Vietnam is a beautiful country that attracts thousands of tourists every year. It offers beautiful scenery, nice beaches, cultural experience and great food, all at relatively low prices.
Before you decide to visit it, you should know that it is in some ways quite different from other Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, the Philippines, or Indonesia.
What do I need to be careful of? Here’s a list of 6 things you should know before you visit Vietnam.
Don’t travel in a sleeper bus but in a VIP cabin bus
One of the most popular modes of transportation in Vietnam is travelling by night buses. Many people see photos and videos of beautiful luxury buses with private cabins on the internet.
But then they arrive in Vietnam, book tickets for a sleeper bus, and when they get inside, they are disapointed. There are three rows of beds, without any privacy, with very little space for one to travel comfortably. How is this possible?
In fact, there are two kinds of sleeping buses in Vietnam. One of them is called “sleeping bus” and the other is “VIP cabin bus”. It is the latter that offers what most tourists crave. Comfortable cabins with curtain, plug, blanket and TV. Find out more about travelling in such a luxury bus in our article.
You can’t just park your scooter anywhere
Even though during your travels in Thailand or Indonesia you are used to just parking your motorbike anywhere on the side of the road, at a viewpoint or just in front of a shop and nobody cares, in Vietnam everything is different.
You can park your motorbike in designated spaces, which you’ll have to pay for, of course. If you just park your motorbike in a random place, it is very likely that an angry Vietnamese will run after you and show you with his hands and feet that you just can’t park here. However, the parking fees are not high, you just have to watch out for it. You can usually only park for free in front of the restaurant you’re eating at or the hotel you’re staying at.
Since we visited Vietnam after a month in Thailand, it was a bit of a shock for us, so we want you to be prepared.
Don’t go to Halong Bay, visit Lan Ha Bay instead
One of the most famous and most visited places in Vietnam is Halong Bay. People usually visit this place mainly because of the magnificent limestone islands, caves and rock formations that provide truly unique views. But did you know that right next to Halong Bay you can find a place that offers the same beauty, but is not as crowded and is much cheaper?
This place is called Lan Ha Bay. Here you can book great boat trips and find perfect conditions for water activities such as kayaking, fishing or swimming. However, you can do all this for much less money than in Halong Bay and what’s a bonus – without thousands of people and boats, which can really spoil the experience of such a beautiful environment.
The best ATM in Vietnam is HSBC
If you want to travel comfortably in Vietnam you will definitely need cash to do so. You can’t pay by card in many places. There really is no shortage of ATMs in Vietnam, but each one has its own restrictions and fees.
Clearly the best of these is the HSBC ATM, which has no withdrawal fees and you can withdraw a relatively large amount of money from it. Even if that’s not enough, you can withdraw money from it again and again and you don’t have to pay for withdrawals. It’s great, isn’t it? If we compare it with Thailand, for example, where each ATM charged almost 6€, it is a paradise.
Never trust Google reviews!
If you check hotel and restaurant reviews on Google or Booking, many times you will find thousands of five-star reviews. Is that even possible? The answer is no 😀
The Vietnamese are really crazy about this and are willing to do anything to get you to leave them a good review. They’ll offer you better hotel rates, discounts on purchases or gifts if you write a 5-star review in front of their eyes. For example, it happened to us that when we were leaving the hotel we were told that we had to pay 5€ for the small bottles of water that we used during our stay. However, if we write them a good review, they will waive this fee 😀
Therefore, it can easily happen that even if you find a restaurant on Google that has more than 5000 reviews and a rating of 4.9, you will leave disappointed because of the mediocre food and service. We didn’t let this limit us, and we only wrote reviews for a reward if we really identified with those five stars.
Eat in restaurants where there are lots of locals!
Don’t be afraid to try restaurants where you don’t see any tourists. These are usually the places where you can enjoy the best local specialities. We spent 17 days in Vietnam and it was in such restaurants that we had the best Pho Bo and other Vietnamese specialties. Of course, this doesn’t apply if you’re looking for cuisine other than the local cuisine. Don’t expect a good pizza or burger from the Vietnamese.
So, now you’re really ready for your trip to Vietnam. When are you going?
