hi everyone welcome back to my channel my name is vanvu and today i'm gonna react to a video
called seven things not to do in vietnam by kel mckinley and thank you kel for letting me
react to your video and by reading the title i think it's going to be a very helpful and very
informative video for people who plan on going to vietnam
and as a vietnamese person i'm very curious to see what people think of vietnam and maybe i can add
something in this video in terms of cultural tips alright so without further ado let's get started
i love the music very catchy
so good oh this is saigon to preface this video i've lived in vietnam for about a year
and there's something really special about this culture this is ho chi minh city whether it's
the rich culinary history behind their street food scene or their explosive sense of entrepreneurship
there's something special about this place but that being said having lived here for a year
i've picked up on some things that you might want to know so without further ado here are
seven things not to do in vietnam let's get into it i really love the bird's eye view here
very nice shots number one good job don't stop while crossing the street now traffic in vietnam
especially the big cities is absolutely insane and it's hard to wrap your head around visiting
for the first time now you'll notice that when a lot of people cross the street they don't falter
they set a course and they walk in and that's because the way that traffic works in vietnam
it's the motorbikes or the car's responsibility to accommodate you into their flow so you'll notice
that you can cross almost anywhere i agree with that oh my gosh so traffic is actually my first
uh reverse culture shock when i moved back to vietnam i was so afraid of crossing the road
i don't know why even though i was born and raised here but some of my foreign friends they just love
the traffic here they said is chaotic but somewhat very organized and they just love the freedom uh
of like hopping on a motorbike and just drive anywhere and yeah i don't know but
the traffic in vietnam still chaotic to me where in the street and the motorbikes will
kind of flow around you like a school of fish they're anticipating you continuing
on the line that you're on and they plan accordingly so don't stop at random points
yes don't stop at a random point though like do stop when you don't feel safe but then don't
stop suddenly you know one tip i have for you by practicing crossing the road so many times is that
um just put your hand out like this so you can signal people that you're gonna cross the street
and then after that just go with a predictable pace you know and then
people will swerve around you don't be afraid though i know it's it's gonna be scary at first
but everything is gonna be fine because they drive very slowly sometimes random points
yep that's traffic in vietnam number two don't use taxis and that's because everyone in vietnam
uses a service called grab to get it right yes which is the exact same thing as uber
crap and the best part is that in vietnam they have motorbike grabs which means if you're by
yourself it is by far the easiest way to get around now i'm trying out the uh uber
uh uber moto option for saigon which i have to say is both the fastest the cheapest
and the most fun way to get around the city absolutely most fun way because i think you
can when you um on a look go grab bike you can see the city you can feel the wind and you can
see like everything with your own eye so and it's actually very cheap though so from my
house to juan kim lick uh it's about like six kilometers and it's only like five dollars to
uh get a grab bike there so yeah i think it's pretty affordable to get a grab bike um
as your main transportation in hanoi this will always be the best way to get it or in vietnam
new texas go the financial number three don't be afraid to haggle there are so many street markets
in vietnam that it's impossible not to find yourself in one at some point during your trip
even if an accident and the important thing to remember if you want to buy something here
is that every price is negotiable and they tend to strike a hard bargain especially if
you go to tourist markets like benthan market in saigon you don't want to pay the tourist price
okay uh i okay so um i saw a video recently that there was a guy trying to bargain like 50
off for like a good assured you know and it was so funny um yeah definitely uh try to
bargain when you go to the night market especially like um the bin thai market or
like dalat night market or even like hanoi in hanoi too for me personally i don't usually
bargain for that because i think i don't want to invest a lot of my time and my energy
into uh bargaining and i only save like 50 cents or something so yeah and i think like the locals
they work so hard to to earn that money so i don't usually bargain but yeah a lot of people bargain
but um night market is different because it's for tourists so maybe try to bargain i
i think people set like bargain down like two four forty to fifty percent of the original price uh
ask for the price first before you buy that item to avoid scam so yeah that's another tip for you
number four and this might be the most important one don't skip street food the street food in
vietnam is the most insane food i've ever had both in diversity quality flavor it really has it all
there are so many amazing dishes to try of course all of it is safe to eat and one thing i'd say
about street food in vietnam is try to find some of the lessons oh this is i remember this place
it's actually in saigon and they have the best oh very very good the the vietnamese pizza there
and oh yeah when i went to saigon to that place i learned their marketing strategy they use the what
is that called um complimentary complimentary goods so for example this lady is selling the
vietnamese pizza she's going to sit next to the guy or other woman who sell the soy milk
or the drinks that will go with the vietnamese pizza because you know when people eat they tend
to get thirsty right so it's very very smart of them and i realized that uh as a marketing person
so yeah like when you watch my channel you not only learn about the culture and the
vietnamese food but you can also learn some of the marketing tips so yeah subscribe if it's helpful
number five don't confuse currencies now the vietnamese currency is called dong
which still makes me laugh every time because i have a sense of humor of a 12 year old
and the denominations are huge oh god i swear i didn't do that on purpose for example one
us dollar is the equivalent of about 23 to 24 000 dong with the denominations going
all the way up to 500 000. now because of this the currency can be kind of confusing
with so many zeros after it so make sure to double check what you're handing a vendor
and make sure you're giving them 20 000 and not 200 000 yes so um i think the ten thousand dong
will be confusing with the two hundred thousand dong and the twenty thousand dong will be um
mixed up with the five hundred thousand vietnam dong which is the biggest value of money we have
here biggest currency yeah so like watch out because the ten thousand and the two hundred
thousand they have the same color kind of the same color um just a bit different and the twenty
thousand and the five hundred thousand they both blew so just watch out for that and uh especially
when you come to vietnam and you want to pay the rap driver um by cash uh you should not give them
the big amount of money just break it down you know give them small change like twenty thousand
or like fifty thousand because if you give them the five hundred thousand vietnam don't maybe
they just don't have the money to pay you back so yeah just remember to give them smaller money
number six don't book online now this is surprising for people who travel a lot because
as a general rule it's almost always cheaper to book online and more expensive in person but for
whatever reason in vietnam it's the opposite of that if you go to book a hostel or a hotel
in person the price will always be significantly cheaper than if you booked online i didn't notice
everything not just lodging renting motorbikes going on tours stuff like that so keep it in mind
when you travel there yes actually uh renting a motorbike if you rent a motorbike in person
and you try to bargain they're gonna lower it down for you but i don't know about the hotel
because i always book online because i think that um like the rooms might
be out i don't know but um i always book online so i might try it out i don't know
last but not least number seven don't be afraid talking to locals yeah now the language can be
pretty daunting and you'll find it's hard to communicate with the locals but that does not
mean that you shouldn't interact with them and even if you just learn one word like
cheers which is yo it'll go a little yo they're still unfriendly and open people but the language
barrier doesn't really apply here and i guarantee your trip will be much better if you do yes
don't be afraid to talk to your locals because okay so i have heard of other youtubers or
other foreign friends who said that vietnamese people are not as friendly as thai people thailand
is the land of smiles right vietnamese people are a bit different because when you get to know
them they're actually very warm and very kind so just smile at them first and just initiate the
conversation first and then after that they gotta open up and they're gonna like share their stories
i really love the contents of uh max mcfarland and chris lewis because they are so friendly
to the locals they are not afraid of talking to the to the vietnamese i remember in one of mac's
episode max's episode that he was eating something like intestine and he was reviewing about the meat
and he said it was good and he was nodding and the lady the owner from behind he will she would
just give him more meat without extra charge so yeah vietnamese people are just very kind curious
friendly warm they have very great hospitality so yeah don't be afraid to smile at them
first okay so guys that was it i hope you enjoyed that video if you want to check out more of my
things about these videos you can click on the links on screen now and then that where
i just love the bird's eye view here so beautiful but yeah i think that's
it for the video alright guys so that's the seven things you should not do when you come to vietnam
overall i think this video is very well done you know uh very nice shots of vietnam catchy
music and he um captured pretty much everything in his video so i'm very very happy about that
and for me this is my first time doing reaction video so i don't know what i'm
doing let me know in the comments down below how i did okay and any topics or if you guys
want me to do more reaction videos just let me know in the comments down below too and i hope
my tips and his tips in the video are helpful for those of you who plan on going to vietnam soon
alright so if you like this video don't forget to give a like and don't forget to subscribe
to my channel so you won't miss any videos of vietnamese food and vietnamese culture because
i'm gonna take you guys with me on my journey soon alright so i'll see you guys in the next video bye
you