I'm an going with my girlfriend to Vietnam for the first time this summer. Her parents are from Vietnam and her dad still live there, so we have planned to live with him, and her sisters, for three weeks.
Now I was wondering, what is your experience with Vietnam? I have heard that the customs at the airport is terrible and that you have to slip them some extra money, is that true? How high is the risk that you will fall sick? So just wondering if you have any general advice.
>>1066400
>I have heard that the customs at the airport is terrible and that you have to slip them some extra money, is that true?
That was not my experience, had no problems at all. Maybe avoid looking like a dirty hippie drug smuggler when you arrive...
>How high is the risk that you will fall sick?
You will likely get a case of the runs, depending on where you go you'll need to think about the risks of things like Malaria and Hep, etc.
>>1066400
>I have heard that the customs at the airport is terrible and that you have to slip them some extra money
I have flown to HCMC and Hanoi, and never had that experience. I can't imagine it even happening at the airport because the border part at least is pretty professionally run.
>>1066400
I'm flying to Vietnam for third time now, and customs are fine, people are friendly, its all lies.
Things to look out for:
- Lizards in bed
- Only take official taxi or prepare to pay up double if not tripple
- Exchange money in legit gold shops, not at some market gold shop. Reason: high chance they will slip in some counterfeit bills with real ones and you wont even know.
- Avoid alleys and calm streets. High chance you'll get jumped and brutally robbed. Just stay on busy roads, shouldnt be hard.
Other than that, its a great and safe country. Have fun, dude.
Well my parents are from Vietnam.
So this "extra money" you give these guys for example if your luggage has too much weight and you would usally have to pay taxes. In Vietnam everything is a bit more unofficial so "illegal" things like giving the service people a little tip to avoid that are way more common there.
If you are a foreigner you will probably fall sick because of the intense sun or the strange food depending on your origin. Also the restaurants if you can call them so are usally not very clean .
All in all Vietnam tends to be very full in the cities and rather relaxed in the countryside. If her parents consider you as part of the family they will love you, because family is very important there. In the big cities you may notice some places are not as clean as they should be especially the crowded places.
Oh and in terms of nature Vietnam is very beautiful. The large area of beaches are a perfect place to swim. You´ll see strange animals such as lizards as well as plants everywhere.
So in which part of Vietnam will you visit ? since Vietnam differs from north to south. Is there family rather rich or poor ? If you want to know more about there culture or behaving rules i can tell you also somthing.
>>1066591
>Avoid alleys and calm streets
>it's a safe country
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
