Learn About Vietnam What Travel Agents Won't Tell You! We honestly show all the horrors of recreation in this country: dirt, unsanitary conditions, noise, rats, cockroaches, deceptions and much more. Get ready, it will be scary!
This article is not a horror story to dissuade you from vacationing in Vietnam. Not at all! I have described the minuses of the country in such detail so that you know what you may face. Vietnam is unkempt, rough, but extremely colorful. And this natural negligence suits him very much.
We traveled almost the entire country from south to north and saw a lot of everything - from luxury boutiques and hotels with crystal chandeliers to poor huts in Fukuoka. But when we fly back to Vietnam, we feel like returning home: we yearn to hear the Vietnamese meow, feel the pressure of humid steamy air, taste the basil in Pho soup and drink delicious fruit shakes. Well, now enough about the good, let's talk about the bad - why some shouldn't go to Vietnam.
Find out: 8 reasons to travel to Vietnam →
1. Cigarette smoke
Vietnamese tar almost everywhere: in cafes, hotels and sometimes even transport! The same goes for the Chinese. The cigarettes are far from top quality, so the smell is killer. Worst of all, when at the hotel your neighbor decided to smoke in the toilet - the smell of tobacco will remain in your room for a long time.
2. Cleanliness ≠ Vietnam
Toilets. If at the thought of visiting a public toilet you wry your nose, Vietnam is definitely not for you. For the faint of heart, it is better to bypass the toilets a mile away: the miasma are knocked off their feet, the booths are rarely closed, there is almost always no paper, and soap too. There are lucky exceptions (usually in malls and good cafes and restaurants), but we advise you to always have paper and antibacterial wet wipes with you. In the provinces, we have been in such toilets that we will not dream in a nightmare. But what can I say, even in tourist places such are found - I will forever remember one Ho Chi Minh toilet.
Dirt and debris in the streets. Cleanliness is not about the Vietnamese. They throw rubbish on the ground and dump bags on the sidewalks, and at night the wipers clean it all up. The dishes are washed on the asphalt and the water is drained at the feet of passers-by.
Cleaning. Tidying up the rooms in many inexpensive hotels is a sheer formality. No one will thoroughly clean the floor, change bedding frequently, or disinfect the toilet. Usually they walk with a broom, make the bed and pick up the trash - that's the whole service. For example, when we check in, we ourselves wipe the shelves and tables - you should have seen how much dust there is!
Unsanitary conditions. Ice is chopped on the asphalt, greens and coffee are dried along the roads on the sidewalk, meat and fish in the markets are sold without refrigerators and are mercilessly bombarded by flies ...
3. Insects and rats
Vietnam taught me to be calm about ants, cockroaches and rats. But if you grab your heart at the sight of them, think hard about whether to go there.
Ants are ubiquitous - even in an expensive hotel they can be, this must be taken for granted. If you do not leave crumbs and fruits, you may not meet with them.
With the onset of dusk, rats dart about in the bushes and on the streets, rummage in trash cans. There are especially many of them in Ho Chi Minh City. Smaller in Nha Trang, but even there, on a park bench, you can hear a hungry squeak behind your back. Fukuoka has the smallest number of them.
There are two types of cockroaches in Vietnam: ordinary Prussians and large tropical ones. The former are found in cheap eateries for locals - they can run on the table or floor, hiding among baguettes in a macaway. The latter live on the street, sometimes flying into hotels. They are half-palm-sized, stupid and clumsy - easy to kill.
4. Monotonous food
Vietnamese cuisine is simple and unassuming, there are no complicated gourmet dishes. Don't count on variety, because the basis of the kitchen is rice and noodles of different types and methods of preparation. But we love her anyway! However, sooner or later, everything gets bored, and during a long stay we suffer: the search for new food (namely with potatoes) begins, experiments with fruitarianism and flirting with restaurants of Russian cuisine.
5. Noise pollution
A clear voice combined with tone language and tactlessness is something. Perhaps, in terms of vociferousness, the Vietnamese are inferior only to the Chinese.
The level of noise pollution in cities is off scale. On busy streets, because of bikes and cars, it is sometimes difficult to hear the interlocutor. Vietnamese honking on the road for every reason, and it's annoying. Vendors offer goods over the loudspeaker, annoying music rushes from the shops, and a mediocre karaoke singer announces the whole neighborhood with mournful screams. Relatively quiet in small towns and villages: Dalat, Can Tho, Mui Ne, Hoi An.
6. Not an exemplary beach holiday
For bounty beaches, head to the Maldives, Seychelles or the Dominican Republic. In Vietnam, the beaches and the sea are good, but not the best, plus the infrastructure is inferior. The underwater world is also not the richest. Phu Quoc Island is considered the best resort - we agree with this, but we warn you: you will need to get to the good beaches by bike or taxi. Read about the best beaches in Fukuoka →
Just as inexpensively as in Vietnam, you can relax in Thailand or Cambodia - the beaches there are much better.
7. Traffic rules? I have not heard!
Any self-respecting Vietnamese does not comply with traffic rules. Almost no one turns on the turn signals, and when they leave the alley they do not look around. It seems like chaos reigns on the roads, but it has its own system - it is important to feel the flow. Therefore, cross the road slowly and without sudden movements, raising your hand up. And if you're driving, go smoothly with the stream.
8. Cheating
In general, the people are open and friendly, but the tourism business spoils the character of people - some tend to cheat tourists. It is important to know the real price of a product or service, always negotiate it, and even better - fix it. Sometimes fruit vendors can weigh. Check out our Vietnam and Fukuoka pricing notes.
