Vietnam, a country of breathtaking landscapes and delicious cuisine, is a place that attracts tourists like bees to honey. But before you dive into the whirlwind of this exotic adventure, let us share a few warnings and our story. For while Vietnam tempts with colors, sounds, and aromas, it also harbors traps that can turn your dream vacation into an unforgettable struggle with local realities. From the street traffic that resembles more of a dance of death than proper chaos, to the mysteries of street food that can surprise even the most daring foodies – get ready for a journey that will certainly not be boring. Read on to find out what to pay attention to before you set off to conquer Vietnam and before you realize that “something like a bad travel experience” truly exists.
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Street Traffic in Vietnam
Street traffic in Vietnam is a phenomenon that could be described as a symphony of chaos, where each instrument plays its own tune, and nature itself is the conductor. In cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, navigating the streets is not just a matter of getting from point A to point B; it’s also a true test of willpower and nerve.
First of all, motorization in Vietnam has its own rules, which seem to be the result of some clumsy social experiment. Scooters dominate the roads in mind-boggling numbers – one might think it’s not a city, but an endless parade of two-wheelers. After all, who needs a car when you can fit the entire family, a dog, and groceries on one scooter? Vietnamese people prove that personal space is a relative concept, and clustering together in a small mass of people on two wheels is a national identity sign.
Traffic rules? Well, they are more suggestions than regulations. A green light is merely an encouragement to proceed, while a red light is just a minor obstacle. Crossing the street is a true art. You simply have to walk forward with unwavering confidence, and the rest of the vehicles will magically adapt. It’s like a dance where there is no room for hesitation – if you stop, you might become a target for the approaching scooters.
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Phone Theft
If you think holding your phone in your hand while walking through a crowded city is a good idea, then you must be a new record-holder in ignoring reality. Vietnamese riders on scooters are true masters of their craft. Their skills in “snatching” phones from tourists’ hands could be compared to circus art. It goes something like this: a tourist, wide-eyed, admires the panorama, and they, like lightning, appear beside him, grab your phone, and vanish in the blink of an eye.
Don’t be fooled by appearances – this is not a scene from an action movie; it’s everyday life in many Vietnamese cities. Therefore, it’s best to keep your phone close to your body, and ideally put it in your pocket when not in use. You might want to take a photo, but do you really want your memories of Vietnam to be linked to a dramatic scooter chase?
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Be Careful When Exchanging Money
Vietnamese people, known for their entrepreneurial spirit, have practically turned currency exchange into an art form, and their favorite “tool” in this game is the dong – their local currency, which, let’s admit, is quite difficult to count – 1 US dollar is about 25,377.49 dongs. Dongs are monetary units of such low value that counting them resembles counting grains of rice. Imagine you want to exchange 100 US dollars. You receive a stack of bills. At some point, while counting all these bills, you might feel like you’re in a roulette game: “Did I really get what I should have?” And here’s what happens – while you struggle with long strings of numbers, a clever Vietnamese, with a smile on his face, might “trim” your profits a bit by changing the rate to something more “profitable” for himself.
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Accommodation Bookings
And here we share our story. Buckle up and listen:
We land in Ho Chi Minh at 6 PM. “Full of energy” (jet lag) and curiosity, we wait for our luggage when suddenly we get a message from Booking — our reservation is canceled due to the problem with the payment card. “OK, it happens,” we think. We immediately try to book the same apartment using another card, but after a moment, another notification comes — another cancellation.
Both cards worked perfectly fine before, so we wonder what went wrong. The Booking hotline cannot help us, so while waiting for our luggage, we decide to book a new place. We did it! We order a Grab and head towards our new accommodation.
We are halfway there when suddenly we receive a message from the place owner: reservation canceled because they have some system error — the apartment is not available at all. From the taxi, we quickly try to find something else. We choose a random hotel, change our route, and pray that this time everything goes according to plan.
Finally, we arrive. The apartment is available, we can breathe a sigh of relief. We only dream of getting some sleep and recharging our batteries before another day in this chaotic city.
The adventures have already begun — we hope they will only get better from here!
Two days later, we shared another story on our social media – FB and IG:
Saigon – a city that lives at a pace only locals understand. Crossing the street is a fight for survival (thousands of scooters rushing from every direction!), and the omnipresent chaos is as natural here as the smell of pho in the morning. But do you know what else turned out to be chaotic? Our (another! third) accommodation reservation.
It started innocently – the first two hotel reservations were canceled. A bit tired, a bit resigned, we booked a random hotel for two nights.
After a short breather, we decided it was time for something more comfortable and found an apartment in the center:
rating 9.2 on Booking,
over 320 reviews,
non-refundable booking option.
It looked promising and legitimate. We were convinced that this time everything would go smoothly.
First problem: “No contact with the property management company”
The management company was silent as a tomb, not responding to messages on WhatsApp or our calls on the day of check-in. We approached the booked apartment. The security man, seeing our stress mixed with anger, tried to call them himself. No response.
With no other option, we sat on a bench outside 7-Eleven, wondering what to do next. Adrian called Booking, and a few minutes later, we received our first message from the manager: “The apartment you booked is not available. Can you cancel the reservation?”
Well, we couldn’t because the option was non-refundable and we were already on site. Then they offered us an alternative—a bigger apartment, but… they would lock one room. We thought: Fair enough.
Second problem: “Your reservation will be canceled in 2 hours”
After two nights, when Adrian was still awake at 2 AM, he received a message through Booking. It read, “Your reservation will be canceled in two hours if you do not complete the card details.” What? We paid for 4 nights in advance on the first day! A call to Booking clarified the matter—the manager was trying to cancel our reservation. It turned out that… this was not the first time he had pulled such a stunt. We sent the payment confirmation and went to sleep because a trip to the Mekong Delta awaited us in the morning.
Why are such things so popular in Vietnam? We have our theories, but maybe someone among you knows more? Or maybe you’ve experienced similar adventures with bookings?
Saigon teaches flexibility – on the street, in conversations, and, as it turns out, also in accommodation bookings. But that doesn’t change the fact that this city captivates and fascinates. Even if sometimes you have to bend over backward to make everything “work out.”
We considered sharing the names of the places we booked. We received many private messages asking for this information. One of the apartments that interested us at the time was no longer available two weeks after our unfortunate experience.
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