Is it safe to travel To Vietnam? Individuals who have headed out to Vietnam love the nation for some valid justifications: energetic yet conventional urban communities, interesting history and culture, amazing scenes and cordial individuals, and perfect dishes… Vietnam appears to have something for everybody. When venturing out abroad to another objective, individuals regularly get some information about the wellbeing part of it. When going on a Vietnam modified visit, you could never need to get injured, or harmed and consistently need to limit the dangers. When all is said in done, Vietnam is one of the non-high-hazard places for most vacationer to visit. In any case, things are not generally great. Vietnam, similar to the remainder of the world, likewise has its own issues with tricks and disturbances that focus at sightseers. There are accounts of explorers being ripped-off, having something taken or being defrauded during their excursions in Vietnam. Be that as it may, it does not merit passing up a great opportunity the astonishing experience of Vietnam visit bundles as a result of only a couple of untrustworthy individuals. We share here some recommendation of being careful and limiting the dangers when travel in Vietnam.
Check the travel alerts and warnings
Before traveling to any country, not only Vietnam, it is recommended to check the travel risks, alerts or warnings from your home country’s embassy. They are likely to have the most correct assessments of risks that come from a variety of sources. Currently, there are no warfare, potential political conflicts, threat of terrorism or civil unrest that can cause significant risks for traveler in Vietnam. So it is safe to travel in Vietnam for any traveler, just need to be mindful about the minor scams and annoyances.
Check the health risks
Before traveling to Vietnam, it would be a good idea to visit your doctor for advice of the appropriate vaccines and get some medicines for the common scenarios such as getting bite from insects or diarrhea from eating strange foods. It is also recommended to bring your prescriptions during the Vietnam customized tour in case Vietnam lacks the medication that you need.
Remember not to drink tap water when travel in Vietnam, just bottled water. That is the most common question about the health risk in Vietnam from tourists: Is it safe to drink tap water?
Prepare the back-up plan
Save the contact number of your embassy or bookmark their website on your phone in case of emergency. At any time when you have concerns about your safety on the holidays in Vietnam, consider your embassy as the great place to ask for support.
Make another itinerary (can be a basic one of which city you will visit and when you will be there) then inform your family or close friends at home about it. If anything happens, they could help to alert the local authorities on your behalf.
Before leaving for your Vietnam private tour, scan the important documents and email it to yourself. Print a copy of your passport or have a photo of it on your phone in case you need the passport’s details. An electronic back-up of travel insurance, flight tickets and reservations are also advised.
Advice while traveling
Traveling around means you will have to move your belongings from one place to another. Let’s travel light, just take what you need is a good advice to avoid your own risk of losing things. Always draw enough attention to yourself, keep valuables out of sight, do not flaunt wealth, dress and travel in modesty. Remember to separate important things in different bags and do not keep things in the back pockets. Stay away from the crowded areas can be a good tip for the risk of losing belongings.
Travelers on Vietnam custom tour can be overcharged while shopping or using taxi or other service. To be safe, always ask for recommendations from the tour guide of hotel staff before shopping or going somewhere. Using service from reputable companies is a good way to avoid being overcharged.
Using unreliable transportations in Vietnam can expose travelers to the risk of scams or worse, accidents. Spend a little bit more for the private transfer or reliable bus company will help to avoid this risk. Remember things are cheap for a reason normally. Cheap buses often ignore the speed limit to cover as many trips as possible or maximize their profits by carrying more people than the capacity.
Safe and unharmed traveling are priority for any traveler. As long as you know the things that are expecting you on your Vietnam classic tour, you will have a safe and wonderful trip. We hope this guide on safety concerns of Vietnam travel would encourage you to experience the unforgettable memories and have a worry-free moments in Vietnam.
Please also note below:
DOS
– There is no different between greetings in Vietnam and in western countries, no cultural formalities that as a foreigner you would be expected to know or practice.
– Vietnamese nationals dress conservatively. Despite the hot climate, it’s best not to show off too much skin. If you do, especially girls, you’ll only draw stares from the locals or they may feel uneasy.
– You should dress well when visiting pagodas. DO NOT wear shorts or tatty beer t-shirts. Shoes and hat must be put off when you want to enter inside presbytery. If unsure, just follow what the locals do.
– Drink plenty of bottled water, especially when walking around sightseeing, due to hot weather. No need to carry huge bottles around with you because there are plenty of 24/7 stores in which you can find kinds of water.
– Keep your cash, credit cards, airline tickets and other valuables in a safe place.
– Travel with recommended tour agencies. Even if you plan to buy tickets when in country, research your journey a little first on the Internet. Whenever you want to choose any tour agency, you should refer their information online in advance.
– Pay attention when crossing busy roads. It may appear like an insurmountable quest, but crossing busy streets in Vietnam simply requires common sense. Because of this challenges, some travelers usually wonder Is it safe to travel to Vietnam? Take it easy! Let’s keep an eye out for oncoming traffic and maintain a steady pace once crossing streets. Remember, just cross the street on white line.
DONTS
– Wear too much jewelry or take a bag with you. Although it is highly unusual to find violent crime in Vietnam, but petty crime is more apparent. In case you have a bag, or tout a digital camera around your neck, you are a potential target. Do not facilitate for them!
– When taking a ride by motorbike taxi (called xe om), make sure your bag, if any, is not on display or easy to grab. Although bag snatches are still rare, you should be aware. It raises the probability immensely if you are tailing a camera or a laptop in the wind.
– Please don’t wear singlet, shorts, skirts or dresses which are above your knees, or revealing clothes when visiting temples or pagodas.
Is Vietnam a cheap country?
Beside the question “Is it safe to travel to Vietnam?”, people also ask about the price. In fact, Vietnam is getting more expensive year by year, but it is still a cheap country to travel. As well as nearby country like Thailand and Cambodia, cost in Vietnam are comparable. Price are acceptable but in case you think it is expensive, you can bargain.
Hotels in Vietnam are numerous and you can find them in every province. Thanks to the development of economy, hotels in Vietnam have many type, from luxury to standard. Take a tour online with the phrase “Hotels in Vietnam”, you will receive lots of recommendation with diverse prices, you can choose some of them basing on your budget.
Do you need vaccinations to visit Vietnam?
Vaccination include cover against the childhood diseases (Tetanus and Diphtheria, Measles, Mumps and Rubella) and the food and water borne diseases, including Typhoid and Hepatitis A are recommended for most short-term travelers.
In case you wish a long period staying or trekking in the Vietnamese countryside, you should be also suggested vaccinations to cover against Hepatitis B and Rabies.
The biggest risks when travel to Vietnam tend to be associated with food and water borne diseases, mosquito bites and the traffic. However, almost all hotels in Vietnam has sprayed periodic mosquito so you don’t need to worry about disease spreading from mosquitoes. In general, you need to care at all times to ensure a good, safe holiday.
Is Vietnam safe to travel now?
Although there are more than 1000 infected cases found (according to the statistic at the end of 21st Sept 2020), 941 patients were cured and have left the hospital already, others are believed that they will be cured soon and all are in stable condition. Different from the difficult general situation in many other countries, especially the USA, India, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico where the number of infected people and also death is increasing every day, the Vietnam government has isolated all Vietnamese citizens who come back from overseas these days (through some aid flights) and the number of newly infected cases is limited a lot now.
As an action to prevent the development of a Coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam, the Vietnamese government restricted all international flights and shut down all border gates, no one is allowed to in and out the country except for diplomatic condition and aid flights. Besides, the government also encourages locals not to congregate, especially in the public place; besides, many big events were canceled to avoid the congregation; therefore, the possibility of spreading Covid-19 in Vietnam is limited at the lowest level. In fact, in this period, although the number of visitors to Vietnam declines rapidly, still many tourists are traveling at popular destinations like Hanoi, Halong, Sapa, Ninh Binh, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City, etc. and they do not really worry about the Coronavirus as it seems like the outbreak has not happened in Vietnam and the number of infected cases is really low (even lower than the number of seasonal flu cases in the United State and Australia). In addition, as the country overcome the second outbreak successfully, from the middle of this September, some international flights were opened between Vietnam and some Asian countries where the disease has been controlled well such as Japan (Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh – Tokyo), China (Ho Chi Minh – Guang Zhou), Korea (Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh – Seoul, Taiwan (Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh – Taipei), Laos and Cambodia. And please note that, at the moment, although some international economic flights are opened, the priority entry includes only diplomatic cases, civil servants, experts, senior workers, employees of key projects, and their family members.
As the international flights between Vietnam and other countries have been being opened gradually, if you are planning to come to Vietnam soon, there are many things that you have to prepare to enter the country and also prevent Coronavirus during your trip. Please take a look at some must-prepare things below:
• Vietnamese Visa: you should contact the local Vietnam diplomatic mission soon enough to get the instruction for the Vietnamese Visa application during this time.
• Negative RT-PCR certificate for SARS-CoV-2: this document must be issued by the local health authority within 3 days before boarding and certified by Vietnam diplomatic missions in your locality.
• Confirmation of your quarantine zone:you can get this document from a qualified quarantined address such as a public house, factory, cooperated company or hotel, or military centralized isolation area, to confirm that you will be quarantined there after arriving in Vietnam.
• Vietnam Health Declaration: this form can be filled online before or/and when you arrive in Vietnam, the airlines and immigration staff will help you with that.
• Medical mask: if you are an eco-lover, you can bring along 1-2 cloth masks and wash them every day. On the other hand, as the price of the 1-use medical masks in Vietnam is back to normal when the outbreak has limited, you can bring some masks during your flights and when you enter Vietnam in the airport; after that, you can buy a box of 1- use medical masks in any pharmacies in Vietnam at the price of VND 50,000 – 70,000/box (about USD 2 – 3/box).
•Hand sanitizer: WHO recommends that washing hands is one of the most important and effective ways to be prevented from the Coronavirus. However, it is not easy to find clean water and soap whenever you need to wash your hand, therefore, 1-2 bottles of hand sanitizer are a must in your travel luggage. Just like the medical mask, you can buy hand sanitizer easily in supermarkets, convenience stores, or pharmacies at very reasonable prices now as people here no longer hunt for it; on the other hand, before you can buy hand sanitizer in Vietnam, you should bring along at least one small bottle to use during your flight. Some reputable hand sanitizer brands that you can find in Vietnam are Lifebuoy, Green Cross, Kleen, and On1.
• Vitamins: everyone knows that vitamins can help a lot to increase the resistance of the human body; therefore, you should bring along multivitamins (especially vitamin C) and also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables during your trip.
• A bottle of water: water is important to keep your throat wet and prevent the virus attack it, it also can help to detoxify for your body. You can bring along your bottle or just simply buy one bottle of water in Vietnam and reuse it for other days.
Some other things that you should note-down to prepare for your trip to Vietnam:
• As to get the air-ticket and also process the check-in procedure at the airport, you must provide sufficient information such as your individual’s name and contact phone number while in Vietnam; the address and phone number to contact the quarantine facility in Vietnam; the phone number of the organization that picks you up at the airport.
• Right before your flight, you must install the “Vietnam Health Declaration” & “Bluezone” apps and fill a mandatory electronic medical declaration. Airlines staff will measure your body temperature and they can refuse to carry passengers whose body temperature exceeds 37.5 degrees Celcius.
• During the flight, you must wear a medical mask.
• If you plan to stay in Vietnam under 14 days and you are one of these cases: investors/experts/skilled workers/business managers and their relatives and entities as agreed with each country, or guests entering for diplomatic and official purposes and those in contact with experts and visitors entering with diplomatic and official purposes during their entry and work in Vietnam, so you don’t have to be quarantined in 14 days. On the other hand, if you want to stay longer and not belong to any category as mentioned, you must be quarantined in at least 14 days when coming to Vietnam during this time.
Some studies said that the Coronavirus is strongest at the temperature of under 25oC and it is easy to see that most of the infected cases of Coronavirus were found in the North of Vietnam where shares the border with China and has the cold and wet weather these days. Therefore, if you want to travel Vietnam in this period, you should choose to visit the South and the South Central of Vietnam where the average temperature is about 30oC, the weather is sunny, warm, and dry (which is not suitable for the existence of Coronavirus); some popular destinations that you can visit here are: Danang, Hoi An, Mui Ne, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, and Phu Quoc Island.
Is it safe to travel to Vietnam? In conclusion, Vietnam is an extremely safe country to travel. The police keep a pretty tight grip on social order and there are rarely reports of muggings, robberies or sexual assaults. Scams and hassles do exist, particularly in many tourist city such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. Just need to notice carefully, you will keep yourself avoid unnecessary trouble.
