What to Never/Always do when you visit Vietnam

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Cyclo ride with a local friend. Hue, Vietnam

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uploaded by Saigon Shane

Traveling to Vietnam as a tourist is not the same as living here. You need to get "up to speed" quickly with the way things actually happen in Vietnam. The companion article Living in Vietnam explains some "Why's", here's a few "What" and "How" suggestions.

NEVER treat hotel staff in Vietnam in a business-like manner. While hotel staff in Vietnam will conduct themselves as professionally as their training allows, you will be cheating yourself out of a wealth of valuable local knowledge if you do not try to get to know at least a couple of them. Try to cultivate a 'personal connection' with at least one or two of the Vietnamese hotel staff.

ALWAYS get to know the hotel's Vietnamese staff personally, well, as best you can anyway. Ask about their name and what it means (all Vietnamese names have meanings), especially how to pronounce it correctly, where they are originally from in Vietnam, their parents and family, their personal interests or hobbies, where/how they learned English, etc. Greet them by name every time you see them. Anything which will establish that 'personal connection'. When you need some help or information, make them your "go to guy/gal". If they themselves cannot help, they will certainly do their utmost to find out for you or connect you with somebody they think can help you.

NEVER jump into the nearest taxi or onto the closest cyclo/xe ôm* without negotiating the price first. While it is law in Vietnam for all taxis to be metered, there are still some less than ethical taxi drivers who will use your naivety to skin you for a few extra bucks. Cyclo and xe ôm riders will sometimes also use your ignorance to their own advantage if they can. Those unethical taxi drivers should be considered for what they are, con artists. Interestingly I've never heard of female taxi drivers doing this. I'm sure they must be out there, but I've never heard of them. However, the cyclo and xe ôm drivers, for one reason or another, usually have no access to the real economy and few other means of making a living, so they can be given a little more sympathetic leeway.

ALWAYS use a reputable taxi company such as Mai Linh, Vinasun or Future. If you want to take a cyclo or xe ôm, call on the services of your new hotel staff friend. Ask them how much they or a local Vietnamese resident would pay to go where you want to go and do what you want to do. Use this knowledge when you negotiate with the cyclo or xe ôm rider.

Some foreigners in Vietnam suggest you ask the Vietnamese hotel staff to arrange a cyclo or xe ôm rider for you, and/or to negotiate the price on your behalf. I don't recommend this for two reasons: it puts your new Vietnamese friend in an uncomfortable social position (both Vietnamese parties know you are probably wealthier than all their personal assets combined, but you want to use one of those parties to deny the other any opportunity to gain some economic advantage for themselves from your relative wealth); and the first reason encourages hotel staff to work in cahoots with cyclo and xe ôm drivers to setup price-fixing and kick-back scams. Better to use the inside knowledge from your Vietnamese hotel staff friend and do your own negotiating.

NEVER lose count of the drinks you have consumed in a bar. Most bars in Vietnam will run a restaurant-style tab system whereby your drinks are only tallied up when you call for the check. If you have had a particularly merry evening, you may discover the check is much larger than you anticipated. Heated discussions usually ensue and believe me, the patron never wins!

ALWAYS contribute to the cash register every time you purchase a beverage. The staff will plead with you that this is not necessary. Ignore them and pay as you go. This will take any potential doubts or discrepancies out of the equation and avoid any possibly harmful confrontations - which you will never win anyway.

NEVER step backwards when crossing a road unless, of course, you enjoy adorning your body with severe, deep-muscle bruising, donating skin to road surfaces and wearing tyre tread imprints on your forehead!

ALWAYS raise an arm high in the air and shuffle backwards if you need to avoid a mobile four-wheeled object on the roads (highly recommended). Vietnamese motorbike riders set their vision about 20-30 feet in front of them and are incredibly adept at 'Just In Time' swerves to avoid pedestrians. Move slowly and intentionally and have faith in the rider's skills - they have probably encountered 40-50 similar instances already that day!

NEVER accept the first price you are offered from any tout, vendor, stall holder, hawker or peddler. The price they offer will almost certainly be about 100% above the going rate for a local. Rightly or wrongly, accurate or not, foreigners are invariably perceived to be rich by any local Vietnamese standards.

ALWAYS endeavor to find out the local price of everything before you venture into any purchasing transaction. Use this knowledge when you bargain the price.

ALWAYS bargain when there is no price tag on an item. If the first price offering is $10, you should counter with $5. Take note of how much the price comes down at the second offering and raise your bid by 50% of that amount. So if the second offering is $8, you should bid $6. If it comes down again to $7, hit back with $6.50. Hold your nerve and stand fast. Be prepared to walk away and come back another day to do it all over again ... but it will be miraculously cheaper second time around.

ALWAYS bring an open mind, eyes and ears ... but that should be the same for travel anywhere, not just Vietnam.

* A "xe ôm" is a motorcycle taxi.