VIETNAM

Visas🛂

As UK citizens, we are eligible for 15 days free visa exemption in Vietnam. The best way to figure out what visa you need, is to look on your government website or alternatively, you can use the following website:

https://www.passportindex.org 

 

We had planned to extend our visa after our 15 days had expired. We found that it was not as easy as the internet had suggested. Going to immigration you will be met with chaos and confusion and will be told to find a travel agent. The travel agents were much more helpful and explained that our only option was to cross over into Laos for minutes, to then cross back. However, this option would have been very expensive and we had just came from there.

So if you plan on using your country’s visa exemption, know that you will have to exit the country first, before being able to have the entitled 30 days from the e-visa or visa on arrival.

We left the country and applied for an e-visa before entering again. This came to a cost of $25 or £42.18. The process is fairly simple; you fill in a form, pay and then receive the visa in five days (if approved). 

 

Vietnam’s E-Visa Website:

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu

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SIM Cards📱

Before arriving in Vietnam, we read that Viettel was the best phone company to use. 

At Hanoi airport we found a Viettel stall and bought two 30 days SIM cards costing £23.72. The second time we arrived in Vietnam, we arrived by bus to Ho Chi Minh City. Luckily the bus company we had travelled with had its own pop-up SIM card stand and we were able to buy two 30 days Vietnamobile SIMs for 480,000VND or £16.55.

 

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Money💰

£1 = 28,000 Dong

Vietnam is relatively similar to the price of items in Laos – you can do it on a very small budget or it can be pricey. Accommodation can be a little bit more expensive than Laos but the quality of accommodation is normally better. Everyday transport, like Grab motorbikes, are incredibly cheap in Vietnam.

However, similar to Thailand, the prices of travelling long distances can be somewhat expensive. For example, paying £34.36 for two to travel from Hue to Hanoi or a £57.80 flight for two from Da Lat to Da Nang. 

 

Time⏰

Personally, the 30 days visa is nowhere near enough time to explore the whole of Vietnam. We would even go as far as to say 45 days is nowhere near enough. We spent a total of 36 days in Vietnam and we would have happily added another 3 weeks to our journey, if we had the time. Overall, we found it hard to pinpoint a few ‘must do’ places as all 6 locations we went to (Hanoi, Ha Giang, Hue, Hoi An, Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City) were worth exploring. From area to area, they each provide beautiful landscapes and very different lifestyles.

 

Transport🚌

The main mode of transport in Vietnam are motorbikes. A 2020 statistic states that the ratio of motorbikes to cars is 27:1, which is shockingly more than half of what it was a decade before. However, we would not recommend riding your own - even if you’ve had prior experience riding a scooter. This is nowhere near what you have ever experienced in the western world. But luckily, as I said early, this makes Grab (Uber) bikes dirt cheap.

 

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Roads🚦

The road surfaces in Vietnam are generally good but the number of people on the roads is insane. Crossing the road is an achievement in itself. Unlike Bangkok, where the traffic slows down once you are crossing the roads, in places like Hanoi you have to walk bit by bit dodging the traffic on the road. The vehicles also have this order within all the chaos. There appears to be some unwritten rule of how to interact on the road.

 

Weather🌞

The weather depends on where and when you go. Unsurprisingly, it is very hot in almost all areas during the dry season and during the wet season, most areas are either mild or hot. However, in the mountainous areas such as Da Lat and Ha Giang, it can get pretty chilling. Weirdly Hanoi is the only area in Vietnam that has all 4 seasons and we were able to experience both the cold and hot weather.

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So when is the best time to go?

Hanoi - Nov to April - Low rainfall and sunshine

Hoi An - Feb to April - Warm weather and little rain

Ho Chi Minh - Dec to March - Settled weather

VIETNAM = FEBRUARY/MARCH

 

Language barrier💬

To our surprise, a large majority of Vietnamese do not speak English. In the North, there may be times where you have broken conversation but in general you will be absolutely fine communicating. The further you travel down South, the easier it is to communicate. So for instance places like Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City are a lot more accessible for English speakers as it is more set up for tourism.

 

Washing🧺

You will rely mainly on hotel laundry services in Vietnam. Nevertheless, you may be lucky, like us, and your Airbnb will have one to use free of charge. Or if you are in Hanoi, you can find a shop laundry service at a cost of 165,000 dong. It is not the cheapest but it does the job.