Going to Vietnam: Important FAQS

Unfortunately, you have to get vaccines before going to Vietnam. I had to get Japanese Encephalitis and Typhoid before this trip. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my second dose of Japanese Encephalitis because I had to wait 28 days after the first dose, to get the second, which coincided with my trip. It was 4 days after I was already in Vietnam so I stuck with the one dose. As for typhoid, you have to get 1 dose at least two weeks before travel. Luckily, I had the other vaccines recommended for traveling to Vietnam. Here are the recommended vaccines you should get before traveling to Vietnam:

• • • Hepatitis A
    • Hepatitis B
    • Japanese Encephalitis
    • Typhoid 

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) also recommends you get a Rabies Vaccine, although treatment for rabies will most likely be available. They also recommend you bring malaria medication with you.

Yes, you need a visa to enter Vietnam. I got my Visa here instead of getting it at the airport because I was unsure if it was applicable for Vietnam. If that link doesn’t work, try this one. I recommend using the second one as it seems more reliable. 

There are no quarantine requirements for Vaccinated or Not-Vaccinated travelers to Vietnam as of June 2nd, 2022. You may be require to do a Covid-19 test upon arrival in Vietnam, however, travelers are not required to show a negative Covid-19 test upon boarding. To stay updated on changing Covid-19 protocols in countries, I like to use Sherpa (see link here).

I booked my entire trip with hotels except for my trip to Sa Pa, where I stayed in a homestay. I prefer to book with hotels because I prefer my privacy and would rather not sleep in a room with other travelers. Hotels are more expensive than homestays and hostels, however, they do have more westernized amenities. As for homestays, they are often on the cheaper side and allow you to live like a local. In a homestay, you will sleep in a room or building on the property of a Vietnamese family. The family would invite you to eat dinner with them, however, you would each stay in your separate parts of the house. In hostels, they are also cheaper than hotels, they will be housing many people in one room. You will not experience a true Vietnamese lifestyle in a hostel as it is not typically run by a local Vietnamese family who also lives there.

Clean drinking water can be extremely hard to come by in Vietnam unless you are drinking out of bottled water. When in Vietnam, you should try to avoid uncooked vegetables, fruits with thin skins or no skins, and cold soups. Vegetables and fruits in Vietnam are washed with contaminated water and should only be eaten when cooked to prevent water-borne illnesses. You should also always eat cooked vegetables because many farmers will place pesticides on produce to make them appear greener, thus increasing their profits if more people purchase them. Pho is one of the most well-known dishes in Vietnam and is eaten so much because the soup is boiling hot. You will find very few cold soups, if any, in Vietnam because the bacteria and viruses in the water are only killed by boiling the water. A great rule of thumb is, if your soup isn’t steaming and extremely hot, do NOT eat it. Market stalls and local restaurants might not have clean working practices so try to stick to eating where more locals eat at. If a market stall or restaurant is abandoned, it is probably for good reason. A general rule of thumb is, if a market stall or restaurant is packed, it probably means it’s delicious and won’t get you sick. 

The main use of transportation in Vietnam is via motorbike. The streets are crowded with them, so be careful when crossing the street! You can either rent a motorbike or use Grab to get around, unless you love to walk!