Something you may want to know before traveling Vietnam!
Vietnam is a place that is worth visiting with a lot of tourist attractions. But Vietnam, as any developing country in the world, has its own problems. I admit that. Recently, I have heard two stories from my foreign friends about the troubles they got in Vietnam. I'm Vietnamese, I know my country and I feel really sorry since I didn't warn them anything before. I think I have a part of the responsibility for the troubles my friends got in Vietnam. So I decided to be honest and write about something you may want to know before traveling Vietnam then you can be ready for it.
The first story
Yesterday, when my friend had just landed in Noi Bai Airport, he was trying to book a Grab taxi to go hotel. When he was waiting for the taxi, a strange man wearing Grab uniform approached my friend and said that he also a grab driver, and just asked my friend not need to wait, just show him the address and he would take same price, no more expensive. My friend was ok with that since he had been waiting for booked Grab taxi quite long. he got on the strange taxi, everything kept going on as normally as ever. But after getting out of airport area, the driver brought my friend to some deserted place. There were several guys waiting over there already. And they took every cash in my friend's wallet. Fortunately, He hadn't exchanged a lot of money. and those bad guys didn't have weapon. Finally, my friend got hotel safely after he was robbed 6 million Vietnam dong.
I was really shocked when he told me that story. I have never thought that tourist may face a dangerousness like that in Vietnam. And even me, if I face that trouble, I can't do anything either. But honestly, this issue rarely happens as far as I know. That is why I couldn't imagine that it would happen with my friend. That is also my fault since I didn't warn him or book some verified taxi for him.
The second story
Another friend told me that her phone has just been stolen in Halong Bay. She is traveling Vietnam and we have just met each other for the first time in Hanoi, right before she went to Halong Bay. When I saw this story on her blog. I felt so bad and sorry about it.
But I was really touched when she said that:
Don't worry. I don't blame the whole country for just 1 or 2 things happening here. You and jumart gave me a great impression, so feel proud of that, instead of shameful! Because you didn't do it! <3
I'm sorry and thank you for your kind words!
Tips for you
I know my country has problems and in order to avoid troubles you may get in Vietnam (like my friends), here are some tips you should know.
- If you want to take a taxi to hotel, you should download Grab app and book a Grab taxi via the app or ask Information counter in airport and book a taxi approved by the airport. if something happens to you, you still know the information of the taxi and the driver to call the police and take it back. But don't worry, this kind of the verified taxi will never dare to do anything with you.
- When you walk in the street, don't hold phone in your hand, don't put in pocket, you should put in the bag which has zipper and don't forget to close it. But when you go to some crowded place or on the bus, you should hold phone in your hand. That is the tip to avoid the thief.
- The Seller tends to rip you off, so you should bargain or just buy something in mart. Even with Vietnamese, we also need to bargain sometimes when we buy stuff on the street or local market.
- If you get trouble like what happened to my friends, get robbed, you should not against them in that time, try to remember something such as license plate, their face,... Don't try to keep your stuff when you are surrounded by several bad guys. Your safety is the most important.
I know that there are always so many kinds of people in everywhere. There are someones so nice, but some are so bad. I feel a bit shameful that there are always some people who keep ruining in Vietnam's image in tourist's view. Those bad guys are never able to define whole my country. I hope that you will not lose your love with this beautiful country and people here who are really kind and hospitable.
Thật là xấu hổ... bởi người việt ko cẩn thận cũng bị vậy chứ chẳng riêng gì người nước ngoài :(
ừ. là mình trong hoàn cảnh đấy thì cũng móc tiền ra đưa cho nó thôi. haha
Tại sao có những cái tốt đẹp của đất nước mình mà bạn không đưa lên nhỉ?
mình đã đưa lên quá nhiều. c có thể xem trong blog. và mình viết bài này cũng k phải để bôi nhọ đất nước. :)) tốt khoe xấu che nhưng mà vì che kỹ quá nên thành ra bạn bè thân thiết của mình lại bị...
very informative post about Vietnam.... there's a huge fountain, but i can't remember the name.. it is good...
Good post Hang, I've heard many horror stories here in Saigon about fake Grab drivers too. Just use the App and all will be good. I think it's quite rare for foreigners to get trouble in Vietnam compared with other countries. My own personal experiences with the Vietnamese people has been amazing, that's why I live here now :)
yea. now I don't feel you are a foreigner. you are a half- Vietnamese. haha. Good to hear that there are still a lot of people who really love Vietnam like you ^^
Once I speak the language I'll be half Vietnamese ;) haha
Đen thôi mà.:))))
đỏ quên đi :))
chặt chém quá
chặt chém gì cơ?
ý chị là khách nước ngoài tới VN hay bị chặt chém nếu như không rõ giá cả
There are warnings for lots of tourist scams on Youtube. I watched most of them before I go to Vietnam. And luckily nothing bad happened except taxi driver in Nha Trang. He took about 90-100k VND for taxi ride. But it wasn't that far, but I think he didn't know where our hotel is. So I told him at the end "thank you for city tour" and ran to hotel hahah.
But I felt sorry now, because maybe he really didn't know where our hotel was. And luckily it wasn't much money lol.
In Turkey there are lots of tourist scams too. Especially taxi drivers trick tourists to get more money. So it's better if you ask them price first and then get in the taxi. Or you can use Uber too, but sometimes taxi drivers are attacking to Uber taxis because they think they're stealing their customers.
your reaction to the trouble is so funny. lol. The issue you menntioned above, it is happenning in Vietnam, too. motortaxi driver (hop you know it.lol) attacks Grabbike taxi (hope u know it too. lol) for the same reason you mentioned.
And some information for you. There is not Uber in Vietnam anymore. Vietnamese market now is belonged to Grab. :)))
Grab is so much better in there I think. We only used Grab car in there, but sometimes we used taxis, especially in Da Lat. Because there was no Grab car in there in that time, now I learned they have Grab bike in Da Lat, but I still don't know if they have Grab car or not. Taxis were cheap in there though (about 5k per km).
In Turkey starting fee of Uber is expensive as well if we compare 20k of Grab car. some people choose Grab bikes though, but I'm fan of cars of them hahah. I think if I would live in there, I would use it everyday to go to work instead of paying lots of taxes to buy a car. It's really cheap.
I still remember those good memories. I went to city center with 20k, I told to my friends after I came back, and they surprised too. It was good times.
Thanks for the warning and the good advice.
Also, I have been to Vietnam once, and I must say that I never felt threatened in any way. I had the finest cab driver, and the other Vietnamese I met during my wanderings around Hanoi and Cat Ba island were all of the finest character.
Wherever I was, I felt safe. And I remained safe for the entire trip.
And anyone who takes the above precautions by @hanggggbeeee will most likely remain safe too.
good to hear that you had good experience in Vietnam. Honestly, I feel shameful whenever my friends say that they get troubles in my country. When I wrote this post, I did worry about I would be blamed for showing those problems even though it is real. actually, I got blamed. They asked me that why I dont show good things about my country, why I wrote such bad things like this.
But i think that is necessary to speak out about it. Tourist need to know to prepare and ready for it. better than dont know anything and go then get trouble. right?.
Right! As a writer, you should never shy away from the truth. Even if other people might disagree, and even if you might get hurt .... ALWAYS tell the TRUTH.
That is the first rule of journalism / writing.
Unfortunately, many journalists don't tell the truth, and would rather write fake news and nonsense stories. They defend the lies told by the government, or by the corporations, and they are safe in terms of their career and their salary. But they're disgraceful and shameful.
If anyone condemns you for writing negative things about your country, just show them all your posts that praise Vietnam for all its great aspects. That should end the conversation.
Another important rule is that a writer should never try to hurt anyone. However, if the truth hurts someone, the writer should tell the truth if necessary. If the truth hurts, it is not the fault of the writer.
Keep up the great work!
Một tip nữa là đến việt nam thì học cách sang đường giữa giao thông điên loạn