Tips for Travellers

Don't leave home without a Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam

The conversion rate is roughly $US1 to 15,000 Vietnamese Dong.
Because this can be very confusing, make a simple chart
and put it in your wallet - then when you're trying to figure out the price of something you're being sold, a quick glance helps:

$US 1	15,000 VND
$US 2	30,000 VND
$US 3	45,000 VND
$US 4	60,000 VND
$US 5	75,000 VND
$US 6	90,000 VND
$US 7	105,000 VND
$US 8	120,000 VND
$US 9	135,000 VND
$US 10	150,000 VND

Taxi drivers are very predatory - being prepared is a good idea.
The fare from Hanoi's airport to downtown Hanoi is $US10.
The fare from Danang airport to Hoi An is $US10.
These are respectable distances, travelling nearly an hour.
A half-hour ride from HoChiMinh airport to downtown is $US5,
and takes half an hour.
Therefore the average taxi ride of 15-20 minutes should be
no more than $US3. That is 45,000 VND.

Write down the fare you are going to pay on a piece
of paper, as in a small notebook, and make the driver tick it.

Common ploys are rigged meters - if you must use a metered taxi, get
an idea of the price first.

Another ploy is to hassle you about the price when you arrive,
and what was an agreed $US2 ride becomes $6.

Another trick is to be told, on arrival, that
the fare was per person!

A confirmed tick beside the price is assurance.

The average seller will absolutely inflate any price.

In fact until recently it was official Party policy to have separate
prices, one for Vietnamese citizens and another for Westerners.
For example, going to a swimming pool was priced on height,
the assumption being that Westerners are taller.

Several things will instantly strike about you about Vietnam.

The first is the incredible driving, where the only rule is to drive on the designated side of the road for only some of the time, or as long as it's convenient.

All drivers constantly beep their horns, which is a way of saying, look out, I'm coming through! The entire country reverbates to scooter, car, truck and bus horns.

Some people drive at night with no lights. They think it saves petrol.

The only way to walk across a road is to simply step on to the busy road and walk at an absolutely constant pace to the other side - in the West we look for the traffic flow and dodge through it.

In Vietnam, the traffic will estimate your speed and direction -
and swerve around you. They will avoid you, not vice versa.

Hesitate and you will confuse the drivers coming at you, so just keep moving. It's a good idea to fix your gaze on the far side of the road and not to look back. Unless a truck or a bus is coming, in which case, get out of the way!

Centuries ago, landowners were taxed on the area of their dwellings, so the culture gave rise to narrow buildings, that are several stories high. They are a unique and attractive feature of Vietnam.

Vietnam is a friendly, dynamic and entrepeunerial country.

You will love it.

There seem to be only 2 places to find a decent flat-white coffee.
Hapro's Cafe beside the lake in the old quarter, Hanoi.
The Norfolk Hotel, Le Thanh Ton St, HoChiMinh City.

And be sure to check out Kim Quang's handpainted T-shirts
at the Nha Trang Sailing Club.