*These are indicative prices and are subject to change over times*
WHAT ABOUT VIETNAM
Capital: Hanoï
Largest City: Ho Chi Minh Ville
Official language: Vietnamese
Population: Over 94 millions as of 2016
Religion: Mainly Vietnamese Folk
Political system: One-party Communist state
Currency: Vietnamese Dong
Time zone: UTC+7
WHAT ABOUT TRAVELING VIETNAM
Wet season: May to October
Best season to travel: February to April and August to Octobe
Visa: It depends on your nationality. There is a 2 weeks visa-exempt and a one month e-visa costs around 25$ USD for most countries. Make sure to check out the latest info on the Immigration Website.
Hostel: Usually as cheap as 2€-4€ / 2.5$-5$ / 65K-120K VND for a bed in a dorm. It does not make sense to recommend a hostel for each destination. Prices change on a daily basis. Make sure to check out the latest price on Booking, Agoda or Hostelworld.
Food: Usually as cheap as 1€ to 2€ (1.5$ to 2.5$ USD) for a basic streetfood meal (Fried rice, fried noodles and cheap food specials).
Food specials: Pho, Banh Mi, Bun Bo Nam Bo, Bun Cha Ta, Cao Lau, and many more!
Motorbike rental: Usually as cheap as 1.5€ to 2€ for an automatic scooter (2$ to 2.5$ USD).
Transportation: Buses are usually as cheap as 7€ to 12€ (8.5$ to 14.5$ USD). Trains are cheap and much safer than buses but slower and less comfortable ; it’s quite bumpy and you won’t be sleeping overnight.
Bargaining: High. You can pretty much bargain everything from a bottle of water to a room.
Budget: From 500€ to 650€ for a month (600$ to 800$ USD)
VIETNAMESE BASICS
Hello: Xin chào
Thank you: Cám ơn
Yes: Vang (north), Da (south)
No: Khong
Goodbye: Tạm biệt
TRAVEL APPS AND WEBSITES
GPS: An amazing offline GPS application that highlights hostel, food and even the tiniest hiking paths in your area (Maps.me )
Hostels: Use filters to sort out the cheapest price of the day. There is usually no need to book in advance. You might find cheaper accomodations on-site. In some remote areas, these are not advertised online. (Booking, Agoda, Hostelworld)
Currency converter: Highly useful for your first few days stepping in a new country (XE Currency, Easy Currency Converter)
Meeting people: Couchsurfing integrate a new ‘people around me’ feature. You will usually meet plenty of people at your hostel but it does happen sometines that you are the only one there. Tinder is not ‘only’ what you think! More and more people use it to meet locals or travelers to explore a destination (Couchsurfing, Tinder)
Money sharing: If traveling by group, Tricount is an amazing application for organizing group expenses (Tricount)
TRAVEL TIPS
Backpack: Pack as light as you can. Ten kilos should be a maximum. You won’t need these 15 tshirts and 5 pairs of shoes, will you? Remember that you will carry all this weight on your shoulders. There is one more thing. Checking in with a carry-on luggage only is way cheaper!
Cash: Always keep a 50€ or 50$ USD banknote in your wallet. You never now what might happen. It can be really helful in case your credit card get blocked for a few days. Never ever wait to run out of cash before withdrawing in a local currency! Before leaving a country, try to get rid of coins and small banknotes. You won’t be able to exchange them later!
Toilet paper: Yeah, you can laugh at this one. However, be aware that most Asian countries do not use any. You better get one roll in your backpack!
TRAVEL ITINERARY
