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