10 Things To Know Before Going to Vietnam – Travel Tips for Backpackers
1) First things first: travel insurance.
Before you take off, make sure you’re covered with quality travel insurance for peace mind. You truly never know what might happen while you’re abroad, and having a medical emergency in a strange country without support is less than ideal.
I bought mine through World Nomads, and after thorough research, they seem to be the best option in the market for American backpackers like myself. You can buy coverage for all of Asia instead of individual countries and they cover most adventure sports (like tall mountains for hiking enthusiasts), and more!
Learn more about World Nomads and their coverage option – you can even get a quote online before you buy. It’s so easy.
2) Know your visa requirements.
The second most important thing to know before going to Vietnam; you need a tourist visa. As of 2020, tourists have a few options, the visa on arrival, getting the visa from a Vietnamese embassy, or the e-visa.
Vietnam’s visa on arrival:
You can grab a visa on arrival once you land in Vietnam, but you’ll need to apply for an entrance letter first. The visa on arrival allows for a maximum stay of 3 months with the option for single or multiple entries.
I got my letter from Vietnam-visa.com. I paid a service fee of $34 USD for the 3 months, single entry letter. They’ll email you your approval letter and you’ll need to print it off and bring it to the airport.
Once you arrive in Vietnam, you’ll need to go to the visa on arrival / landing visa counter that is located right before passport control. You need to hand in two passport photos, your visa entrance letter and a completed application form that they have on-site. If you forget the photos, they charge a small extra fee to take a photo of you on the spot. Then they’ll take all of your documents and your passport and tell you to sit down.
Depending on how busy the airport is, the wait can be a few minutes to an hour. Listen out for your name to be called back to the counter. You should get your passport back with the visa stamped inside a full page and then you’ll have to pay a stamping fee of $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple entry (for Americans at least).
Before you leave, check to make sure the stamp has the correct visa/dates/name. Then you’re all set to go through immigration! This entire process for me took about an hour from disembarking from the plane.
Vietnam e-visa:
Vietnam has started to offer e-visas to tourists from 80 different countries. You can apply directly on the Vietnamese government website here. The e-visa is a 30 day, single entry visa and as of now it costs approximately $25 USD. It does not get stamped into your passport but rather you receive a letter you must carry with you.
There are strict rules about which ports you can enter and exit using the e-visa, so be sure to check out your travel plans to make sure the e-visa will work for you.
For example, there are stories of travelers with an e-visa trying to travel by bus from Sapa to Laos and being turned away because it’s not an approved port for their visa.
Applying at your local embassy:
Depending on where you’re from, you can apply for a Vietnam tourist visa to be stamped into your passport before leaving your home country. You should reach out directly to your local embassy to see what their application and fee requirements are.
Of course, getting a Vietnam tourist visa depends completely on where you’re from. You can check your specific country’s requirements on a helpful website tool such as iVisa.com or directly from the Vietnamese embassy closest to you.
Ho Chi Minh city skyline – my home for two weeks.
3) All about SIM cards.
If you’re like me and prefer to maintain a connection to the interwebs, data plans in Vietnam are pretty affordable. And if you plan on renting a scooter and driving around the country, you’ll definitely want a working phone.
You have a few company options when buying a SIM card in Vietnam; Viettel, Mobiphone and Vinaphone. I personally went with Viettel. It’s the largest telecommunications company in the country and it was also the most recommended brand by other travelers online.
I paid 170,000 VND / $7.50 USD for my SIM card and a 5GB for 30 data plan. It’s easy to top up more data if you happen to run out. I just went to a local Viettel store when I needed more data and paid 125,000 VND / $5.50 USD for another 8GB + unlimited slow data. You can technically buy top ups at local convenience stores.
If you’re flying into the country and looking to buy a SIM card at the airport, I’ve read many reviews of travelers getting scammed. They’ll pay for the SIM card and a data plan, only to find the data was never loaded and presumably the sales clerk pocketed the money instead. To be safe I went directly to a store rather than a third party and didn’t have any issues.
4) Survival Phrases.
While not everyone in Vietnam speaks English, for the most part it wasn’t too hard navigating the country with only English. However, it’s always nice to try to speak the local language when visiting a new country. Some Vietnamese phrases for your travels;
Hello – xin chào– sin chow
Goodbye– tam biet – tarm byeet
Sorry – Xin Loi – sin loy
Thank you –cám ơn – gahm un
Please– làm ơn – lahm uhn
Yes– dạ – ya
No –không- khohm
Vegetarian– chay – jai
5) There’s WIFI nearly everywhere.
If you prefer not to pay for a SIM card, you’re in luck! Most of the café, restaurants and hostels we visited had free and decent WIFI for guests. It was rare for a place not to have any Wi-Fi – even a lot of the local street food spots had it available. The only time you probably won’t be able to connect is from the actual small carts on the street.
6) Motorbike Culture.
Scooters are king here, and one of the best ways to see the country is by hopping on one yourself! If you’re not fully comfortable driving but want to take part in the seriously integral motorbike culture in Vietnam, I recommend practicing a bit before arriving. Otherwise there are a lot of easy rider tours you can join and plenty of Grab motorbike taxis for you to take!
To drive legally in Vietnam, make sure you always wear a helmet, have the appropriate license (a motorcycle license from home and an international driving permit), and reliable travel insurance. Vietnam is infamously known for having one of the highest motor vehicle related deaths in the world and I’ve met so many travelers with unpleasant stories of getting into accidents. Come prepared!
I’ve also heard stories of police officers stopping foreigners on bikes to try to catch them doing something illegal for a “fine” (read: bribe). They often want the cash you have on you, so keep a 200,000 dong / $8 USD note handy.
Famous Golden Hands Bridge in Da Nang
7) Grab Taxi.
Probably one of the cheapest and most convenient ways to get around Vietnam will be by using the app Grab. It’s essentially the Uber of South East Asia and lets you call a car or bike taxi nearly anywhere at any time. You can even order food delivery on Grab in the major cities.
You’ll want to download the app for your trip and add your credit or debit card to get the best rates. Motorbike rides are a fraction of the cost of a car ride and is a classic Vietnam experience. You probably won’t pay more than $1 USD for a ride, depending of course where you’re headed.
It’s not uncommon for Grab drivers to ask you to give him/her a good rating on the app or for directions as they drive. I was always caught off guard at the start of my travels and it helped immensely having the route on my Google Maps before hopping on.
8) What to pay for a motorbike.
Depending on how long you’ll be needing one, you can expect to rent a motorbike for about 1 million VND or $45 USD per month, or about 100,000 – 150,000 dong per day ($4 – $7 USD) depending on where you are and who you rent through. Petrol at the moment (summer 2019) is about 20,000 dong / $0.86 USD per liter.
These figures will obviously change with time and vary city to city, but I like to throw out figures for comparison sake. It always helps me on my travels when someone does the same so I have a better sense of if I’m getting ripped off or not!
9) Watch out for drive-by motorbike theft.
When I first arrived in Vietnam, people warned me of drive-by motorbike theft. To be honest, I didn’t take the warnings seriously until it actually happened to me.
One night out on the town I was holding my phone and a man on a motorbike drove by and tried to rip it out of my hands as he passed. Thankfully his aim was slightly off and I had a tight grip on it! I was so stunned all I could manage to shout was “hey!”.
It’s common for passing motorbikes to try to snatch any valuables off of unsuspecting people so beware of your bag and your phone. Theft in general can be a bit of a problem in Vietnam so always securely store your valuables and lock them up when you can.
10) Crossing the street is a game of chicken.
This might sound like a ridiculous Vietnam travel tip, but it’s in your best interest to read up on how to cross the street properly here. Let me go over some of the “rules” of traffic here in Vietnam.
- Drivers don’t give pedestrians the right of way in Vietnam – get out of the way or risk getting run over
- Traffic lights are optional and many people go through red lights
- You can cross the street ANYWHERE you want at any time
- Wait for a small opening in traffic and walk slowly and confidently across the street
- DON’T run! Drivers gauge where you’ll be by walking, so if you run you actually increase your risk of getting hit
- As much as it feels like you’re about to die, you ~probably~ won’t
- Oh, and sidewalks are mostly used for parking and driving…not for walking
- Good luck
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