are looking for information / inspiration to create your trip ; See our Vietnam Travel Guide.
• If you are not configured to spend time on scrupulous planning, see the selection of ready-made, proven routes for independent travel on Vietnam. There you will definitely find something suitable for yourself.
• Before travel planning, find out how to get to Vietnam. What is the specificity of local transport, housing, how to plan travel budget and other practical questions without knowledge of which will not be possible to make a route.
• Vietnam ; Country with sophisticated weather conditions, the main violin in which the monsoons play. Therefore, the trip can not be planned excluding seasonality in the country. To understand which of the routes during your holidays will suit more, see the climate map of Vietnam and the location of the weather by months.

At the planning stage

Learn whether you need a visa

If the inhabitants of your country acts a visa regime in Vietnam (check), one of the first things to be done ; Apply for a visa and get a letter – invitation (Approval Letter). Same visa, you can get at the airport, by arrival.

Invitation is an official letter issued by the Vietnamese Department of Immigration, which allows you to enter Vietnam in one of the international airports of such cities like: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Camran (next to Nha Trang) or Danang, on arrival you will need to approach the rack "visa upon arrival "(Visas Upon Arrival), present an invitation, passport filled with immigration forms, photos and pay visa collection.

You can apply an application for a visa by using online services, for example: one, second, third or find a resource yourself.

Check the passport

The term of your passport should be at least 6 months from the start of the trip – it is a strict and prerequisite when visiting Vietnam.

Book transport and accommodation on the route

Important components of any route are logistics and housing. And no matter what kind of requirements you personally exhibit to transport where you float / fly / eat, as well as to hotels where you stop ; It is always important to have a choice and competitive prices. Take a look at our planning section – where we picked up useful tools capable of favorably plan your route.

Preventive measures

Vietnam’s trip does not require mandatory vaccinations. Nevertheless, it is worth consulted with a doctor needed, personally to you, a special vaccination or not. And what antimalarial drugs should be taken.

The risk of infection with malaria in Vietnam, exists mainly due to PLASMODIUM Falciparum parasites. The latter cause so-called lightning or tropical malaria. Planning you trekking or not, it is worth remembering that the zones of the distribution of infection are almost everywhere. Exceptions are city districts, Delta Mekong, Delta of the Red River, as well as coastal plain areas of Central Vietnam. And on the contrary, the high-risk zones include the areas of Highlands below 1500 meters. In particular, four central high-mountainous provinces Daklak, Duck Nong, Zyalay and the contumens, the province of Binfyok and Western areas of the coastal provinces of Khanjoa, Nignhuan, Kuannam and Kuangchi.

Before traveling is recommended prevention for so-called risk areas ; C ;, in which there is a disease resistant to chlorohin, sulfadoxin and pyrimetamins. Prevention, as a rule, is to take preparations on the eve of the trip, during and after returning home. For zone ; with ; Recommend preparations: Malaron (Atovakvon + Proganil), Doxycycline and Meflohin.

A few words about the malarious mosquitoes and to prevent their bite. Mosquitoes attack most often in the evening, with the onset of twilight, and at night. In the rooms where you should have a mosquito nets and / or the presence of a mesh canopy over the bed, the edges of which need to be carefully filled under the mattress. On the street, in the evening, it is advisable to use repellents ; creams or aerosols that can be sprayed over thin clothes that a mosquito can pierce. More freele.NS. Malaria Atlas ; Map of regions of the distribution of malaria. Malaria Consortium – an organization that is engaged in the control of malaria distribution.

Other risks

On the possible risks of other diseases, you can read here.

Do not forget to take the first aid kit with the most necessary drugs that we hope you will not need.

Learn tourist insurance

Avoid troubles with only a probability of probability, t.To. There are circumstances of the independent of you. Therefore, it is better if the change in plans or an unplanned visit to the doctor will have a financial reinforcement. For this, just need to issue tourist insurance in any insurance company of your city or take advantage of travelers online service.

Specify the customs rules

Actual information on what can be imported into Vietnam, and what is prohibited, customs fees, import rules – currency exports can be found on the official website of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)

Learn how the local currency looks like

In order for the number of zeros of having confused you, it is worth getting used to the type of Vietnamese money before the trip or in the first day in the country. One way to avoid confusion, bind color of banknotes to dollar equivalent. In addition, considering that some of the bills are similar to each other, sort them in the wallet. It is better to separate large from small visible limiters (paper money is available in 500,000; 200,000; 100,000; 50,000; 20000; 10,000; 5000; 2000; 1000; 500; 200; 100).

Official currency Vietnam, Vietnamese Dong (VND). In large institutions and hotels can also be paid by dollars.

Currency exchange rate at the airport may be slightly lower than in the city’s exchange offices (find out the course). Currency exchange points are in the airport terminals. ATMs are located outside the terminals.

Vietnam ; What you need to know by planning a trip. Photo by: n / a

Vietnam ; What you need to know while traveling

The language of communication

Vietnamese is the official language of the country. English, the most famous of foreign languages, but know his few. And if with employees in travel companies, restaurants or hotels to communicate quite easily, then it will not be such a simple task with the locals.

Taxi drivers in cities may not understand English, so it is better to have a business card with you with the address of the hotel, or a written address on paper or the city map. Uber is also widely used in cities – conveniently, the price is cheaper, and you can select destination directly in the application.

mobile connection

You can use the services of tourist SIM cards and / or tourist packages available in your country to optimize telephone service costs.

With the presence of modern means of communication, such as Skype and Viber problems with communication practically do not exist. But before going on the journey, it is worth replenishing your account in Skype so that you can call the phones of any country for a symbolic fee, which is incommensurable less urban and mobile calls.

Security

Outside

Keep your jewels ; Wallet, smartphone, jewelry apart from random eyes, including plastic cards, especially since the calculation in Vietnam is mainly carried out in cash. And check from time to time if your things. Small thefts and fraud Beach many cities.

In a taxi

To reduce time and reduce the chances of being a deceived not very decent taxi driver (such can be found in almost any country), you can order a transfer in your hotel or online when planning a route.

If you take a taxi in place at the airport, it is better to use proven services, such as: Vinasun, Mai Linh and Hanoi Taxi.

Vietnam ; What you need to know by planning a trip. Photo Credit: Michael Cook, Flick

On the road

How to go around the street and stay alive? ) ; Such a question is asked by many of themselves at the clove of the sidewalk. Numerous photos of travelers are quite eloquently pass the madness on local roads. This is especially true of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minhine – as traffic on the streets of these cities seems completely uncontrollable. But in the road chaos of Vietnam, oddly enough, there are orders.

First: you need to look for a traffic light or a police officer. The latter will never leave you one on one with a stream of scooters.

Second: if a pedestrian transition without a traffic light, move the road slowly, but decisively. Do not look for contact with the driver with the driver ; He will account for this, as agreed to give way to the road. Also do not change the pace due to the approaching scooters, Rickshe or carts. Uniform gait, help drivers anticipate your trajectory of movement and, thus avoid a collision.

Third: if there is no nearby traffic or police officer, and you do not decide to go to the other side, wait until someone from the local and feel free to attach to him – he knows what it does.

At home

Do not drink tap water. As in other countries of Southeast Asia, take a bottled drink for drinking. Some travelers are reinsured and do not use tap water even to clean the teeth, but this is a measure rather "too". Recommendation Do not drink tap water does not mean that water in Asia is necessarily infected. Rather, its composition changes and it may adversely affect your body.

Long flight, fast change of time zones, changing the duration of the daylight, as well as unusual food, water composition, oxygen content in air, humidity and hot sun … All this affects your body and causes temporary imbalance within acclimatization.

Avoid infections will help the rules of personal hygiene, which we strongly recommend not to neglect. At a minimum, there is from clean dishes and wash your hands and fruits regularly.

Noon in Vietnam can be quite hot. Therefore, if you are planning to inspect the sights of the open-air, it is better to smash your hiking into two parts: in the morning and after lunch.

Wounds and cuts need to be carefully disinfected and protected from pollution. With a wound, as a result of falling, for example, with a bike, better consult a doctor. In a hot climate, scratches are badly healing.

Beware of restaurants that boast an exotic surprise. In order not to eat the meat of a dog or cat, learn Vietnamese words: THịT CHO, DOG MEAT (Dog Meat) and Thuck Mèo, Cat Meat (Cat Meat). Despite the laws adopted in 1997, the use of feline meat, illegally deliried cats from China and Laos, are also on the tables of lovers ; Exotics ;. In the menu, they may also be as "Little Tiger" (Little Tiger).

Useful phones

Police: 113
Ambulance: 115
Fire 44

Vietnam ; What you need to know about manners

Speak with locals. Vietnamese people are very friendly and friendly. Due to this, there is a wonderful opportunity to get a fantastic experience ; first person ;. It will be useful to find out at least the basics of local etiquette, to the owners, in turn, it was nice to communicate with you.

One of the things that many forget to do, ; This is to learn the main phrases into a country language in which travel. For example, it is enough to say hello or thank in Vietnamese and thus to provide respect to the owners. Cảm ơN (thanks) and Xin Chào (greeting).

But it is worth practicing in pronunciation. The fact is that Vietnamese tonal language. Four / five main tones, as a result, the words spoken in different ways have a different meaning. For example, the greeting of Xintyao (Xin Chào) needs to be pronounced with descending intonation, t. To. Ascending will change the greeting ; "Give Kashi".

In Asia, it is customary to leave tip. First ; This is a nice bonus for those who provide the second ; An indicator of your satisfaction. Recommended tips 1-2 $ per person (if the group), depending on the specifics of the services. The norm of tips in restaurants is 10%.

Travel and reset the price twice and more. In shops, in markets, shops and travel agencies ; The main thing is not losing patience and smile. Remember that everyone has their goal: you ; Save, seller – earn)

Food in Vietnam

Vietnamese cuisine is simple and tasty. Many popular dishes, not to the detriment of quality, you can try both in a trendy restaurant and in street cafes. The main principle is simplicity, fresh products, as well as balance of saline, sweet, acidic and sharp tastes. There are many fresh herbs in dishes. As a rule, not too spicy, to which sharp sauces are often served separately. To learn more about Food in Vietnam Read our article.

And be sure to try the draft local beer. It is not easy tasty drink that is written in almost every city of Vietnam, but also a whole ritual. The most luxury – drink beer sitting on plastic tiny chairs exhibited along the sidewalk).

Local transport

After spending a couple of days in Vietnam, you will understand that the Vietnamese is a relaxed people who are not in a hurry anywhere. Live in ; Rotaway ;, Voli-Neils affected some branches of infrastructure. For example, trains in Vietnam do not always go on time. So the train station is best to be on guard not to miss the departure of the train.

Vietnamese railway system, rather popular and reliable way to travel around the country. Although recently serious competition trains are sleeping buses. Read more about local transport Vietnam in our material.