Vietnam Travel Tips: Vietnam Currency, Vietnam Visa…

Posted on 15/04/2014 3:16:08

Before you go to Vietnam, you may want to know some useful information about Vietnam, the Vietnam currency, visa, telephone and etc. Here we list some Vietnam travel information for you to get a better understanding about Vietnam.

1. Currency

The official currency in Vietnam is Dong which trades at 21094 to USD. The denotations of paper Dong are 500,000 200,000 100,000 50,000 20,000 10,000 5,000 2,000 1,000 and the coins are 5,000 2,000 1,000 500 and 200. The major unit is 1,000, which won’t buy you much.

US dollars, Euro, Pound are widely accepted in Vietnam, but if you want to exchange your home currency for Dong, make sure your notes you want to exchange and you received are clean and undamaged. You’d better use Dong to buy things and pay a taxi driver, for there will be arguments about the exchange rates.

Before you leave Vietnam, do remember to exchange Dong you have left, because the Dong is normally not accepted outside Vietnam, including Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam Currency

2. Visa

Generally, there are two major types of Vietnamese Visas, that is tourist visa and business visa.

Tourist visa: It is the most popular type of visa for Vietnam. This visa normally valid for 15-30 days and can be extended once for another 30 days after you are arriving Vietnam.

Business Visa: Application for business visa need to contact the embassy and obtain the approval or invitation through their sponsor in Vietnam. This visa is valid for three or six months.

Vietnam Visa

3. Telephone

If you want to make international calls in Vietnam, you can find a telephone booth at post offices or in the streets of major cities. Telephone cards are easy to be find at GPO, shops, restaurants and book stores.

However, you can make a international call with half of the cost with services of 178 or 171. You can just dial 171 or 178 + 00 + country code + city code + number. Another choice is to buy a calling card from VINA PHONE, FPT or VNN with price from 30,000 – 50,000 – 100,000 up to 500,000. Dial the secret code on the card + 00 + country code + city code + number.

Vietnam Telephone

4. Internet

In Vietnam, you can find internet access almost anywhere. Most of the hotels offer free access to internet through computer or free wifi. In larger cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, you will have internet access in a cafe shop. Besides, Da Nang city now offer free internet for its tourists.

Vietnam Internet

5. Taboos

a. When eating with chopsticks, do not leave the chopsticks in the bowl after you finish your meal. That means commemorating a death and insulting.

b. Do finish your rice with nothing left in the bowl.

c. If you are invited to a local family meal, you need to wait the host show you where you should sit and wait until the oldest member eat.

d. No topless/sleeveless allowed in religious sites such as temples and monasteries.