10 things you should know before coming to Vietnam

Here are ten helpful tips for foreign guests before coming to Vietnam: cross the street, beware of dog and cat meat, Vietnamese money, correct pronunciation of “Phở”, preparing seasonal, ask taxi pricing, passport valid for at least 6 months.


1. Cross the street: To overcome this tricky challenge,  you slowly join the line of the road, keeping steady speed, don’t hesitate, don’t stop, don’t message by phone or view map when crossing the street. Vehicular flow will automatically adjust according to you. Crossing in Vietnam is an exciting experience because there is a lot of motorbikes on streets.


2. Beware of dog and cat meat: You will be very easy to eat wrong meat without notice. Learn Vietnamese for 2 from this to be able to distinguish. Although the law 1997 is ban these meat consumption, this dish still appeared too much in Vietnam. Cat meat is called “elementary Tiger / tiểu hổ” in the menu.


3. Vietnamese money: Exchange rate is about 22,000 USD/VND . Foreign guests should try to know it for paying excatly tips. The small tip here is you should remember the color of every type of money to avoid confusion.
Vietnam money has many denominations of money very easily confused.


4. Correct pronunciation of “Phở”: This is the delicious food and it’s available anywhere. But you need to pronoun correctly for avoiding mistakenly call different dishes.


5. Preparing seasonal: In the summer, the weather in Vietnam is hot, so you can put jeans at home. In winter, northern Vietnam is very cold, you should wear a thick jacket. Check the weather forecast before you leave, so bring an umbrella in case it rains.


6. Ask taxi pricing and tour guide first: If your group has 3 people, price can equal or cheaper to purchase if you rent a car and tour guides. When organizing a private tour, you can decide when to leave the hotel, eat, go to these places, when hotels back…, also with the group tour, you cannot do this.


7. Be Careful with amateur taxi: there are many fraudulent taxi at the airport . You should book online as you will see exactly how much you need to pay. You also do not pay tolls, so if the driver asks you to pay, decline. Drivers in Vietnam often do not follow traffic laws. Ask them to not talk on the phone while driving, because they can drive the wrong way and higher real money, not to mention very dangerous.


8. Passport valid for at least 6 months: You need to make sure that your passport valid 6 months before you arrive in Vietnam. A passenger sitting next to me on the flight to Hanoi was denied entry because his passport is only valid for more than 5 months. Customs officials in Vietnam are very strict in this.

Passports must be valid for at least 6 months.

9. There are many methods for getting visa: You can send your passport by mail to the Vietnam embassy, and takes about 1 month to get a visa. You can also apply for a visa on arrival, but you need a visa approval letter via visa service for about $50 or less.


10. Buy sim for your phone in Vietnam: You can buy a sim phone at the airport. Once used up, you can buy the card at any public street corner. You can also use the free app for calling, messaging if Wi-Fi. However, you should remember to turn off roaming service before using Wi-Fi.