Phone

The first thing you should do when you arrive in Vietnam is get a prepaid SIM card with 3G or 4G and some data. These are quite cheap and can be bought at many places. Be very careful with your phone in public places, Ho Chi Minh city is a city with 22 million (yes million) in the metropolitan area, so you can image there are some pickpockets as well.

Animals

Don’t touch any animals, even if they look cute. If you get bitten by one immediately go to a doctor to get a rabies shot.

Crossing Streets

Crossing a street may sound like a trivial task, and in most countries that’s the case. In Saigon it’s different though, there rarely are traffic lights and people don’t stop for zebra crossings. Here are some tips for crossing busy streets:

  • Walk very slow but steadily
  • Don’t make any sudden movements

Scooters

When you are adventurous enough to drive a scooter in Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh city, it’s recommended to practice a bit with the traffic before throwing yourself in. Some things you can expect while driving are:

  • Ghost drivers are very common, especially right next to the sidewalk
  • Traffic lights are not common
  • Potholes pop up every couple of meters
  • People grabbing phones from your hands while driving, never hold your phone in sight, even on the back of a scooter

When you drive you have to think about yourself in the traffic more like a fish in a school of fish than an autonomous driver following the rules.

Also never drive without a helmet, it’s very unsafe and there’s a very fine for that.