Weather

Vietnam has some truly remarkable weather patterns. 

In the north, regardless of what you may have read in 1 of the guide books in particular, there are 4 distinct seasons.  In the mountains up on the Chinese border it even snows sometimes. 

In the south it's the typical 2 season, tropical climate with both wet and dry ! 

CNN have a good weather forecast page as do the BBC & you can do a search for anywhere in Viet Nam that you would like a forecast for & it's a good idea especially with so much silly advice about monsoons, typhoons and the like in Viet Nam.

Local Currency - VND

Currently the VND is worth approximately;

$1.00 USD   =   17,800 VND (Approx)

$1.00 AUD   =  13,600 VND (Approx)  

To find out what your currency is currently worth in Vietnam try XE.com Personal Currency Assistant

It's a great web tool, it's accurate & easy to use.

Foreign Exchange

Do I need to take USD to Vietnam ?

NO YOU DON'T !

We're often surprised when we hear from people (only ever tourists & the authors of 1 particular guide book) that "you need to take USD to Vietnam". 

You don't & haven't needed to for over 16 years now.   

An Australian/New Zealand bank (the ANZ) was, in fact, the 1st foreign bank of exchange to open in Vietnam in 1993. 

These days you name it, you can exchange it.  Aussie & Canadian dollars, Japanese Yen, the Euro (naturally), Singapore dollars & of course, the UK Pound Sterling. 

Taking your own currency with you to Vietnam will definitely save you quite a bit of money.

There's usually a commission you have to pay your bank to change into USD & the rate your bank gives you is rarely the latest market rate so you get got at twice.

Bringing your own currency to Viet Nam is much easier to deal with because it's familiar to you & using the local Vietnamese currency whilst in Vietnam helps their economy too & that's a good thing to do in any developing country.

When you're leaving Viet Nam you simply change your VND back to whatever currency you like at the airport, no fuss, no bother & you'll get the REAL, daily full market rate too.

Please Note:  The Vietnamese are very familiar with the Aussie currency in particular.  When choosing the technology to use for their new bank notes, the Australian technology was chosen above all the others. 

So, as of December 2003, you will have seen the new plastic 50's, 100's, 200's & 500,000 VND notes & they're very fancy indeed.

Needless to say the very primitive American technology wasn't even considered as it's still the most widely & easily counterfeited notes in the world.

Many younger tourists (particularly Aussies) are infatuated with having the USD & it seems to make them feel more American. 

So, if you're one of those who feel this way & feel like you'd just love to have some USD to carry even though it's completely unnecessary, please make sure that it's not from the '90, '93, '96 or 2002 series as those series were very widely counterfeited & are often rejected. 

Also make sure the notes are not ripped, torn, are clean & in new or near new.

Scams & rip-offs

Vietnamese people are, on the whole, very decent & honest people.  There are exceptions of course & you always need to be a bit circumspect when travelling to any foreign country.  We've listed some of the most popular scams below.

Money Changers

The old "changing money on the street" thing is still the most common trick so please don't do it.  People still ask us (???) about changing money on the "black market" as if there's free money to be had ???? 

When you see pigs flying, that'll be the time when there's lots of free money up for grabs !

Airport taxi & mini bus scams

The old Hotel tour & services scam

Please don't fall for the lousy tours, ticketing & services the hotels offer.  They're not licensed tour operators & they flog you off to any old mob that offers them a drink, regardless of what it is that the end company actually provides. 

It's the same with 90% of the Travel Agent & Traveller Cafes too & it doesn't matter what kind of review you've read & the reviews are usually posted by some tout getting paid to post. 

The hotel &/or dud travel agent/cafe mob usually charge between 50 & 200% on top of what they pay for the tour voucher & it's just not fair. 

If you must take 1 of these el-cheapo tours go & buy it yourself from the actual tour operator & you'll not only save lots of money but you'll be able to get some real details on the tour you're paying for.

Ask yourself this.  Just why are they so desperate for you to buy ?  I think the reason is very obvious.

The Tailor Shop scam in Hoi An

A word of warning about the tailor shops in Hoi An.  Our guides (& luckily for all of us that they're honest enough to say something) have complained that they come under unbelievable pressure from a number of the Tailor Shop owners.

They're being offered very substantial sums of money to recommend various tailor shops.

A number of the big group tour mobs, western & local have been turning a blind eye to the practise for some time now.  It came to our attention after a couple of tour guides we had to let go for various reasons, were bragging to some of our other staff about it. 

"We're making a fortune", they claimed & "the stupid tourists haven't got a clue" ! 

The commissions are of course being added to the price of  everything you buy & run between 50 & 500% !!!!  With the big tour mobs running at between 10 - 50 persons a time, well, you do the maths.

Unfortunately, this is an attitude that is all too prevalent in the tourism industry & not just in Viet Nam.

Highway robbery is right !!!

Please be very careful & we think it in everyone's best interest to go to the tailor shops on your own & with over 350 tailor shops in Hoi An you've plenty to choose from.

We felt it was high time someone spoke out about it, so we did !!!

Tipping, is it compulsory ? And what's the story with this new assisted tipping ?

In Viet Nam tipping is not expected, not the done thing & as is the case in any other civilised country, something that you may or may not wish to do. 

A gratuity or tip is voluntary.  It's entirely up to you because a tip is something that we give because we want to, because we want to show our thanks to a particular person but when the tip is compulsory it's a tax or a scam, no more no less.

Compulsory/forced tipping is when the greedy boss refuses to pay his workers a living wage & that's where our trade unions come in very handy indeed.

Compulsory/forced tipping is simply someone charging us extra but doing it on the sly & we never did or will support this kind of backdoor approach to upping the ante.

Here they are again, the usual suspects, the big tour mobs & they force their customers to pay extra for tips at the start of a tour on the basis that someone is going to dole out these tips for you (secretly) along the way !!!  Do they think normal people are too stupid to know how to hand some one some money !!! 

The latest scam tipping rate is $8 - 10 USD for the guide & $5 or 6 USD for the driver - Per day, Per Person no less !!!

What a cheap & nasty trick this one is & it's incredibly rude too ! 

Reminds me of the Australian Govt saying if they add a 10% VAT tax to everything the price of everything will go down ???

You can tip our staff but only if you want to - it's NEVER, EVER compulsory ! 

Rest assured that our staff all get decent "living" wages & all their other conditions too like annual leave, sick pay, public holidays etc.  They don't have to survive by constantly sucking up to the customer, arranging not so secret commissions or resorting to other forms of nasty &/or demeaning behaviour.

Street kids, sick buffalos & all that stuff !

Let's not forget the old "street kids" scam.  Assisted by some very wealthy Charities/NGO's & other luxury car driving spivs, they'll tug at the old heart strings & are still doing the old "sick buffalo needs a heart transplant" rave which has definitely got whiskers on it.

Even more alarming are the seedy, old codger, boiled lolly types, allegedly helping out these youngsters (boys in the main) & spending far too much time unsupervised in the company of young kids. 

There's even one codger who regularly trolls the Thorn Tree (Mr Nookie no less) & other travel forums who claims to live in Ha Noi & is spending lots of time helping (???) the "street Kids".

He reminds us of that former UK pop singer Gary what's his name who came to grief in Nha Trang.

The bona fide NGO's (and there's acyually quite a few of them) have nothing to hide & more importantly have very, very strict guidelines about who they employ. 

We believe they genuinely try to help out the local communities in an honest, up front & transparent way & anything else is simply not on. 

The Vietnamese are an extremely compassionate society & there are all kinds of Government run welfare agencies & programs to help those in difficulty, IF & ONLY IF, they're genuine !

When (& it's not an if) you're approached by one of the postcard, tee-shirt, guide book, wacky tabacky, smack or boom boom etc salespeople, check out the way they're dressed. 

Many are riding very expensive motor cycles & in 99% of the cases it's just a scam & a very good paying one too.

When you're in Ha Noi & if you're approached by anyone or any mob asking for your money, please feel free to ask us & we'll tell you what we know about them. 

We've been here since 1994 & if you have any problems at all, please pop into our cafe & we'll do all we can to help.

ATM and Credit Card Facilities

Credit cards are accepted in most places, although we'd advise Master or Visa card to be on the safe side.  ANZ, Citi Bank (they still around ?), the Bank of America (they still around ?)and many other banks, now have branches in Vietnam.

The Vietcom Bank now has ATMs at most of its branches throughout the country. You'll certainly find plenty of them (approx 3,500 + nation wide) in all the bigger cities like Ha Noi, Hue, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.   

The ANZ bank has branches in both Ha Noi & HCM City with ATM machines that accept Visa, Master & Cirrus as well as ordinary ANZ access cards.  For those with ANZ accounts it's really a great service being able to withdraw from your savings account at home while on holidays in Vietnam.  Much safer too with all the counterfeit USD in Asia these days.

Travellers Cheques

The biggest problem with travellers cheques is that various providers have yet to open offices here in Vietnam.  We've had to help a number of people who simply couldn't get replacement cheques until they went to Bangkok.  If you do plan to use travellers cheques then make sure you get a Vietnam office address from the supplier before you purchase them, just to be safe.

Electrical Appliances

Transport

The mini bus rides throughout Vietnam whilst being ridiculously cheap are usually very uncomfortable & often dangerous. The trains & planes are of a very good standard & they're safe too, which is always more important than saving a few dollars.

Health

Travel Insurance

If you're going to try something out of the ordinary (windsurfing, scuba diving, motor cycle tours etc) please check with your insurance company before you purchase your policy. 

People have found out later that they weren't covered & the results have been absolutely disastrous.  

When choosing your travel insurance company, please be very careful.  Some insurance companies are very nice when it comes to taking your money but have incredible difficulty remembering who you are if you need their help. 

Shopping

Special Interests

Visas

It's necessary to have your visa issued prior to arrival in Vietnam.  Tourist visas are generally for 1 or 3 months but business and other visas can be obtained for longer stays if required.  

The best place to obtain a Viet Nam Visa is in your own country. 

The best person to help you with it is a licensed travel agent. 

People who get someone they've never dealt with before to do it in other countries are often very disappointed.

For Aussie customers especially, the best & cheapest way to get a visa for Viet Nam is to get a licensed travel agent to do it for you or if you really want to do it for yourself, you can arrange a visa by contacting the Vietnamese Embassy in either Sydney, NSW or Canberra in the ACT.

Export/Import

Customer Bookings

Griswald's Vietnamese Vacations are licensed by the NSW Govt, Dept of Fair Trading.  Our Licence number is - 2TA5568. 

For your airline tickets, visas & travel insurance, please contact your nearest, licensed travel agent. 

You can purchase your tour directly from us & you can contact us by e-mail, phone or with any & all enquires or if you'd prefer you can get your travel agent to contact us on your behalf. 

All our contact details are listed at the bottom of this page.