2022
Vietnam is one of the most rewarding places you can visit, but you need to be aware of these Do’s & Don’ts when visiting Vietnam.
1. The Do’s thing
1.1. Dress appropriately, especially for female travellers, and it would be disrespectful to wear skimpy clothing in public.
1.2. Respect at temples. When visiting temples and pagodas – keep your arms and legs covered. No shorts or tatty beer t-shirts.
1.3. Keep you bag safe, remove unnecessary jewellery. Don't make you a target for petty theft
1.4. Negotiate and get a fixed price before buying on streets or farmer market. Always firmly negotiate the exact price before you get into a taxi or on the back of a motorbike-taxi.
1.5. Buy legitimate bottled water. You will need to drink a lot of water because of the humidity.
1.6. Do eat local food in Vietnam. Do enjoy the local Vietnamese food, which is some of the best in the world
1.7. Make sure that you have a hotel business card from the reception desk.
1.8. Do ask permission before you take a photo/take video cameras of people. Some people will expect payment before you take the photo, speacially at the tourist places.
1.9. Use chopsticks correctly. Sticking them upright in your bowl of rice, for example, is considered unlucky, as this is the symbol of two burning joss sticks used for funerals
1.10. A good resource is Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum, where fellow tourists discuss travel in Vietnam. This way you avoid unreliable tour agencies and badly run hotels.
2. The Don’ts thing
2.1. Don’t stop when crossing a road. Frightening as it can be, just keep walking. The traffic will avoid you.
2.2. Be respectful in ethnic minority villages
2.3. Don’t take photos of any military installations and equipment.
2.4. Don’t publically, kiss and cuddle. These personal displays of affection are not considered appropriate in Vietnam. Holding hands is okay.
Credit: Paula McInerney & Jon Hoff
Hope to see you some day in Vietnam.
Thanh Lan from Hanoi, Vietnam.
