Just picked up some diazepam in 10mg tablet form from a pharmacist. Wondering whether this stuff is genuine or if I’m being sold a nightmare instead.

Would prefer not to die so thought I’d check whether the general vibe around here is that they are real / fake.

Edit: not planning on going nuts - flying out shortly so want something to make sleep on flight tolerable.

Hi everyone,

I’m a foreigner working in Vietnam, and I’m struggling to understand how taxes work here. It feels very complicated, and even after asking around, I keep getting different answers.

Here’s my situation: I have a contract with a company, but they’ve told me that they won’t take responsibility for paying my taxes. I need to handle it myself. Unfortunately, I don’t know where to start.

Some questions I have: • What steps do I need to take to pay my taxes? • Where do I go to register or pay? • How do I calculate my taxes? • Who do I pay, and how do I actually make the payment? • When is the deadline for paying taxes?

If you’re also a foreigner working in Vietnam and have gone through this process, I would really appreciate it if you could explain how it works. If there’s an article, guide, or resource online that helped you, feel free to share it with me.

Thank you so much for any advice or pointers!

I recently saw that Hue was, or maybe still is, flooded. I would like to know the current situation and if it is still worth visiting.

I was originally planning to visit Hue seven days from now

I plan to stay in Da Nang for a month in Feb, looking for an area to live that is quiet - no loud nightclubs etc. and good area to take long walks and also accessible to other areas via transport (I am thinking due to the availability of grab and moto taxis this shouldn't be much of a problem?).

So, one area I am considering is by the Han River 2 min walk north of Cau Rong bridge and a 3 min walk from the riverfront. Any thoughts on how this area is?

The other area was in An Thoung near the Maia beach bar which is the classic expat area, the beach looks nice but looking at all the clubs there it just looks like a tourist trap area that I am trying to avoid. I am not sure if that is the vibe there in real life but wanted to get some input.

Planning my trip in December - January, spending most of my time in Saigon but thinking of doing some trips out of town. Therefore, questions:

1. Driving a car up to Qui Nhon, it says something like 9 hours drive from Saigon. Is this the expected time to drive or is Google Maps making things up? Are the roads relatively OK? I have driven a car in many Asian and South American countries so not too afraid, but would be good to know the relative condition and expected time.

2. Driving motorbikes out to Phan Thiet, Vung Tau, and maybe Ha tien (or Rach Gia). Doing a day trip, or staying for a night or two... Is it relatively comfortable – possible at least – to drive there from out of the city? What kind of motorbike would be recommended, I plan on not renting just a simple scooter although that seems to be what is mostly available.

Much appreciating this sub and can't waaaait to touch down!

I just reached tam coc at 5pm and I don't want to waste the day in the hotel. Please tell me what to do here. I guess it's too dark to do any sightseeing.

I have an employee for whom I need to renew the WP and TRC. I have asked for a quote for both to a local agency, and I have been quoted 12.6M for the WP renewal, plus 8M for the TRC renewal. I find these prices rather high.

Does anyone have a reliable WP/TRC agency with more reasonable prices in Saigon?

DISCLAIMER: We are well aware of the risks associated with hiking without a guide, and do know about previous tragedies that have happened on the mountain. Taking this into account we feel comfortable with taking this risk. We are also willing to prepare ourselves appropriately with a GPS map that works without service, and we have appropriate clothing, water and supplies. We also have considerable experience in hiking and navigation in national parks in our native country.

Is there any feasible route around the ranger station to get onto the Tram Ton trail for the Fansipan summit? Me and a group of friends would like to hike up Fansipan, but don't want to hire a guide for a few reasons (including cost and have read negative reviews on it restricting hikers' experience). I have read about a trail that starts in a lay-by near to the ranger station, but it looks like a considerable elevation change to get to the main trail. Is this the only option to go around or are there any other alternatives that will allow us to get onto the trail?

P.S. we wouldn't want to do the Sin Chai pass as we recognise this is outside of our level of expertise to do independently and we also wouldn't like to start in Cat Cat village due to time constraints, so we would only like answers that relate to the Tram Ton trail.

Hey guys, I've been getting such good feedback about the Ha Giang loop and I really want to do it. I'm heading to Vietnam and will make my way up North and the Ha Giang loops was on my to-do list til I realized that I'm still working!

Do you think it'd be easy to work while on the 3-4 day trip? Is it even safe to bring my laptop? How do you even pack for this trip lol

I’m an American getting married in Ho Chi Minh City on December 31st, 2024. I’m having trouble finding a hair/makeup artist for the big day. I don’t want the “white face” many Vietnamese do with their makeup. I’m looking for typical American wedding style makeup. I am Caucasian.

It just feels like when people look at me they see dollar signs and want to charge me an arm and a leg for everything. I’m not trying to pay American prices, but want someone who will do a great job and be more affordable.

Any suggestions?

Hello all, I am planning a trip to Vietnam in April 2025 with my parents and family. I am considering Hanoi, HCMC and Mekong Delta. Can you guys suggest any places that I should must visit? (please consider that I am travelling with my family).

Any help would be appreciated!

I will have 19:30-24:00 Layover in Tan Son Nhat Airport, would it be feasible to go out and explore the nearby area maybe til District 3?

Just thinking bout traffic etc. It will be on a Thursday night.. 🤔🤔Thank you!

Body massage and foot massage that is affordable

Hey everyone,

Im going out for a date in District 6 and I think it’s a bit off the path so I’m not sure what are some great bars to visit there.

Lemme know

Heading back to HCMC for the last 3 nights of our trip as I have a tattoo booked. What are some activities/events to do/see atm. Any live sports (live boxing or smthn)?

These guys started cutting hair right when the google street car happened to be driving past.

Heading to Nha Trang, any good places to meet other travelers? Local expat hangouts? Thanks.

Hello, I will be visiting Vietnam in a couple of weeks and would like to know if 4 hours is enough to change from international to domestic flight to Nha Trang? The tickets are bought separately and we must collect our luggage and so on.

So I recently went on the Hà Giang loop and it was incredible. The landscapes were absolutely breathtaking.

One of the stops was at a town called Dong Van. It was obvious the tour company brought us here to kind of push us into buying drinks, which is fine, they gotta make money and if I'm gonna be a tourist here, I understand that comes with the territory. But what really creeped me out (and the two other guests on the tour) was that there were these Hmong girls who looked to be about 11 to 15 years old in traditional dresses doing a dance performance to modern music for a good hour and a half (we didn't stay for long, we were too uncomfortable). We all had trouble even looking at them lol. Two of them were smiling and seemed to be enjoying it, but I wonder if they were taught that this is normal and so being so young, they can't see how weird it actually is. The other 2 seemed to enjoy it less.

It felt like these girls were forced to do this. It felt exploitative. If they were adults it would've been OK, but they being so young with all these people filling the bar, most of them older people staring at them and filming them like they were zoo animals was just icky.

Am I overreacting about this? Is this normal in their culture, or is this purely something they were forced to do for tourists?

Hello! Sorry to be another guy asking about itinerary lol... I'll be traveling from December 26- Jan 16. The North is my priority because I love nature, mountains and hiking. So I've been planning on the typical Hai Giang + Cao bang easy rider (maybe a week?) + Hanoi + Ninh Binh and maybe Mai Chau? I usually like to have some time to get to know a place versus blitz sightseeing, so I'm wondering if I should fly in and out of Hanoi or hit another region? I could fly into Danang, maybe see Hue and Phong Nha and head up north. I'm on a bit of a budget so I'm not sure going all the way south would be doable this time.

Flying into Danang and out of Hanoi is a bit cheaper than in and out of Hanoi.

Hi! I’m planning to visit Ha Giang to do the loop, ideally with a tour group and easy riders. Saw some private tours that do Meo Vac to Cao bang but they seem a little pricey. I would also prefer a more flexible schedule once in the Cao bang area.

Would it make sense to go to Cao Bang from Hanoi then take a bus from Cao Bang to do the Ha Giang loop after?

Also, would it be better to arrange the Cao Bang trip locally once I’m there? (To find someone to get us around).

Any leads would be appreciated.

I (23M) posted this two years ago, but wanted to repost again as I am planning to visit Vietnam for Tet for the first time since 2006, and this trip heavily alludes with the time my sister visited Vietnam in January 2021 and stayed at the camp, which still triggers my brain because it kinda resembled a corrections facility in the US.

I have stayed in the US throughout the entire pandemic and my first foreign trip since 2020 was to Europe in May of 2022 and my first time to Vietnam since 2020 was in January 2024 (my most recent prior was July 2019), I don't know what the quarantine camp looks like, but for some Vietnamese international students at MIT, they returned to Vietnam during the pandemic (2020-1) and some of them ended up at the quarantine camp (trai cach ly), and some purportedly transferred to Vietnamese universities due to their visas getting rejected or they were turned away from US customs.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, many people who returned to Vietnam stayed at quarantine camps like what's seen above. I do know of some people and have some high school classmates at a neighbouring Catholic school who went to university in the US for one or two years, went to Vietnam during the pandemic, stayed at the 'trai cach ly', and basically was 'stuck' there as they are now studying at universities in Vietnam instead of returning to the US.

Even though I have never seen posts of my classmates at the quarantine camp since I use social media mostly for personal use and don't follow anybody except for extremely close friends and family on social media, from what I have seen on YouTube, people sleep in hard bunk beds without a mattress, they have no laundry and have to hand wash clothing (many houses in Vietnam don't have laundry by the way), who knows what the Wi-Fi even looks like at quarantine if it is even fast or not, and for some quarantine camp videos, I saw there are razor barbed wire surrounding the quarantine camp (like a prison or correctional facility), so it got me 'comparing' the trai cach ly to a prison because of some of these characteristics. I am not sure if people are handcuffed on the way to the facility but I'd be unsurprised if they were.

I am curious what it was like for you guys to be in the quarantine camp and if it is traumatizing or not, given the fact I didn't go to the quarantine camp, but my sister (who is still an international student as my uncle and aunt didn't adopt her, just like they have to me) did return to Vietnam during the pandemic and did go to the quarantine camp (I don't really talk to her that often, so don't know what trai cach ly looks like).

So we’ve all heard of the scam where an item isn’t labeled and a street vendor or market vendor makes up an outrageous price that an unsuspecting tourist pays without realizing it’s a scam. But more recently I’ve come across an issue that may be shaving a few cents or bucks off your budget — items being labeled incorrectly.

A few weeks ago I was shopping at a stationery store and picked out a book that had a price tag that said 250,000. When I got to the register the item scanned and it was actually 395,000. Luckily I was only buying the one thing, otherwise I might not have noticed as the cashier scanned everything while I was getting out my card. I pointed out the price difference but the cashier just said “sorry” so I didn’t buy it. Then, my friend tried to buy a pack of glue 10 sticks that was labeled 70,000. The price of one glue stick is around 10,000. So it makes sense that a multi-pack would cost 70,000. Nope, the cashier said that for 10 glue sticks the cost was 700,000. Apparently the price tag on the fully wrapped ten pack was the price of one glue stick, which doesn’t make any sense. I looked at other stores and on the web, glue sticks cost like 6,000-18,000 VND. 700k for glue is obviously a mistake. Even super glue and or industrial glue is not that expensive.

Later at a store in Vincom center I asked an employee where to find an item. She showed me and said “yes we have it, it’s 36,000 VND.” I get to the cashier and this time I did pay without looking at the invoice. I was charged 45,000 even though the item labeled on the shelf was 36,000. Again today at Family Mart I got a soda which was labeled 10,000 on the shelf and the cashier asked for 12k. I showed them the price tag on the shelf and they tried explaining something about the difference but I didnt really get it.

The point is — just because something has a price tag does not mean that you will get that price. You need to check the invoice carefully. Sometimes it’s like $0.08 USD but sometimes the price difference is 5 or even 20 dollars!

I get that prices change due to inflation, suppliers, etc, and that it would be time consuming to re-label everything. I’m just saying that you should verify the price before paying and if it doesn’t match the tag you should say something. Either they will give you the price difference or they might at least fix it for the next person.

And for everyone saying “I can’t believe you’re upset about 2000 dong,” I am not upset. I’m just sharing that I have encountered many incorrectly labeled items and that other shoppers should be aware because 2k across several items or 10k on one item might be something like the price of parking. And the price difference of the glue I mentioned is enough to pay for several meals. It’s not a trivial amount. If it happened once I wouldn’t make a post about it. It’s just that it has happened to me frequently in shops in a short space of time, not street vendors or market vendors.

I thought my E-Visa was valid for 3 months, went to the immigration and they told me my information is not showing in the the system. That I should go to the HCMC or Hanoi

Have ever happened with someone?

Guys i experienced the second time kind of a weird situation in Hanoi these days and I suspect a scam. Maybe someone can clarify: A relatively good looking young woman is approaching me on her scooter asking me if I want to come with her for a personal city sightseeing tour. After saying no thanks, and even if I pointed to my wife standing a little away in a shop, she still kept going try to convince me to come with her?! The second time the girl also good looking,sexy dressed, speaking very good English, was even following me around the blocks asking over and over again to come with her on a private tour. I checked on that and found a clip on YouTube where a guy got into the same situation, but after saying no to the girl, a cop just came out of nowhere to ask him strange questions. Does someone knows what’s goin on over there?

Wanted to get some souvenirs.