In general
Vietnam is a beautifull country with a friendly and open culture. People are often willing to help you. In Vietnam it is normal to adapt yourself to the culture, that means if you go to someone else’s house you adapt to the family who lives in that house. You are a guest so people will always threat you honorably so do so yourself to. Being respectful and polite to people gets you a long way. Vietnam is a proud country, they are proud of their culture, their monuments and their people.
The Vietnamese Dong
The Vietnamese Dong is the local currency. The currency is quite stable and the average Euro to Dong course is: 1 EUR to 26.000 Dong. Prices therfore often go into the milions.
Digital vs Cash
Where Vietnam nowadays has a lot of options to pay digital, these options are not always available. For the holidays it is easiest to always carry enough cash. When you pay with Cash always be mindful with what you give and what you receive back some bills look the same.
The second wallet, carry a second wallet with a little bit of cash so do not bring all the cash you have with you. The second wallet you can keep on your person keep the other cash somewhere else like deeper in your backpack or safe at the hotel. This gives you the opportunity that when you pay you do not show of everything that you have.
Where to stay
In Vietnam there is a lot of options in Vietnam where you can stay depending on your budget. You are able to get a hotel room, hostels, apartments or complete houses. To find these you can use websites like: booking.com, airbnb.nl, agoda.com the last option, Agoda is a more unknown provider but they work with a lot of hotels and home owners, they have great offers and are cheaper than booking for example.
Make sure that whatever you use or wherever you stay always read the reviews, Vietnamese people themself are always reviewing a lot so be sure to check that part before you book.
One more tip is to look on the map where the hotel is located. Hoan Kiem lake for example is more touristic and has a lot to see. It is the old town in Hanoi and it is very central that means you don’t have to travel a lot. However, prices around Hoan Kiem are often more expensive than other parts of Hanoi.
A little bit further away from the centre you will find the Cau Giay district, it is a good district the prices are a little bit cheaper. It is also where the wedding venue is located. Cau Giay is a little bit further away from the old city Centre on the map, it is only a few kilometers, However a few kilometers in Hanoi can mean a travel time of 15 minutes to up to 1 hour depending on traffic. Take this into account when you plan your day and trips.
Food
The food in Vietnam is often high quality. The street vendors and restaurants often have a high standard when it is about food. The food is delicious and in many varieties. Definitely try as much as you can, don’t eat to much of the same food. Spread your eating pattern out a little bit over the day. This gives your digestive system the time to adapt to the new food.
When you select a place to eat look at things like what kind of food is it that you are going to eat. Is it raw, best to stay away. Is it cooked and steaming hot when served then it is a good option. When you do eat vegetables shake of the excess water it might be cleaned in.
So look for, Fried Cooked Boiled and Fresh. But wait didn’t you say before to stay away from the raw food? Yep we did, what is meant here is if possible look at the ingredients that are being used to cook the food. Most of all enjoy all the variety’s of food and experiences
Another great tell to see if a place is good to eat, is to see if there is a line in front of the store. This often indicates the restaurant or street food is good to consume. Still do you own checks though and read some of the reviews if available.
If for whatever reason you are having difficulty eating the local food and when you are in or around Hanoi there is the possibility to get Western food as well. Western food often has the same prices as you would expect them to be in Europe. Places which sell western food are often the Lotte centers around Hanoi. These are just like our supermarkets. If you have time on your hands and are not afraid of heights visit the lottecenter it has a rooftop bar an view point.
Drinks
The water in Vietnam is not immediately ready for consumption. That’s why you shake of the vegetables you might eat. Vietnamese people do not consume the water immediately from the tap. It is best to get the water from closed of bottles of water that you buy in supermarkets or you get in hotels/restaurants. Vietnamese people often cook the water or the have a water filtration system in the house with a small tap attached to it.
Other drinks like soda or beer in cans you can consume freely. In Vietnam there is also a lot of local made wine and rice wine available, best to stay away from if you do not trust it. Also when you order western wine know that the 6 euro bottle you buy here in the supermarket can be 20 euro in Vietnam since this is all imported.
Telecom
Know that turning on your Dutch simcard and data in Vietnam is expensive, it is expensive really fast. So turn of your data and roaming even before you get on the plane. However there are many telecom operators in Vietnam you can choose from.
Often getting a simcard with a month worth of data costs you around 5 euro’s. This simcard also gives you a Vietnamese number you can use to call or register for other services. Do mind that you can also receive some spam messages do ignore these.
Getting these cards you can do it yourself visiting a telecom shop or by asking the hotel employees to help you get some.
Transport
The main way of getting around Hanoi and Vietnam is often by grab. This is a service like Uber. It works very simple, you download the app and you create an account, you could use the new Vietnamese phone number you got yourself. Once registered and setup you find the place on the map you want to go the app will then based on your preferences suggest a driver. The benefit of using the app is that there is no problems with payment. The app will give you the price right away and that is what you pay with a little tip to your liking.