Vietnam tips: a first-timer’s guide

Vietnam tips - a first-timer's guide

 

Enthralling and enraging in equal amounts, Vietnam's long-held position as a travel icon is more than deserved. In no other country is the collision of Southeast Asia's past, present and future so stark. At times, this clash can seem so confronting and confusing as to send even experienced travellers fleeing for the nearest luxury hotel. However, like most things in life, the more you put in, the more you get out – and in Vietnam just a little preparation will set you up for the trip of a lifetime.

 

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1. Keep smiling in Vietnam

Keep smiling in Vietnam

Despite the grumbles of many visitors, Vietnamese people are mostly just as friendly as their Southeast Asian counterparts. However, unlike in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos – where local residents are genuinely curious about who you are and where you've come from – Vietnamese people tend to ignore lost-looking foreigners unless you actually ask for help. But be assured that if you ask a local a question with a smile, you'll almost certainly have it answered and the smile returned.

>>More travel tips

2. Be wary of taxi scams

Be wary of taxi scams

For many, motorcycle taxis are the only way to truly see the thronging streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. However, although unlikely, scams can happen and your best protection is a decent knowledge of where you are going and points along the way. If you think you're going the wrong way, simply tell your driver to pull over and flag down a new bike – those that stop should at least know the English names of the main tourist sights. Also, organise for a hotel pick-up from the airport – scam taxis are rife and, as my quickly lightened wallet can attest, far more expensive and stressful than the $5 you supposedly could save.

3. Know your night buses

Know your night buses

Overnight buses are a great way to cover long distances and save on accommodation costs, but make sure you book a top bunk as far as possible from the loo (normally situated near the back). Not to put too fine a point on it, a lot of buses don't have working bathrooms and the further back you are, the worse the smell gets. Also, unless you have an iron bladder, don't drink more than absolutely necessary, as rest stops seem to be purely at the whim of the driver and are skipped completely if the bus is running late. On one seven-hour bus trip – that ended up being a 16-hour voyage – I was very glad to have followed this tip. Not all of the other passengers had done so – enough said!

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Tips on Halong Bay photography

Halong Bay is a really wonderful place to take photos. Here are some tips that may be useful for travelers looking for amazing photos.

Time to go

The sunlight is important to have a good picture, so from April to July summer time amaze you with full of sunshine and sunset in the Bay. Halong Bay tourism can be interesting with many place for taking photograph.

In addition, if you want to have the romantic portrait and seascapes photos with a little sun light and fantasy mist on surface of the sea, time from October to November is the choice.

Sunset on Halong Bay

>> Useful Vietnamese phrase and vocabulary for tourists to Halong

Equipment

You should have the lenses with very wide angle. For example: Canon 16-35mm F2.8L for Canon, Nikon 14-24 F2.8G for Nikon, 16-35mm f/2.8 SSM for Sony or even the cheap lens like Canon 18-55 IS also often gives beautiful photos when shooting HaLong Bay seascape.

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To take moment of the dinner in the cave or late afternoon in low light condition, slow exposures are regularly used, whether it's to optimize depth of field with a small aperture or to create smooth and milky seascapes by taking long exposure pictures. Exposures can be seconds long, so a sturdy tripod is a must. To further minimize camera movement during the exposure, you can consider using a cable release or your camera's self-timer, as well as locking the mirror up.

Bring a good camera

Duration of trip

Ha Long Bay area is about 1553 km2 with 1969 islands. The beauty of the landscape gets change depends on looking from different angle or time of day. So the longer tour you book, the more opportunities you have to catch the great moment. That means the photography trip shouldn't be less than 1 night.

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Phu Quoc restaurants with beautiful view

In addition to be immersed on the beach of the green, smooth sand, you enjoy seafood dishes in the restaurants such as Viet Xua, Trung Duong Marina or Song Xanh. 

Usually when enjoying the cuisine in Phu Quoc, many people will think of Dinh Cau night market. However, if you want to search a more formal and polite space you can go to the below addresses.

Viet Xua restaurant

                                                                                 Viet Xua restaurant

Stepping through the wood door like curved roof of an ancient village, you seem to empty all your everyday worries to return to the rustic and old space. The wooden furniture with dark brown color creates the old feeling, nostalgia. With spacious and airy area, this is where many customers prefer to come when visiting Phu Quoc.

The menu of the restaurant is very rich with traditional Asia - Europe dishes, notably the famous specialties of Phu Quoc. You can enjoy steamed coconut shrimp, seafood salad of green mango, fried squid with salted egg shock, pinch onion or grilled herring salad reputation in this archipelago. The price is from 80,000 to 200,000 VND/ dish.

Address: Hung Vuong Street, Duong Dong town

Trung Duong Marina

                                                                        Trung Duong restaurant

This restaurant has airy, spacious space and lies on a slope on the hillside, facing the poetic river in the town center. It offers a peaceful and quiet setting and can accommodate hundreds of guests.

                                                                                   Crab soup

You can choose to unleash hundreds of rice dishes such as crab, seafood rice, crab soup, herring salad or Trung Duong salad with the price of 125,000 VND/ dish.

Address: 30/4 road, Duong Dong town

Song Xanh restaurant

Located in windy and airy Duong Dong River the restaurant has a beautiful position and convenient transportation for guests. With 3 spacious floors, separate lounges, this is the ideal place for guests to enjoy meals in the quiet space.

                                                                     Song Xanh restaurant

This restaurant is famous for crab fried rice dish with strong flavor. In addition, customers can order fresh seafood dishes in Phu Quoc sea such as coi bien mai, sea pinch... The price for each dish is from 70,000 to 200,000 VND.

Address: 30/4 road, Duong Dong town

With information of beautiful restaurants, it hopes you will have a perfect Vietnam holiday on Phu Quoc island.

Source:https://www.vietnamtourbooking.com/en/travel-guide/culture-and-cuisine/phu-quoc-restaurants-with-beautiful-view.html

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Admire Halong Bay with cable car system

Together Halong bay cruises, visitors will also have interesting experiences in Halong bay with the unique tourism products - Queen cable car system in Sun World Halong Park. 

Halong cable car systerm

The cable system achieved two world records: the largest cabin in the world with 230 people / cabin and the cable with the highest pilaster, 188,88m height of T1 cable pilaster.

Queen cable car has 2 cabins with transport capacity of 2,000 passengers / hour. The cable car is hang cross the Cua Luc Bay gateway, connects Bai Chay beach and Ba Deo mountain (Hon Gai - Halong City). With cable car's journey, visitors will enjoy great moments while watching from above Halong Bay, a world of water and stone.

Sun Wheel - highlight of Halong's night

After about 5 minutes in the cable car, visitors come to the end of the cable car system - Ba Deo mountain (Hon Gai - Halong city). Sun Wheels is located on the hilltop, 215m high over the sea level and has 64 cabins. When participating in this game visitors will have the opportunity to explore Halong with a new vision that is further and higher than the cable car. In evening, visitors will be enchanted by stunning and shimmering beauty of this heritage city while seeing it from the Sun Wheels. This is also the highlight of Halong's night.

Besides the cable car system, visiting the waxwork museum is also an interesting experience for visitors. Here tourists have the chance to face world's celebrities in many fields such as science, politics, arts, sports, military .... in which highlights are: US President - Obama with a friendly image, the great scientist - Einstein, the legendary - Steve Jobs'...

                                                                                       Waxwork museum - Obama President wax statue

Recommended ticket price: Adult Price: VND 300,000/ticket, children form 1 m- 1.3 m: VND 200,000 /ticket, children under 1 meter: free (Prices include package for all cable car, sun wheel and entertainment area on Ba Deo hill)

Now visitors traveling to Halong, in addition to seeing the world natural heritage, have more experience. With the impressive and unique experience, Sun World Halong Park promises to be a new tourism product contributing to social economic development of Quang Ninh Province and eastern north of the country.

Source : https://www.halong-bay-tours.com/travel-guide/things-to-do/admire-halong-bay-with-cable-car-system.html

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Banh Mi Pho - A new fast food in Saigon

Certainly, no one can tell all kinds of breads in Vietnam because each region has the different "variations" styles. With pho bread (Banh Mi Pho), this dish was a mix of picky flavor of noodle and quickness of bread .

The pho bread looks like a regular hamburger, but a big difference has seen in the crust. By creation, chef of Ro22 makes the pho bread with crusts having fragrant smell of pho. Bread flour is mixed with 22 spices used in noodle soup, so it takes more time and skills to make the crust than other types of crust.

Undergo several stages and be molded at the hands of bakers, spices is absorbed into flour, after baking, the crust of the bread was not only fragrant, delicious, crunchy, but also has a special smell of Vietnamese Pho inside .

Vegetables eaten with this bread are basils, corianders and onions instead of lettuces or tomatoes - these herbs are indispensable when eating noodles. Main crumb consists of brisket and plate. Beef which is cooked and sliced in accordance with standard of pho is moderately soft. Just from the first bite of the bread, diners have felt the special taste of pho. The trick is that after clamping the beef, the vegetables, the chef will add a sauce similar as condensed soup cooked from the bones as other common noodle soup uphill, finally a bit of chili sauce is added.

Like many other fast foods, it only takes 1-3 minutes to have a hot loaf of bread with fragrant smell of traditional beef noodle soup. This is a fast food with health benefits because it contains many nutrients as a bowl of pho. You can fully replace "a bowl of pho" by "a loaf of pho bread" in busy days without worries about the quality as the other fast foods.

Pho bread is the perfect combination cuisine of the South and the North: Saigon bread has long been a distinctive brand of the South, also when mentioning Northern cuisine it is the known pho.
Whether this food appeared in Vietnam not long ago, but not only Vietnamese people but a lot of foreign tourists have come to try it. Most of them feel the novelty and charm of the bread. The first shop selling this dish is Ro22, Truong Dinh Street, District 3, HCMC. With trips to ho chi minh city or trips from ho chi minh city to mekong delta, visitors will have chance to enjoy this new and delicious food.

Source: https://www.mekong-delta-tours.com/en/travel-guide/foods-and-drinks/banh-mi-pho-a-new-fast-food-in-saigon.html

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Things you should not forget when traveling to beach

A sea travel season is coming soon. It is promised a wonderful summer holiday with dropping between the green sea wave or wandering with friends along the white sand beaches, or enjoying seafood. Sea travel has become so familiar, but before each trip to avoid forgetting the most important things, you should remember the below "gold" tips.

>> Halong cruise tours

1. Sun cream

It is an object being not separation when traveling, especially sailing. So let's put sun cream in an easily accessible location in your luggage.

                                                                             Never forget sun cream in your luggage

Normal sun cream has an SPF from 15 to 45, but when going to beach in summer, you should choose one that has the SPF of between 35 and 45.

You always remember applying sun cream 30 minutes before going to beach so that the sun cream has enough time to take effect. To achieve high efficiency, you should re-apply sun cream every hour.

In additions to sun cream, you should use moisturizer after exposure to sunlight to make your skin soft and smooth. It also helps to restore your skin after a day of exposure to sunlight.

2. Slippers

                                                                                         Slippers - a gift for your foot on beach

The type of high heels is not a close friend of the beach. You need the kind of lightweight sandals to walk on beach.

3. Swimwear

                                                                                                Why do you choose a sexy bikini?

Going to beach without swimwear is like plowing without buffalo! Of course, you can rent but it will not hygienic. So, you do not ever forget swimwear. Depending on your body, you can choose a suitable bikini or one-piece swimsuits. However, a bikini is always the perfect choice.

4. Towels

It is inconvenient if after swimming, you go back the beach and walk with a wet body. So let's prepare a big towel to help you wrap around.

5. Sunglasses, broad-brimmed hat

                                                                              Sunglasses and broad-brimmed hat for a perfect beach holiday

Your scalp can also be hurt if you are under the sun too long, so you do not forget to bring a wide-brimmed hat to protect your face and hair. Sunglasses will not only protect your eyes but also help reduce the appearance of wrinkles around the eyes.

 

Source : https://www.halong-bay-tours.com/travel-guide/travel-tips/things-you-should-not-forget-when-traveling-to-beach.html

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20 experiences you remember forever in Hoi An

With Hoi An old town tours, cycling around the old town, dropping flower lights, enjoying specialties ... are things you should try to feel the world heritage site in Quang Nam.

1. Cycle to explore the old town: the quarter is not too broad, stunning ancient architecture is reason why many travelers choose the bicycle as the main means to explore Hoi An.

Cycling around Hoi An town

2. Eat a cup of sweet gruel roadside: Hoi An is famous for sweet corn gruel, sweet green bean gruel, sweet black bean gruel, sweet lotus seed gruel... These dishes are not expensive and have sweet and pleasant taste.

3. Have breakfast in markets with local specialties: Morning dishes include Quang noodles, cao lầu, water fern cake ... After eating, you should walk around the market to discover the local fruits and vegetables, folk cakes ...

4. Enjoy the world's most delicious bread in Hoi An - Phuong's bread. Here the bread has small shape, and tapered ends. Ram meat is the main ingredient. Highlights of Phuong's bread is the delicious and special crumb which does not lose the taste of the cake after 2-4 hours.

Hoi An Bread

5. Drink coffee at street shops: The coffee of these shops is usually contained in low glass cups. Milk coffee is usually divided into 3 levels including milk, coffee and ice. When drinking, visitors stir lightly so that they dissolve.

6. Cloth in the old town: Many tourists travelling to Hoi An affirmed that clothes sewed here are beautiful. Just a few hours after you ask, tailors will finish sewing the clothes you like. Even if you can not wait, just leave your measure and address, the shop will send the product to your hands.

7. Swim on Cua Dai beach and enjoy fresh seafood. Additionally, you can also go to beach in the evening to watch the shimmering beach under the oil lamp.

8. Read book in An Bang Beach - one of the beautiful pristine beaches of Vietnam voted by CNN.

Sailling on Thu Bon river

9. Take a boat on the Thu Bon River, see the gorgeous sand dunes, smell the scent of rice, watch mountains ... Also in evening, you can have dinner with friends, sing and play the guitar on a boat floating on river. This is also an interesting experience.

10. Visit Tra Que vegetable village, learn the characteristics of local vegetables, watch the cows graze or join fun buffalo riding services .

11. Visit Kim Bong carpentry village in Cam Kim, far away Hoi An a boat trip. Here, you will hear story of the artisan telling that his father were invited by Nguyen kings to the capital to build and renovate the building.

12. Explore Cam Ha flower village - a traditional flower village of Hoi An. Coming the village, you will feel local people graceful, lovely and hospitable.

13. Travel to Thanh Ha pottery village far away 3 km from Hoi An. In 16th-17th century, Thanh Ha was famous for pottery, and terracotta. At that time, Thanh Ha's products are exchanged throughout almost of provinces in the central.

14. Thanh Nam fishing village is also one of the traditional villages in Hoi An. Here, you can sightseeing both the fishing village and Cua Dai beach by a boat or a basket boat.

                                                                                                          Visit fishing village

15. Go to Cu Lao Cham Island - a group of islands in Tan Hiep, Hoi An City, far away Cua Dai beach 18 km in the east. It is known for charming beaches, ancient buildings, coral reefs and many species of valuable seafoods.

16. Stroll around the ancient town: From 17 pm daily, the main street in the old town are attached a restricted table for vehicles. Places to visit include Tran Phu Street, the Japanese bridge, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street, Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Bach Dang street, Phung Hung old house, Quang Dong Assembly hall, Chinese assembly halls ...

17. Enjoy the dishes in small markets along the river on sunset: The main dish here is cao lầu, mango bread, Quang noodles... There are not many dishes in menu, the quality of cuisine is not special, however, many tourists choose this place for eating and watching the flow of people.

18. Drink coffee in the bar with river views. During the day, tourists will have time to watch the old houses, or can ride leisurely cycle. At night, tourists will have chance to see lanterns, flower boats, bustling flow of people ...

19. Drop flower lights: On 1st and 15th of the month, Hoi An organizes the flower light festival. However, the flower lights are sold on most of the days of the month. You can buy, and drop across the river to the wish.

                                                                                            Drop Flower Lights on Thu Bon river

                                                                                                              Flower lights on river

20. Take photos: Main color of the old town is warm yellow so whether you choose to shoot in any style, the photos are beautiful and soulful.

Source : https://www.vietnamtourbooking.com/en/travel-guide/travel-experience/20-experiences-you-remember-forever-in-hoi-an.html

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