17 things I wish I knew BEFORE visiting VIETNAM in 2023 🇻🇳

In this video I'm going to give you 17 things  you need to know before coming to Vietnam it is   a crazy country and I was lucky enough to spend a  month here and I absolutely loved it but there's   definitely things I wish I knew before I set foot  in the country of Vietnam now let's start with   number one and this is a good thing but also a bad  thing about Vietnam is the overnight transport the   sleeper buses are the most common thing and  cheaper and there are two types you can get a   sleeper bus or a VIP bus or the VIP buses are much  nicer and I do recommend getting them the sleeper   buses I tend to not sleep that well now one of  the downfalls of taking these sleeper buses is   that sometimes you arrive at the most ridiculous  hours I'm talking 3am you're rocking up at your   next destination when you just want to be asleep  what you have to do is contact your hostel or your   hotel or guest house and tell them I'm arriving at  3M please let me in and book for the night before   just spend that bit of money so you don't ruin  your next day I often tell found in Vietnam it was   actually cheaper to book online than in person  I don't know whether the travel agencies are   taking massive commissions or you need to bargain  more but I just found it achieved a book online   and then you know exactly what you're getting I  personally use bookaway.com and it's really good   you get exactly what you see from the photos I've  got a link down in the description if you want   to use bookaway.com now number two is about SIM  cards in Vietnam data is super cheap in Vietnam   so you're going to get very good value for your  money but I highly recommend getting a via tool   SIM card it is only slightly more expensive like a  dollar two dollars more and you get so much better   coverage than the other phone providers I had a  friend when we were doing the Ha Giang loop and   I had connection the entire time we're right in  the north and my friend didn't have connection   once for four days so get vehicle is much better  coverage and you'll thank me later now number   three is one of the best things I've done anywhere  in Southeast Asia and that is the Ha Giang loop   this is a big motorbike Loop which takes three or  four days in the very extreme north of Vietnam you   ride along the border with China you see the most  insane Landscapes and you will regret it if you   don't do it it's like the big thing to do here in  Vietnam no freaking way we just turned the corner   and the mountains are twice as tall there's a  couple of different ways you can do the housing   Loop some people use an Easy Rider which is  when you like jump on the back of a bike and   someone takes you around in groups or you can do  it yourself and drive yourself I personally did it   myself it's traditionally known for being you know  not that safe obviously this doesn't really have   barriers they've fallen off I wonder if there's  an accident here but it was safer than I thought   I do have a big Ha Giang loop video so if you  want to go check it out it will answer all your   questions if you're doing the Ha Giang loop it's  just for you now number four is something a lot   of people agreed with me and that is the north  is better than the South so if you do have an   option I would recommend starting in the South  and head up North and then stuff is just gonna   get better and better now number five is a big  bucket list thing to do and that is the Ha long   Bay cruises now if you have the money if you've  got the budgets I highly recommend doing one of   these luxury cruises I'll leave a link in the  description and it was brilliant if that's not   in your budget then there are other budget options  you can do day trips to how long bay or you can do   cheaper cruises I even saw one for just $85 for  one night which is a very good deal for like a   cruise I would recommend booking online if you can  because if you book in person in Hanoi you don't   really know what you're getting but on online you  can see the photos you know where you're going to   stay and know that it's going to be a good one  number six something very different to other   parts of Southeast Asia is that you actually need  permission to park places in places like Thailand   you can literally park anywhere and be like yeah  Park yeah and no one cares but in Vietnam I parked   out this shop once and this lady came out was  like you can't park there get out get out I'll   say sorry I didn't know I'm not from it but anyway  just don't park anywhere you need to either pay   a fee or ask permission the next thing you should  know is about ATM withdrawal fees every different   bank in Vietnam charges you a different amount  some are like two percent or three percent or   just charge you like a hundred thousand for one  withdrawal the best bank to use is angry bank   and it charges you just 22 000 dong which is like  74 P for one withdrawal and I think you can take   a maximum out of three million other Banks though  could charge you up to like five pounds so you're   gonna save a lot of money by using Agribank  and they are pretty common in most cities now   number eight something very different is that in  Northern Vietnam Beers aren't served cold but they   come with like a bucket of ice and so if you want  a cold beer you have to put the ice in the beer   and then you get like water down there but I mean  it's okay it's just different number nine is that   English is not as frequently spoken as other  countries like Thailand or Cambodia so you're   going to need to use Google Translate and the  great thing is the Vietnamese are so quick to just   pull it out themselves and translate it on Google  translate so make sure you've got it downloaded download the Vietnamese offline if you don't have  data and you're going to be sweet if you've come   this far you need to know something very important  and that's hit subscribe you need to do it right   now because if you don't when you get to Vietnam  things are going to go wrong for you so hit it   right now now number 10 when you go outside the  touristy areas you're gonna struggle to know what   to eat and some of the things you can always  find are Pho which is noodle soup it's found   very commonly and it's a really good breakfast as  well another of my favorite dishes in Vietnam is   Bun Cha and it's like this pork sweet and sour  dish and with noodles it's so good just dry it   it's brilliant if you didn't know then the French  actually colonized Vietnam for some time and so   they actually had balmy which is like baguettes  and they're really good and they're really good   for Journeys if you're not sure if you're gonna  eat like on those overnight buses and stuff so   highly recommend eating Barney and they're super  cheap if you're on a budget too now number 11 is   something I was actually a little bit disappointed  about and that is the Hoi An Lantern Festival I   actually extended my time in Hoi An so I was there  for the Lantern Festival and in all honesty it's   no different very slightly different from any  other night don't change your trip to be there   in the Lantern Festival they release lanterns  on the water every night don't worry about it   you'll see it in Hoi An whenever you're there  now number 12 is something you definitely need   to know before even setting foot in Vietnam and  that is do you need a visa now there's actually   24 countries in the world which are exempt from  getting a Visa for Vietnam but these lengths vary   so some are 14 days some go up to 90 days and if  your country is not part of those 24 or you wish   to stay longer than the permitted amounts then  you need to get a Visa you can do this online   with the e-visa website which I'll link down  below make sure you apply for the e-visa at   least 14 days in advance give yourself plenty of  time if not you can actually go to a Vietnamese   Embassy and try and get it that way as well the  cost of the Visa is about 25 US Dollars now if   you are traveling to Vietnam and you want more  help on where to go different places then I've   got a whole series of Vlogs and travel videos  down below so go click them go enjoy them and   have a good time see you there what time of the  year should you come to Vietnam I'll be honest   Vietnam is a country where you can come any time  of the year there's loads of different climates   as it's like a really long thin country when you  go up north it is cold now it is getting freezing   especially in January February so if you're going  up there bring warm clothes but right down in the   south in Ho Chi Minh and Phu Quoc the island  it's super tropical it's hot all year round   and then have got the standard dry season wet  season I think one of the best times to travel   Vietnam is between January and April April is on  the hotter side so if you are struggling with the   heat it's going to be hot but it's a very dry  part of the year as well if you're looking for   those green rice fields up in the Northern Area  then you need to visit between September and   early October and that's just before they cut  the rice and it looks beautiful that is next   on my bucket list for Vietnam because it looks  beautiful now number 14 is something which can   be quite surprising when setting foot in Vietnam  is that the big cities are super developed Hanoi   is less so but Ho Chi Minh Danang these are big  cities with super big skyscrapers and it can be   quite a surprise compared to like the little  Northern regions is what you think typically   of Vietnam but that's not the case anymore it  is becoming a big superpower in Southeast Asia   and so there's lots of money being pumped into  the economy number 15 for my backpack of friends   Vietnam is a super friendly Backpacker destination  I honestly think 25 a day and you're going to be   pretty good obviously you've got to stay in  hostels you've got to eat the street food but   if you don't then still you get so much value  for money if you're on more of a budget forty   dollars fifty dollars a day and you're gonna have  so much room to do loads of different activities   eat lots of good food so yeah whatever your  budget is Vietnam is a great place to come to that was a good shot the hostels in Vietnam  are brilliant and they cost just three four   five dollars a night which is just insane value  for money and if you want a beer it's not going   to cost you much more than a single US dollar  which is just insane and can be quite dangerous   if you're a big Beer Drinker watch out guys  now number 16 something very different to other   countries is that you really need to bargain  in Vietnam and they're very good at it too in   Thailand I found that you don't really need to  bargain much of the time and it's more of a set   price Vietnam in the markets totally different I  was looking to buy a coat and the first price was   1.2 million and I managed to get it for 500 000  dong and then in the next city I sold it without   any bargaining for just 200 000 dong exact same  code as well 500k for this bad boy kept me warming   the hashian loop highly recommend buying one  in Vietnam save you money and save your space   and then just give it to someone else just be  warned you need to bargain before we go to the   last point one thing I do want to mention is that  dog meat is a thing in Vietnam it is legal to buy   and eat dog meat and sometimes they do serve it in  restaurants especially in the Northern areas this   is fairly common and you will see it now number  17 the last thing you need to know is all about   the tailors in hoiang this is the cheapest place  to get a tailor-made suit on planet Earth so a   lot of people go there specifically to do this  one thing you need to know is that the tailors   actually give you a discount if you give them a  good review on Google Maps I got three percent off   for leaving a good review I then deleted it but  just keep that in mind that the reviews a little   bit you know they might not always be super honest  I personally went with bili Taylors and they were   very good it cost me 130 dollars you can get suits  for as cheap as 90 all the way up to like hundreds   of dollars you know lots of money depending on  what shop you go to how much you bargain what   materials you use so just keep that in mind  swimwear like dress t-shirts shirt anything   so guys that is the end of the video I hope you  enjoyed it I hope you found it useful if you did   you need to subscribe and you need to like the  buttons so other people can get help before they   go to Vietnam to make sure they have the best time  possible thank you so much for watching if you did   find this useful leave a comment give advice to  other Travelers going to Vietnam and I'll see you   in the next video where we're going somewhere  very special somewhere new I'll see you there

Channel: Joel Friend

Views: 164,471

Keywords: vietnam, travel, advice, hacks, tips, I wish I knew, know before you go

Id: 2PtXC_5qKTw

Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2023