Visa
Check visa requirements before planning your trip. If a visa is required the Vietnamese government has their own visa website so you can get yours in advance. I recommend you use the official government website to get the visa. It is less expensive than some other websites and it is official and they are very efficient at approvals.
Money
The Vietnamese money is of course the best currency to use in the country. Using any other currency, if they are accepted, can be more expensive than using the local currency. Credit cards can be used in some places but cash seems to be the best way to pay for things. I had my credit card number stolen at a four star establishment so I don’t recommend physically handing your credit card to anyone. The ATM cash dispensaries will give you enough cash to get around and they seem to be pretty efficient and prevalent.
Transport
in general transportation is very good. The bus system is very extensive and is faster than the train. We often took the FUTA company buses and they were pretty much on time and comfortable. Airplanes are not very expensive for domestic flights and seem to be a good way to get from distant cities if you don’t have time to take buses or some other form of transportation. Grab is everywhere so that is a recommended way to get cheap taxi like local transport However, many of the Grab drivers we took actually approached us and said they would give the same price as Grab if we just give them cash. That way they didn’t have to pay the commission to Grab. But we decided just to stay with the Grab app and keep everything on the up and up just in case there was some problem later on.
Food
There is a huge variety of food in Vietnam but most of what was available was noodles and bread and BHAN MI which is the Vietnam sandwich. I really wasn’t impressed with the variety of food so we spent time walking around a lot to find something we wanted to eat and sort of craving for Thai and Lao food which I find much more delectable.
Hotels
Hotels seem to be fairly comfortable and the service was pretty good. In the room they provide coffee and tea with a kettle to heat water so that’s similar to Laos and Thailand which made us very comfortable. Language can be a little bit of an issue outside of the main cities so be patient and polite and people will generally help you with whatever you need.
People
People are very friendly and most friendly before you buy something. After the transaction you very often feel the cold wave of rejection but that seems to be the normal way of doing business; buy what you need and then the shop owner will go onto somebody else. People are extremely hard-working and it seems they eat to allow them enough time back at work. They may really be enjoying their meal but a bowl of noodles for lunch doesn’t seem to me to be a great break from hard work. It seems to be a way for people to get something in their stomach and then rush back to work. Be careful when you’re taking photos of people without their permission. Many people don’t like it and they find it rude and intrusive.
Language & Communication
Foreign languages are not used that often with tourist but some people have a passing ability to communicate in some other language such as English or French or Japanese. It’s best to learn a few words of Vietnamese to get by especially the number system and words to help you buy things.
Excursions (Entry fees)
The countryside is very beautiful and there are many many artificially and naturally created excursions around the cities and countryside so with a little assistance from a transport service you won’t have any trouble getting to most interesting and fantastic places. Entry fees are reasonable and I recommend looking for Some coupon discounts in travel books or publications.
Shopping
You can get some pretty good deals if you shop where local people shop. Clothing can be a pretty high-quality and not very expensive. Be prepared to negotiate to get a fair price for yourself. People expect to negotiate.
Environment
While the countryside is very beautiful and the cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, are very built up, a lot of the comments about the beautiful environment seem to come from more than 10 or 15 years ago. Many of the beaches are very dirty and you can see where the local Drainage, possibly including sewage, are flowing into the ocean by the beaches. There are not many beaches that are kept free of debris unless you’re in one of the major cities such as Da Nang. The focus for tourism seems to be for the domestic market and many of the attractions and attractive places are man-made which may or may not be interesting for non-local people on vacation. The ocean seems to be way overfished so in the evening you can see hundreds of fishing boats on the horizon, much more than you will find in Cambodia or Thailand. The air can be fairly dirty at certain times of the year so check a service that explains the air pollution where you consider going.
Be Careful
Use your standard cautions but the one thing you have to watch out for was the scam I was reading just as we were riding in a taxi from Ho Chi Minh airport to the downtown area. While I was reading an article about how the driver does something, one quick action, and all of a sudden the taxi fare doubles. Our taxi driver did that just as I was reading the article. Then we had another problem with a taxi driver who took us about 50 m and charged us an outrageous price. The hotel helped us get our money back since the taxi driver was very aggressive when we tried to negotiate the price as we left the taxi. In addition, I have noticed various ways people will try to get extra money from tourist so be watchful and careful with your valuables.