Safety travel in Hanoi

Visitor traveling in Hanoi may have hassle at public area and how to avoid this hassle?

1.Taxi

You may get on an illegal Taxi or bad drivers may drive you in a long distance and ask for a big amount of money. If his demand is not accepted they may lock you in the car and make you stressful

• Ask the hotel reception to call reliable Taxi company ( Taxi Group or Mai Linh Taxi)

• The price list is available at the door or at front seat of the car.

• Good tip when using a taxi in Vietnam is you should remember the name of Taxi Company, then the number of that car (round number sticks on the mirror in the front seat). The car number and the company name will help you to maybe trace the problem if happen in the car. So take you phone and make a photo of the car number. That will be helpful in case.

• Try not to forget your belongings in car. And be sure of having small notes for payment. With big notes, sometime you can be confused by getting change from drivers.

2. Crossing road

Traffic is very busy it seems never stop for a while , this is a typical of big cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

• Find the nearest pedestrian crossing,

• make sure that you have a safe distance from you to the nearest vehicle

• walk slowly and confidently to the other side of the road.

• Do not run suddenly this could make the driver lost their control and accident may happen

3. Pickpocket

Pickpocket may happen when you are at the public area such as : market, train and Bus station, shopping center or even on the street.

• Always lock your bag when you are traveling in the street, (highly recommended to keep this at the Hotel front desk)

• Pay attention to your valuable thing such as : camera, cell phone, Ipad, wallet… if you are at the crowd ( Be careful while taking photo by your cell phone or Ipad, thief may snatch them because you pay less attention to this)

4. Street vendor and Shoes Shine

Street vendor is daily job of people living in the countryside try to make their living in big cities (normally a woman wearing a conical hat carry a hanger 2 baskets with some fruits or sugar cane on their shoulder. They try to sell fruits at high price or make fun by letting you borrow their tool to take a picture if this accepted then they will ask you for some money (US$5 or US$ 10). It is not a nice act so it is better to avoid those.

• Don’t look at them if they come to you.

• Ignore everything they offer and say a simply word and polite “ No, Thank you “ in Vietnamese word “ Không, Cảm ơn”

• Always have some small change in case you want to buy thing from street vendor (if you give them a big note they may return you lots of small note but not the right balance even fake money)

Shoes shine men are also a problem in big cities. They normally walk around ar stay in a place in the street. They will try to stop you when you are walking by pointing to your shoes, taking of your shoes and repair them even there are no problem with them. So if you would like to shine your shoes or clean them, ask our receptionist, they can call a decent man to Hotel and do it at Hotel for you. Like street vendors, you should ignore them or avoid them with a NO.

5. Travel Agent in the street

There are many illegal small travel agency offices around Old quarter. They also provide tours itinerary at cheaper price but not in charge of the quality of what they provide. If you have a problem with the trip they ignore their responsibility to help you or refund the money

• Select a reputation Travel Company

• Make sure the service is worth with what you paid for

• Asking about the guarantee policy for the services that they can offer

6. Money

Local currency (Vietnamese Dong – VND) has many zero number and the color is similar this cause confusion and difficulty to know the right value

• Small change : 1.000 Dong, 2.000 Dong, 5.000 Dong

• Medium change 10.000 Dong, 20.000 Dong, 50.000

• 100.000 Dong, 200.000 Dong, 500.000

• Always check the right note before paying

Have a pleasant stay !