Travel Tips

Vietnam has a population of more than 70 million people, comprising 54 different ethnic groups that possess historically rich cultural backgrounds and interesting folk arts. The country has more than 1,000 historical, cultural, and architectural sites which have been officially classified as world heritage. (more…)

Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, is a pleasant and even charming city, in large parts because of its famous lakes, shaded boulevards and verdant public parks. The city center is an architectural museum piece, its blocks of ochre buildings retaining… (more…)

Vietnamese Language

Vietnam LanguageVietnamese (tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ), formerly known under French colonization as Annamese (see Annam), is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people (người Việt or người (more…)

Gift giving is important in Vietnamese because of the significance of interpersonal relationships in Vietnamese culture.

First and foremost, do not encourage corruption. There is a clear cut between gift-giving and bribery. Nevertheless, it is common in Vietnam for exchanging small gift on certain occasions such as anniversary, Tet holiday… to express your respect, appreciation or gratitude.

Gift-giving customs depends on the context. If it is private gift for one Vietnamese partner you should give the gift at private occasion or at a business meeting if no other one presents. If you have gift for the whole office or company, you should give it after the business meeting with the whole office’s employee.

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The climate of Vietnam varies considerably from region to region. Although the entire country lies in the tropics and subtropics, local condition varies from frosty winters in the far northern hill to year-round, sub-equatorial warmth in the Mekong Delta.

Vietnam’s weather is indicated by  two monsoons. The  winter monsoon comes from the northeast between October and March, bringing wet cold winter to all areas north of Nha Trang, and dry and warm temperatures to the south. From April or May to October, the southwestern monsoon bring warm, humid weather to the whole country except for those areas sheltered by mountains.

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New coins were minted by every new dynasty in the East. But kings were not the only ones to issue their own money…

For the four short days of the year 1521 in which his contemporaries called him “King,” Tran Cao did one major thing to commit his name to posterity: he minted his own coins.

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Many languages and dialects are spoken in Vietnam, but Vietnamese is the official language and the language of most people. Many older Vietnamese are familiar with French or English. Interest in English has been rising, with language schools opening throughout the country.

Like English, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet, but otherwise the languages are very different. Every word in Vietnamese has only one syllable, and the language is based on tone. There are up to six tones, and what looks like the same word can have different meanings according to the tone used by the speaker. Tones are high, low, falling or wavering, like notes on a scale. For example, the word ma has six different meanings: “mother” with a high falling tone, “ghost” with a high flat tone, “grave” with a low to rising tone, and so on. In writing, one of five accents (or none) is placed above or below a word’s vowel to indicate the tone.

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During working as Travel Consultant at Footprint, some my clients ask me how they should tip for tour guides, drivers…….at the end of trip. Just smile, I usually have the same answer:  Depend on you but that is our responsibility to make you feel pleasure with our services.
Be the person who have good experience in traveling to many countries in the world, one of our regular client- Mr Lindsey said: “Just small thing but It is difficult as a traveler, there are different of tipping- culture”.  So I hope some information about tipping – culture below will be useful for travelers:

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Vietnamese Beaches, the best time to go there:

The country has a long coastline, varied, complex climatic zones and generally a fair amount of rain.
The best beaches are mostly in the southern half, and that’s best Dec- May. However, in that area it doesn’t usually rain for long periods at any time, only showers, unless an infrequent typhoon hits the coast, so the beaches are basically OK all year round.
The worst season is probably July -Oct (humidity, occasional rains, typhoons, and of course July-Aug is always a busy holiday period)
Oct – Dec has the best weather over the whole country for sightseeing, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid 20Cs.
Plan ahead if you wish to travel during the Tet New Year festival – it can be a problem getting accommodation and transport.

China Beach, between Da Nang and Hoi An Best May-Oct
The most unspoilt Vietnam beach is the endless white sand of China Beach, where US troops landed during the 70’s unpleasantness.
The main beach is officially around the Non Nuoc Resort hotel but some locals argue that the real China Beach is at My Khe Beach about 5 km north of the hotel [both are near the tourist attraction of Marble Mountains]. Development is in on the way!

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