Everything You NEED TO KNOW Visiting Vietnam 2023

What's going on everybody? This is Island Hopper TV coming to you from Vietnam. We're going to talk about the things you need to know when visiting here. Let's do it. First thing you need to know is the arrival process. You arrive typically at the airport. You can also arrive by train, but when you arrive here you'll notice that the airport is about 20 to 25 minutes away from the Saigon River area where I consider central Saigon here. Now from here you'll have the fast ferries that go up and down the Saigon River, this area right here. Okay, now it used to be called Saigon, but after the war they renamed it Ho Chi Minh City. So now it's known as HCMC, Ho Chi Minh City, not Saigon, although some people still call it that. Now let's talk about transportation and getting around Vietnam. So motorbikes are the main method of transportation for most of the locals in Saigon, Hanoi and pretty much every place you go in Vietnam. You too can rent a motorbike and go around Vietnam. Some people will go from Saigon in the south to Hanoi in the north and everything in between on their motorbike. If you don't want to ride a motorbike you can also take a train. They have plenty of trains here. They have different qualities, too. You can actually get a business class train, for example, from Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, all the way up to Nha Trang. And then you can even do trains from, say, Da Nang, which is where I'm at right now, all the way up to Hanoi. So many different trains. Just do some research on those. You can even watch YouTube videos about taking a train in Vietnam. I actually did one from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang and I thought it was a first-class train, but it was a shared cabin. But it did have a bed. If it went very slow, I'm not sure I would recommend it. But flying around Vietnam, something I did yesterday, going from Ho Chi Minh City here to Da Nang, only cost me $130 for a business class ticket on Vietnam Airlines. So that's definitely a great way to get around. Also taking taxis, doing private tours. I've done those. They're not gonna break the bank. That's the beauty of being in Vietnam. You can do these private tours or group tours, which are even going to be more affordable in vans. So those are some transportation methods that you should consider when visiting Vietnam. Oh, and I can't forget buses. Plenty of buses. Now, let's talk about facts about Vietnam. So it has 97 million people living here. It is a coastal nation with interior mountains that line up with Laos and Cambodia. And some more things to know, Hanoi is the capital. It is in the north and Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam with about almost a million more people than Hanoi. Next up on the list, let's talk about places to go and things to do. So you basically have North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Right now, I'm making this from Hanoi. But my favorite area in Vietnam is going to be Southern Vietnam. A little bit less cloudy. Every time I come to Hanoi, it's always cloudy. So in Southern Vietnam, you're gonna have Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. And that's a big area to explore with coastal beach towns nearby. You also have Phu Quoc, which is all the way in the south. And then in between there, you have the Mekong River Delta, which is another cool place to spend a day or two. Then in the almost central area of Vietnam, which they still call Southern Vietnam, you have Da Nang. You have Hue, which is a very ancient city. And then you also have Hoi An. And Hoi An is an ancient village. So I definitely recommend checking out Da Nang, which also has the modern city right there with the beautiful beaches. So in that area of Da Nang, which is considered South Vietnam or what I consider central really, is going to be Hue. Also, Ba Na Hills. You have Da Nang and you have Hoi An right there. You get four for one right there, right? And then in the north, you have Hanoi. You also have Saba. You have Ha Long Bay, which is a favorite with many people in Vietnam who visit. So when you visit Vietnam, you'll notice they have three main types of religion. Buddhism, Confucianism, and then they have Taoism. But they also have some different Vietnamese style religions that you may look into, such as the one that looks up to the female lady goddess. I've seen Catholic churches here, like the Notre Dame Cathedral down in Saigon. So here in Vietnam, they have two seasons. They have rainy season and they also have dry season. Now from around late May until October is the rainy season. I'm here in September and you can see there's no rain. But in the evening time, it has been raining here in Saigon. I'm right now on the Mekong River, which is two hours away from Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. And then if you wanted the dry season from around October, November until May, June. So that's when you can expect very little rain. A little bit of rain here and there. Just like a little bit of sunshine here and there during rain season. So there you go. So with that being said, the best time to visit is not going to be during the rainy season, unless you don't mind a little bit of rain. A little bit of rain can be fine and good. But every single day, day in day out, really puts a damper on your ability to go see places like Ha Long Bay, Go to Sa Ba and all these other places around Vietnam. Now let's talk about safety and crime as well as scams. So scams are very real and alive here in Vietnam. It is a safe place. It's mostly petty theft. But I've had lots of different scams. I've had people come up to me and ask me for money and when I first got here, I didn't know the currency. I accidentally handed them 500,000 dong, even though they wanted 50,000 dong. And they tried to keep it and then pretend like I didn't give it to them. And then they gave it back, but falsifying the money is definitely something you have to pay attention to is the zeros, the currency, because a 50,000 and 500,000 that's a big difference in money. And even though the color is a bit different, you still don't know because you might miss the zero. Another thing that came up was you're just walking and they pretend like you hit them with their umbrella. Some of those people that sell things, this lady she tried to say I hit her with the umbrella even though I didn't, but she walked into it, right? So something like that, she's trying to make a big scene out of something that didn't actually happen and she's trying to make it to where, you know, it's your fault. Those are things that I've had happen. Also, the only time I've ever been pickpocketed happened in Vietnam on Bui Vien. They took the phone right out of my pocket. So it is a safe place, but there is petty theft for sure. I've had this happen a few times. So please be aware of it. No real violent crime. That's just petty theft crimes that happen and even you'll be walking in a place and in a night market and they'll tell you watch out for pickpockets. Most of the people in Vietnam are like 99% awesome, but you still have that 1% of people who do shady stuff and will try and take advantage of tourists. Another thing that happened was the taxi meter scam. To go from Bui Vien to District 1, for example, where it's a central area, it should only cost around $120,000 max, but they use a fake meter. So if they find out that it's your first day or second day or not used to being there, they'll charge you $500,000 or $700,000 dong with a fake taxi meter that they have alongside the real taxi meter. So they just basically put their fake meter over the the real one. So, lots of stuff to take in right there, right? Now, let's talk about the local food. It seems like every day I was eating pho or I was eating some sort of banh mi, which is a French baguette, Vietnamese sandwich, pork or stir-fry noodle. You can see braised ribs here. And this is a look at typical night market ice cream. It's basically rolled like this, put into a cup. Now, let's talk about money and currency here. They use the Vietnamese dong. That's the VND. 24,500 Vietnamese dong equal one US dollar. I have found that about 50% of the places accept card, but you're really going to want to carry around a lot of cash. Now, the problem with carrying cash is how are you going to get it? Well, that's the problem. A lot of the ATM machines here are very difficult. I've gone to several different ATMs and they refuse to give me the money. I don't know if it's because I have a foreign card or if I'm at the wrong bank, but they'll just say unable to process transaction. So, I have to then go find another ATM, hoping that that ATM is going to work. So, getting your cash here can be difficult and then they only give you 2 million dong. And if you're using that 2 million dong to buy a hotel and food, it can go by quickly. So, you find yourself at those ATMs paying the ATM fees and doing the ATM shuffle trying to get money out. So, I would say it's not the best place to get access to your money. I've seen it better in places even like the Philippines. It's easier to get, you know, money from the ATM. Thailand, but it is what it is. You're going to have, that's the price you pay to visit Vietnam. Now, let's talk about the price of accommodation. It is very affordable in a lot of places for accommodation, especially if you're using apps like hotels.com. I would say that's probably the best. That way you avoid any sort of hidden charges or hidden fees that could be lumped in there that you didn't know about. Anytime you get a chance to use an app like Grab or booking.com or Marriott or Hilton app, try to use those. Even the airline apps, Vietnam Airlines, really good. But when you start paying cash and you're in a position where you're haggling and trying to cut a deal, the prices seem to inflate right there on you. Even if you pre-negotiate a price, if it's not set in stone or paid up front, you'll be surprised. At the end they'll be like adding double the price for some reason you didn't even know about it. So, that kind of stuff can't happen, but it is still affordable destination. It's just I think the locals have caught on that it's so affordable that they've decided to put like a 50% tax on you that, you know, is a hidden tax that you're not gonna be aware of that you will pay as a tourist that the locals don't have to. Now let's talk about some apps that you should download when you get here to Vietnam. So, Vietnam Airlines, also Vietjet Air. I would have those on your phone with an account registered before you even get here. Also, there is a app for messaging called Zalo or Z-A-L-O. That's more commonly used than even Whatsapp, although they do have Whatsapp here. And if you don't have Whatsapp and you travel the world, you should already have that on your phone because that's the universal one, more so than Facebook or Instagram. But Zalo here, just like Line in Thailand. Also, when it comes to food delivery apps, you're gonna want to consider something like Foodie. Just doing some research on the food delivery app that's gonna allow you to do that. If you arrive at the airport, try to get a SIM card right away with a Vietnam number. Right now, there is a problem with getting a eSIM. If you have an iPhone 14 or an iPhone 15, it may not work at the airport because they still only use those chip cards, the SD cards. Not eSIMs yet, although that's probably coming. And then, also downloading Grab or Gojek. So, those two apps, I highly recommend Grab. If you're gonna travel anywhere in Asia, you're gonna need that. That's the Uber of Asia, basically. So, Grab for sure and Gojek if you really want to play it safe. And now, for my final review of Vietnam, I definitely look forward to going back there. I was only there for two weeks, but I will be back when it's not so much rainy season. I definitely recommend going during non-rainy season. You can go during rainy season, but Hanoi is going to be wet, very wet. Overall, I would say definitely a great experience, especially in the South. I really enjoyed going out into the smaller towns in the villages and seeing the different types of cuisine and seeing the locals out there interacting with them. For the most part, very friendly. As you can see, I did encounter some of the scam stuff. That happens pretty much everywhere though, so that's to be expected. But yes, I look forward to going back to Vietnam. Hope you guys enjoy your trip, and I'll see you guys on the next one.