Tips For Vietnam (Next Time)

Sell the house. Sell the car. Sell the kids. Find someone else. Forget it. I’m never coming back. Forget it.

Absolutely felt like this on no less than 20 occasions while I was in Vietnam. There were also some days that were more challenging, but with these notes, I hope to make my next trip even better.

Scooters Rule Vietnam

Scooters are viable for a tourist to ride outside of the big cities. Da Nang, fine. Phu Quoc, fine. Hanoi?? Saigon?? No. Nope. No way. They’re nuts there. That said, here’s some things I learned…

Take it slow on the scooter. No one cares if you’re going 10 km/h even on a big road if you just stay to the right and drive predictably. In fact, the big roads are almost empty most of the time (or maybe it was just off season and luck). It’s amazingly nice to just cruise around sometimes. And you see so much more than in a bus or car, both in terms of your personal mobility and the fact you can look in any direction. Plus the fresh air keeps you cool. Most scooters have a small compartment for stuff, but don’t expect to transport anything larger than a helmet. Gas is expensive but a scooter doesn’t take much. 50k will mostly fill a tank and last more than a day of driving around. That’s like $2. Don’t worry about leaving your helmet unsecured on top of your scooter. No one cares. No one takes stuff. And frankly, most places you park have someone watching over the parking area all the time.

Use your horn liberally. No one minds a little toot here and there to alert folks you’re passing or approaching an intersection or turn. Don’t take toots from others personally. Get well to the right if you hear a big toot (from a tour bus or similar), because they simply take up a lot of space. They’re trying not to hit you, believe me, they’re just huge.

Navigation: Google Maps. Apple Maps doesn’t seem to live update distances while driving in Vietnam. Can’t figure why. Maybe a future version will fix it. Google Maps though doesn’t like to work with Apple Watch which is frustrating if you do not have a phone mount on your scooter. Try to find one with a phone mount. And since there is no direct power for the iPhone, an external battery pack and cable is a must. Something that will charge your phone twice over is perfect. Doesn’t have to be bulky. Stash it in the storage when you’re parked.

As to which scooter? Since I had a passenger, a Honda AirBlade (or AB, as they are colloquially known there) was just about perfect. Good storage, easy to ride since it’s an automatic, and excellent gas mileage with a larger-than-usual tank. 150k for 24 hours is pretty common for most scooters, so you will likely have your pick and all at the same price. The choice is yours, choose wisely.

To avoid possible embarrassment, let me say this: to start the scooter, you need to be holding the brake and the kickstand has to be up. I found this out by making a fool of myself in front of a parking attendant who finally walked over and put the damn thing up for me.

Everyone just sort of agrees not to hit each other. This means you’ll see folks driving the wrong way up a street sometimes (on a scooter anyway) or transporting a whole ass bed. Just give folks room, and take it slow.

An international driving permit is nice, but no one seems to care in the rural areas. Our hotel in Phu Quoc had an agreement with a local rental place so it all went on our bill, and they didn’t even look at my American license much less an international one. But having one is probably a good idea anyway. Plan ahead, you have to get it in your home country and it can take a couple weeks to arrive. Usually good for a year or two.

Getting Around Longer Distances

Domestic air travel is simultaneously the best and worst way to get around the country. But! Don’t try to fly direct between smaller cities. Those flights seem to cancel. And while Bamboo may look good on paper, they left us stranded and scrambling for a solution. Vietnam Airlines or VietJet are a better plan. But always always book direct with the airline! You’ll get a better price and dealing with changes or cancellations will be much easier. Vietnam Airlines also runs what appears to be the only direct flight between Vietnam and the US mainland: Saigon to San Francisco. Our next trip will take advantage of that, plus our itinerary will likely look like Saigon to X to Hanoi to Y to Saigon, just to keep the flights from being complicated. We haven’t decided on X and Y, but Da Nang might get another visit from us.

Get Your Head Down

The big American hotel chains are here. But don’t bother. Nesta Hotels was great pretty much everywhere (though their Phu Quoc location is showing its age a little and was understaffed when we were there in the off-season). Nesta is local and always has a nice breakfast. The staff is very friendly, and the locations tend to be in the “locals” areas, not the “tourist” areas. Our first night in Saigon, my card didn’t appear to work and my backup card failed too, at 1 AM after 30 hours of travel time, and we were exhausted. The staff just told us to go up and sleep and settle in the morning. Turned out to be a Vietnam bank problem, not an us problem, but still. That kind of white glove service is amazing. And, again, they seem to have no problem renting you a scooter and they do same-day laundry for a pretty good price as well. More on that in a moment.

Only What You Bring

You’re packing too much. No. Really. You are. Here’s what you really really need: shorts and t-shirts that dry out quickly. Head to Target and buy out their workout clothes that say “quick dry”. Inexpensive and worked wonders. If you’re staying at Nesta, bring half the number of shirts you think you need and pay them for laundry. This frees up more luggage space (and weight) for souvenirs. I drastically over-packed and regret it. 10 shirts I never used and jeans (and a belt) that were never worn. No one cares if you wear shorts into a monastery so long as you take your damn shoes off before stepping into a building (there will be plenty of signs - read them). Sandals and flip-flops are your friend in humid weather so bring those. A rain poncho that folds up small is perfect. Closed toe shoes only if you’re nervous on a scooter (by my third day, I was fine in Sketchers sandals that I purchased in Saigon that have a huge sole - I’m easily two inches taller in them). The poncho works wonders on a scooter too if it starts raining (which it will). This is your best investment. Find one that can take a little wear and tear but also folds up as small as possible. Skip the umbrella. Not as useful.

Satisfy Your Belly

The best food we found was at small road side places and night food markets. The big restaurants were ok (except in one notable case where the cleanliness was in question) but the small places were all much better tasting, and less expensive. I’m not saying don’t splurge, just be ready to maybe be a little disappointed. Well, except that any cuisine you care to mention is represented in Vietnam and usually done better than you’ve ever had. We went to a straight up Mexican (Mexico City style) restaurant and it was easily the best Mexican I’ve had in a long time.

Some of the best beverages we had were from roadside sellers. They all do fresh juices. Try sugar cane juice if you get the chance, or green tea with kumquats. And a sweet coffee on ice really does the trick in the morning.

Settle Your Bills

Money money money. Cash is still very much king here, particularly in souvenir stands, food markets and other smaller merchants. If you need an ATM, they are everywhere. But! MB ATMs seem like the best. They give out bills other than 500k, and do not appear to charge a fee (other than what your bank will hit you with). They also will give you 5M where most other banks limit to 3M, which means you can make fewer stops and your own bank won’t kill you with fees. There are no American banks represented anywhere in Vietnam so don’t even look. Most larger places do take credit cards and even Apple Pay is getting common. Right now a 500k bill is basically $20. And that $20 can go a long way. Two can eat well all day for that if, again, you keep to the markets and stalls. You can change money most places (especially American money), but, again, talk to your hotel. And if your hotel rents scooters, that can be easily paid with credit too.

Fill Your Senses

John’s Tours in Phu Quoc was great. If you’re by the ocean, find a shore tour to take. We did snorkeling and a sunset on the beach dinner. $100 for the two of us and that included basically everything, even showers at the beach.

VinWonders is awesome. Sunworld is awesome. Both amusement park brands have learned extensively from Disney. In fact, one comment from my daughter was: “The way the castle is framed by the Ferris wheel with the fountains in the front? I’m not saying Disney did it worse but they sure did do it differently.” Most cities seem to have one or the other. Phu Quoc, for all its small island status has both. Da Nang has Ba Na Hills outside of town, which is literally on a mountain. You take a cable car up to the park. There’s also a smaller park in Da Nang itself, Asia Park.

Les Rives tours in Saigon is a great way to see the mighty Mekong delta. We took a “local flavor” tour that included a farmstead, a local market, an orphanage/school (where the kids were amazed by my height) and lunch, as well as a short ride on a paddle-powered boat. It cost a little more than Phu Quoc which makes some sense since it’s the city, but even $200 isn’t bad. They also do a mangrove tour, if nature is more your style.

A city bus tour, the hop-on-hop-off kind, can give you the flexibility to visit many tourist spots in one of the bigger cities with ease (and without renting a scooter, which, no, do not do that in Saigon or Hanoi - they are crazy there, you will die). Our Nesta hotel in Saigon, though, was so close to literally everything you could want to see that we mostly walked, until our next to last day, when…

We got ourselves on to a pair of pedalcabs in Saigon as well. These are a neat way to get around. I am sure we got the extra special treatment because I was with a native speaker, but three hours of being pushed around the city on a bicycle was amazing. It was also 3M, or about $120. That’s pretty good for that much manual labor.

Please please please take the time to go to as many monasteries as you can. They are incredible to see and spiritually cleansing. I said a little prayer for my mother and father at one. It was an amazing experience. The two we went to both had huge Lady Buddha statues that are awe-inspiring in a way I didn’t think possible.

Most of all, though, get yourself a traveling companion who speaks Vietnamese fluently. It makes everything easier, from dealing with a cancelled flight to getting a little special treatment during group tours.

Coming Home

So, let’s say you didn’t decide to buy property there and just live the rest of your life in peace and happiness. When you have to come home, get to the airport at least 3.5 to 4 hours before your flight. Why? Because every other person flying out of Vietnam is bringing 5 to 6 literal boxes of stuff with them. That all has to be checked in, piece by piece, and the process is not fast. Then, of course, you have to have your passport checked again. I have been to many countries, and have never experienced having my passport checked on the way out of the country, or maybe I have and it was just faster literally everywhere else. There’s also the usual security lines. None of this counts if you’re flying one of the better classes or have status, of course, those lines are always shorter and faster. But if you’re stuck in cattle class like I was, give yourself lots of time. We arrived 2.5 hours early and barely had 10 minutes after security before our flight was called for boarding. That was stressful, and not a good way to end a vacation. Next time, we will do better! And probably fly a better class.