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Visas & Permits
Most visitors to Vietnam, except citizens of Nordic (except Iceland) or ASEAN countries (except Myanmar), South Korea, Japan and Russia, require a visa in advance. A single-entry tourist visa valid for 30 days costs US$65(although exact fees vary depending on issuing country) and takes around 4-7 days to process; express visas take 2-3 days at twice the price. If purchasing your visa from the Vietnamese embassy in London, a 30-day single entry visa will cost you £38, plus £8 postage if you need it posted back to you(oddly, this information is not available on the embassy's own website).
A 30-day visa can also be obtained from the Vietnamese consulate in Battambang, Cambodia, at a cost of US$35, with visas taking 2-3 days to process, although exact entry and exit points have to be specified. In general, visas are now valid for all entry and exit points.
Some Vietnamese Embassies offer a "While you wait service", where a single entry visa can be gained in 15 minutes. This service costs US$92, but is approved instantly. You are required to bring a valid passport, passport photo and cash payment (cards not accepted).
A fairly convoluted visa on arrival process has recently been introduced, but this requires a prior application to Hanoi and is generally intended mostly for groups and citizens of countries without Vietnamese embassies. The visa-on-arrival is now available at the Arrival Hall (in front of the Immigration Check-in Section) of the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
Vietnam has moved away from the old A4 carbon copy arrival forms. Recently, they have started to use arrival/departure cards which are very similar to those found in Cambodia, Indonesia and Singapore. Keep the departure portion of this just as safe as your passport, as you will have to produce it when leaving the country to avoid a fine.
Etiquette
Souvenir shops in Vietnam sell lots of T-shirts with the red flag and portraits of "Uncle Ho." Many overseas Vietnamese are highly critical of the government of Vietnam you may want to consider this before wearing communist paraphanelia in their communities back home. Perhaps buy a nón lá (straw hat) instead.
It's common to be stared at by locals in some regions, especially in the central and northern side of the country, and in rural areas. Southerners are usually more open.
French and American travellers should tread carefully when talking about both the French Indochina War of 1946-54 and the "American War" of the mid 1960s-early 1970s. Vietnamese people consider the first as their War of Independence, while the latter conflict is viewed as a war of reunification between the north and the south. 300.000 died in the war of independence and three million Vietnamese died in the American-Vietnamese war, so do not say things that could be taken as an insult to their war dead and the enormous sacrifices made. Furthermore, do not assume that all Vietnamese think alike on this matter; many Vietnamese in the South are still bitter about having lost against the North. Differences of character among Northerners and Southerners are still very palpable, with most of them disliking each other.
Vietnam is a beautiful country but the pressure on Westerners to pay ridiculously inflated prices or invented charges can border on the aggressive - regardless of whether you're American, British, Australian etc. Vietnamese "always" consider foreigners much richer than they are, so they will always (and sometimes without even trying to hide it) make you pay more (especially if you're not Asian). The rule of thumb in Vietnam is to pre-negotiate the price of any service before it is rendered, especially bus, taxi, or motorcycle rides. One of the best investments you can make is in a cheap, durable, battery (solar powered are obviously useless at night) operated calculator, as this makes negotiations much easier, and avoids misunderstandings.
Taxi-motorbikes, known as "xe ôm" are available everywhere and they will constantly harass you offering you a ride (no matter if the drivers speak English or not). It's advisable not to pick them since they will always make you pay much more than to locals and they will surely take you around for hours before getting you to the point you requested. In some cases they will take you wherever they want (tourist attractions or shops you didn't request to go) and sometimes they will wait for you to come back (even if you don't want them to wait) and will ask you for more money for having been waiting. Even if you speak some Vietnamese, this is not useful, since they will cheat you anyway or they will act as if they don't understand even if they do.
Metered taxi cabs are available everywhere in Vietnam. The most reputable ones are MaiLinh taxi (green logo) which is available throughout Vietnam and Vinasun taxi which is available mostly in the South. Vinasun taxi is actually a bit cheaper than MaiLinh in Saigon. Pre-negotiating a price for a taxi ride is the best bet for anyone appearing to be a tourist — false taxi meters have been seen to jump 100,000 VND in one shot. Settling the fare beforehand can prevent such expensive scams.
Climate & Clothes
Vietnam is large enough to have several distinct climate zones.The South has three somewhat distinct seasons: hot and dry from March to May/June; rainy from June/July to November; and cool and dry from December to February. April is the hottest month, with mid-day temperatures of 33°C or more most days. During the rainy season, downpours can happen every afternoon, and occasional street flooding occurs. Temperatures range from stifling hot before a rainstorm to pleasantly cool afterward. Mosquitoes are most numerous in the rainy season. December to February is the most pleasant time to visit, with cool evenings down to around 20°C.
The North has four distinct seasons, with a comparatively chilly winter (temperatures can dip below 15°C in Hanoi), a hot and dry summer and pleasant spring (March-April) and autumn (October-December) seasons. However, in the Highlands both extremes are amplified, with occasional snow in the winter and temperatures hitting 40°C in the summer.
In the Central regions the Hai Van pass separates two different weather patterns of the North starting in Lanco (which is hotter in Summer and colder in Winter) from the more mild conditions South starting in Danang. North East Monsoon conditions September - February with often strong winds, large sea swells and rain make this a miserable and difficult time to travel through Central Vietnam. Normally summers are hot and dry. Global climate is becoming more difficult to predict - except that the extremes are occurring more often and seasons are not as predictable; meaning that storms are more common and stronger than before.
