Vietnam

[Koumak]

Lucky enough to go for 3 weeks over Christmas. Have some sort of itinerary in place but I am looking at all the hands on info I can get? Vaccines for kids and adults alike? So far had contradicting info from GP and travel clinic. Mosquitos apparently bad but not bad enough for malaria pills?
What did you pack? What did you miss while there?
What currency to pay? How do you tip?
What to wear? Seems that the climate can vary?
We will be constantly moving , going from North rural to last leg relaxing Phú Quoc in South.
Thank you!

Vietnam is really long so the winter weather varies a lot from north to south. Take some warm clothes or things you can layer for the north part of your trip. Short sleeves and a thinner layer for the evening for the south. I’ve been to HCMC in early December and Hoi An in mid-March and found it too cold to comfortably swim in an unheated pool both times, just to give you an idea.

I’ve never used malaria pills in Vietnam. Pay either cash/card and probably tipped a similar percentage to what I would normally do anywhere else (outside N America). Use both cash (Dong I think) and card.

I don’t ever recall having specific vaccines for Vietnam, but I lived in Asia for a long time so possibly had had a few extras over the years.

We visited Vietnam as part of a longer holiday around SE Asia and had the recommended Hep A, tetanus and typhoid (pretty sure these were free from GP?). Assuming you're sticking to the main tourist areas and not venturing too far off the beaten track you shouldn't need malarial tablets, but check your itinerary against a malaria map to be sure. I'd recommend long tops and trousers to minimise bites, also a light packable waterproof for sudden downpours. If you're staying in cheaper hotels/hostels you might want a mosquito net for night time but I wouldn't think you would need one if staying in nicer, more modern hotels.

We used card where we could, but most small shops/restaurants/roadside sellers etc. only take cash so take plenty of dong. A lot of ATMs charge a fee so try to minimise the number of withdrawals you make. It's useful to have a bit of USD as well as that is usually accepted or easily exchanged if you run out of cash and can't find an ATM. I think we tipped around 10%. Have a great time!

Dec/ Jan is not in the peak mosquito season (Mosquito repellent as well as mosquito net works well).
Phu Quoc island is a good choice for beach at that time, weather wise. You can consider doing Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city), Mekong Delta and then fly to Phu Quoc.

I just came back from Vietnam 3 days ago!
Had vaccinations for Hepatitis A and B and Typhoid.
Theres been no known cases of Malaria in ages, so no need to have that.
Its food and water borne diseases you need to watch.

Have the best time, it’s a wonderful wonderful country!

Definitely go to Hoi An!

Thank you all for your responses! I am sorry I have not had time to log back in till now but will try to reply individually.

To quick add if you're taking USD ( although really you just need dong ) make sure they are new and crisp, places can be funny about taking or exchanging them otherwise

@MangosteenSoda thank you for the clothing suggestions. I will pack layers, useful for hiking through Sapa! If the temperature is that low I think I won't bother buying hiking sandals, just normal hiking boots should be fine? Not too hot for those? I don't think we will have time for any type of pools until we get to Phu Q near the end as those are relax days!

@dinhoecotour You were right about mosquito, it seems the travel clinic thinks we are never in any high risk locations.
We are actually flyin to Phu Quoc for few days before doing Mekong and Saigon as flying back from there!

@CherryMyBrandy It is on the list and a tour booked. I am very excited for this!

@BeaniesOnToast Thank you for all the tips I am going to ask again about the vaccines bellow as still have not make proper sense! That's just me though :-)

@mumberry84 Thanks for the tip! I have just asked my hubby about this, literally as he was leaving the house this morning, and he just yelled back not to bother with $. One thing off the list!

You don't need malaria pills, and there should be a travel nurse at GP surgery who can advise. Usually they recommend being updated with standard vaccines like tetanus. I have a Halifax Clarity credit card which I used everywhere in Vietnam, including to withdraw cash, all fee free. Stick to bottled water but we ate lots of street food, all fine, just avoid any salad or anything that has obviously been sitting around. take layers and a pack-a-mac

@Theoldwoman Thank you for sharing! I have just added Hepatitis B on the vaccine list. May I ask I just who said you need to have one? Travel clinic rec only the type A to us? Did you have any of these done at the GP or did you have to pay for all of them separately? Apparently some are available on NHS?

NaTHNaC - Vietnam (travelhealthpro.org.uk)

I've travelled a lot for work, you don't need Hep B unless you are having very close contact with others (sex, medical workers etc). You might want to consider rabies but it's very pricey, and probably only worth it if you will be in very rural areas as you would still need rabies treatment regardless - the vaccine just gives you a bit more time.

@PinkRoses1245 that's really helpful, thank you!

Ok so initially I have contacted a few of my local pharmacies/travel clinics and got very mixed answers.
I then contacted my GP and although the receptionist provided me with all our jab records, the nurse couldn't advise on the vaccines other than both my husband and myself need MMR and Tetanus. So then I asked whether my nearly 19 year old will need any of these boosted and she didn't think so?
Would you say when tetanus is given we automatically get the 3 in 1 cocktail of diphtheria-tetanus-polio vaccine?
Does it really mean the younger 19 and 14 won't need any booster of either of the above?
So in regards to the other vaccines all 4 of us will only really need Hep A and Typhoid? With Hep A we won't have time to get the full doses anyway? Does the first dose cover us enough?

I am wondering about Rabies now as we are doing 2 day track and overnight stay with locals in the north at the beginning of the trip? Apparently even domestic animals can have rabies now.

Apparently there is no need for adapters for electric plugs, right?!

I’m in Australia ( sorry I probably should have mentioned that) I had to go to a special doctor that does travel vaccines. Not easy to find here. He looked up the ‘list’ put out by the Vietnamese Govt. Those three are what’s recommended. They all cost us an arm and a leg, hopefully yours are cheaper there.

We needed adapters but maybe yours in the UK are the same ?

Not sure you need a tour of Hoi An. It’s beautiful. You can just wander about. Great restaurants. Morning Glory definitely worth a visit. Also lots of tailors. We got DH a suit and some shirts. The hotel we were in had bikes for use and we cycled one day up to the “locals” beach. Don’t let anyone put you off it’s lovely. Had a great day lounging at a bar, drinking cocktails and eating amazing food, watching people herding goats up the beach and using basket boats.

Hanoi on the other hand, I’d highly recommended a street food tour, as it’s hard to work out where to go (and some pollution masks (everyone wears masks!) as it’s highly polluted on certain days).

Are you going to Ha Long Bay. It’s amazing. We took a 3 day boat trip. It’s was amazing. I wouldn’t scrimp on this partly because the the more luxury boats are a better experience (we had cooking lessons, went kayaking and food on board was amazing) but also because the cheaper boats can be dubious safety wise (which is actually why we splashed out for this but it was actually well worth it, a highlight of the trip). We also went to see a floating fishing village. And went on a bike tour! They fitted a lot in!

You don’t need dollars.

Instead of Halong Bay you might want to check out Ninh Binh, super easy 2hr train from Hanoi you can travel there independently and your hotel will come get you from the train station. Far less commercial than HB

Seconding Halong Bay. It was one of the most blissful experiences of my life. I felt as though I could spend weeks just puttering around those islands.
The food is incredible and ridiculously cheap. we did a street food tour in Hoi-An which I recommend. Because everything is so cheap the hotels were incredibly luxurious.
I so want to go back.

Thank you all! You have just confirmed that we made the right choice! We have indeed booked the cruise along Halong Bay. And it comes with cooking classes, kayaking and cave trips! We have teenage kids who are gonna love every single day of this so we are trying to fit as much in as we can! I am so excited for them and can't wait to spend quality time as a family in this amazing country! Will have a look at all the other recommendations now too.