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!

It is still a good plan (Fly down to Phu Quoc and make the way up to Saigon).

There have been recent cases in Viet Nam of Malaria read here “We cannot afford to be complacent given that Viet Nam reported 116 cases between October and December 2022, a 21% increase from the same period in 2021. Although Viet Nam is so close to eliminating malaria, the final stretch of any marathon is almost always the most difficult. To achieve the goal of eliminating malaria in Vietnam, we must step up our collective efforts to reach the highest-risk groups like forest goers, with prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.” Please don't be one of the idiots that takes no precautions and adds to these increases, particularly if you are in shared accomodation spaces and un Air conditioned dining rooms etc. Get over vaccinated rather than under vaccinated and I would highly recommend rabies if you haven't had it - due to the damn monkeys.

Take warm clothes for North, and beach clothes for the South - temperatures vary massively. Definitely take base layers, and then layer up, and waterproofs.

Plenty of USD as you can exchange it easily, and Dong - I would only use card in the bigger places as scams are on the rise.

@CherryMyBrandy - if you see this (!) would you be able to tell me the company you used in halong bay? Thanks!

Hi It was a while ago (2014!) but just found the confirmation email and it was Indochina Sails Premium. Their web address no longer works though so may have changed. As it was a while back I'd strongly recommend going on Trip Advisor to check for more recent experiences. Good luck!

Hai Phong Tours is highly recommended on TA forum so you can check it out whether it suits you or not.

Thanks both!