Vietnam is in general a country super-safe, in which the likelihood of suffering assaults, abuse, and/or theft with violence, is very low. I, in some ways, I feel more safe here than in most european cities,. however, it is better to prevent than to cure, and avoid us at all costs uncomfortable situations.

10 things we have to be careful in Vietnam

Taxis

Despite the fact that in Vietnam the majority of taxi drivers are honest, we have reported many cases of scams carried out by drivers of taxi, picking up people in tourist areas.

I’ve read first-person accounts of people quite angry that they had charged excessive prices (for carrying the metro souped-up , or do it on at all), or even locked the doors to force them to pay.

In this sense, I will recommend you that you’ll heal in health using apps like Grab or  Be (available for Android and Itunes).

Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes

The mosquitoes of Vietnam can transmit dengue, zika, japanese encephalitis, and malaria,. The risk of contracting these diseases is very low, but it is still worthwhile to prevent. I will recommend you to use: mosquito Repellent (spray) and Permethrin (spray to impregnate clothing) in your trip to Vietnam.

In addition, I recommend you to read the article “What shots do I need for my trip to Vietnam?”

The lords of the tricycles.

Be careful with the price and negotiate with the driver of the tricycle always before boarding, to avoid having to pay excessive prices.

It is also important to even specify the currency in which you are going to pay, because to 100,000 dongs is very different from $ 100. My advice in this case is that pactes the price ahead of time to heal in health (to what is reasonable is to pay between 150,000 dongs – 6€ – and 200,000 dongs – 7.5€ –).

The shoeshine.

When you walk through Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, often you will cross with people pointing at your shoes and give you clean them.

It is possible that you offer to do it for a number and then, once you have your shoes, you begin to ask for considerable sums of money, and what can you do if they have your shoes? To not see you in such a situation, I advise that, simply, do not use the cleaning services of shoes in tourist areas, because you do not know how reliable is the person who is about to provide you with the service.

Careful when crossing the street.

The traffic in the city of Hanoi can be a real madness. For this reason, I recommend that you be careful when you’re walking down the street and, especially, to the cross. I recommend that crosses slowly and at a steady pace, being predictable and avoiding by all means run or paste threats.

I understand that cross the street you can give respect, but in truth, it is better to go slowly and calmly so that the motorcycle can see you and esquivarte without problem. As a driver, I’ve seen tourists in Vietnam, crossing streets so dangerous, and I don’t want you to put yourself in a situation of danger as well.

Also I recommend that when crossing give way to large vehicles such as trucks or buses, as these do not have as much capacity or scope for esquivarte.

Careful with the “gifts”

Don’t take “gifts” of anyone on the street, because if you do you’re gonna get to pay the price which you give or take a bit. In the tourist areas many people are “giving away” buns, drinks, or fruit to tourists, but don’t be confused, they are not gifts, they are trying to give it a try to force you to pay the price they want.

My advice here is that negocies the price before you catch nothing, and that what you pay before you eat, to make sure that if there is a misunderstanding you can always kick back (imagine that you got the price were to 15,000 dongs (0.6€), but instead of that is to 150,000 (6€), I’m sure that would not make you any grace to pay, but if you’ve eaten you have to pay for it or having an awkward moment.  

Ask for the price in local currency

Always ask for the price in the local currency, and take your time to calculate how much is in your own currency. Sometimes, they’ll give you the dollar price for you to understand better how much things cost, but then when you touch pay, you are going to make the change dollars to dongs that is most convenient to them.

This is why I recommend that you ask for the price in the local currency, and you use a app like this to calculate the price in your own currency.

Prevents the confusion with the money you go faces

In Vietnam there are notes of 1.000, 2.000, 5.000, 10.000, 20.000, 50.000, and 100,000, 200,000 and 500,000 and. Is very very easy to get confused when calculating or give the tickets. For this reason, I advise that you take the time to understand how much you have to pay and find the tickets you mism@.

It is possible that the people of the stores want to help you to choose the notes correct, but I recommend that with education ask them to wait.

Take your time in finding the tickets that you need and when you have, is the das, there is no rush.

Shops North Face, it dribbles!

In the area of the Old Quarter of Hanoi and in other tourist areas of Vietnam in general you’ll see that they sell a lot of items from The North Face, Adidas, Nike… These articles are, of course, copies, completely fake, and their prices should be much lower than would be the original in your country.

I recommend that, in the first place, check the quality of the products , paying special attention to zippers and seams on the inside. In addition, you must not pay the first price they ask, you have to haggle a lot, try it in multiple stores and, at the end, choose the seller who offers you the best quality for the lowest price.

Enjoy it as much, and don’t worry about it too much

The most important advice that I can give you is to not worry too much. Vietnam is a country of awesome and I encourage you to take precautions, but, at the same time, to go in without fear because, as I said at the beginning of the article, is a country super secure and in general the people are going to try to help you more than anything else.

So enjoy a lot of your trip, its nature and its people, its culture and its food, its landscapes and its history. You’re going to see things never seen before and you’re not going to forget them, believe me, your experiences in Vietnam will go with you everywhere.