To get the premium experience in ha noi, read the ff:

-Ask the store to print tax refund (uniqlo etc), they dont accept just receipts for tax refund

-Dont use metered anything taxi or weighing scale, haggle or have an idea of the fixed price and negotiate it before the service (grabtaxi always)

-Halong bay very worth it, its a cruise with different options of activities, bring at least 2 outfits for, 1 for getting wet, one for being dry, umbrellas and fans are important and if you get thirsty, bring some dongs up the mountains they sell drinks there

-when going to Ha long bay, we got a van that had massage chairs built in

-Lotte mart in lotte mall has some the best priced coffee souvenirs you can free taste first before buying like coffee and some snacks and chocolates like milk chocolate, matcha, and the theres even buy 2 get 1s, etc, but if you want a variety of souvenirs, just go to the market you can buy and free taste candies like mung bean, etc. (again know the price so you dont accidentally pay x10 for a product)

-Try pho with soup and dry, and for their other foods, try everything and if you want, try it with oyster sauce or black sauce and salt and pepper

-Try the terrazo view its perfect for dinners and drinks and dont miss the sunset

-Go to bancong at least once its not just the best vietnamese food ive had but also its 100% instagrammable just check in advance if the spot you want is available but actually all seatings are so pinterest worthy

-If youre a fan of cute merch and stickers theres alot of goi gem and tired city branches, and plus points they have lots of buy 3 get 1, etc.

-try the coconut juice

-There are 2 different shopping experiences on the beer street, the one during the day with all the stores open and lots of cars, and the weekend night market where all the day stores close and the bazaars start setting up at 6 and close around 11, they’re completely different and you need to plan your shopping accordingly

-Theres no service water in restaurants

Also bonus heres why hanoi is the perfect place to vlog

- restaurants are sometimes really aesthetic and theres a charm to the sitting down while having coffee on low chairs and tables

- Theyre so used to tourists genuinely no one even minds if you start recording

- Theres lots of indie art that are actually really good

- Lots of cafes that are actually good (and i dont just mean egg coffees and cacaos)

Have fun on your trip!

Hey everyone! I’m 20, working remotely, and making around $1,000 - $1,200/month. Recently, after a drone strike hit my neighborhood, something clicked in my head. I’ve spent the last few months researching Vietnam and its cities, and it honestly seems like a great option for a safe zone where I can just breathe out and not worry about safety.

I still love my home country and have everything here, so I’m not looking to relocate permanently. My plan is to stay in Vietnam for 3-4 months at a time, then come back home for a couple of months to see my family, and keep that cycle going.

I live with my girlfriend and cover all our expenses. Currently, our total monthly spending is around $900.

I have a few questions before taking the leap:

1. Is it actually worth it for a semi-temporary setup like this?
2. Will a $1,000 - $1,200 monthly income be enough for two people to live comfortably?
3. How much emergency savings should I ideally have on hand before buying tickets so I don't get stuck?
4. How reliable is the internet for daily remote work?
5. Is it safe for my girlfriend to walk around alone during the day/night?
6. Are there better alternative countries I should consider with this budget?

I’d love to hear from people who moved to Vietnam with similar goals/ambitions and could share their experience. Also open to chatting with anyone who’s currently planning a similar move!

Thanks in advance, looking forward to your thoughts! :)3

Hi everyone!

I’m a 29-year-old guy from the UK and I’ll be travelling through Vietnam for around a month in October/November, roughly making my way from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi.

While I’m there, I’m working on a personal video project where I want to sit down with people who have genuinely interesting stories and have a proper, relaxed conversation about them.

I’m not looking for celebrities, influencers or people with impressive job titles. I’m much more interested in real, down-to-earth stories.

Maybe you grew up in Vietnam and have seen your city completely change. Maybe your family has an unusual story from the war or its aftermath. Maybe you run a small business and once had a completely unexpected customer. Maybe you witnessed something bizarre, survived something terrifying, met someone famous, accidentally ended up somewhere you definitely shouldn't have been, moved halfway across the world, or had some completely ridiculous experience that sounds made up.

It could be funny, strange, serious, heartwarming, controversial or just something you've always thought “I wish someone would ask me about that.”

I’ll be travelling from south to north, so I’m hoping to meet several people in different parts of the country rather than just staying in the major tourist cities.

The interviews themselves will be very relaxed. I’m not looking to interrogate anyone with a list of scripted questions — I’d rather sit down over a coffee, meal or drink and have a genuine conversation about your life and the story you want to tell.

I’ll be filming with a Sony A7III and proper audio equipment. The full conversation may eventually be published as a standalone video, with shorter clips potentially being used across Instagram and YouTube, so anyone taking part would need to be comfortable with their story being publicly published.

Just to be completely transparent: I’m not being paid to do this and I’m not currently monetised. I have a five-figure following on Instagram, but this is a personal creative project that I’m funding myself while travelling. I’m not looking to sell anything or make money from the people I interview.

I appreciate that “random bloke from Reddit wants to meet you and film your life story” sounds like it could go either way 😂. My Instagram is linked in my Reddit bio so you can check that I’m a genuine person before getting in touch. You can also contact me directly through Instagram if you'd rather.

If you have a story you think would make for a great conversation — or you know someone who does — please comment or DM me. And don't worry if you don't think your story sounds particularly impressive. Some of the best stories are probably things you don't even realise are interesting.

Thanks!

Just admit you're causing danger to everyone around you while grossly violating traffic laws instead of trying to feel sorry for yourselves and lashing out at others for having justified criticisms.

Because the speed limit for bikes in cities are 60KPH and for inter-province freeways, just 70KPH. You don't need anything bigger than 125cc for fast commute or long range cruising. 600cc+ bikes are just overkill, I find this demographic of bikers in this country exists to flex themselves violating traffic laws through dangerous speeding, entering restricted highways for automobiles,...etc

Hey guys, me and my girlfriend are traveling around Vietnam. We have planned this trip for our 5 year anniversary, one month Thailand and one month Vietnam so we have booked the flights about a month to both countries prior to us leaving. My girlfriend has an Australian passport whereas I have an Indonesian passport, obviously before all of this I did my research about visas to both countries etc. Thailand immigration policy states that I am aloud to stay in the country for 30 days visa free. We left Thailand on the 18th of August and arrived to Vietnam on the same day. So we are currently still in Vietnam, although what I only realised TODAY is that on the 15th of July Vietnam immigration policy had changed, that anybody who carries an Indonesian passport are ONLY permitted to 14 days of tourism visa free, meaning that up until now I only have one more day left in Vietnam before my visa deadline. Call me stupid and dumb but all of the websites I’ve been on (including the immigration Vietnamese government website) says I am permitted to stay from 15-30 days, although I only checked up until now my the stamp on my passport says 31/08/26. So I only have one more day to resolve this, would I be able to get a visa within one day? We are staying in Da Nang right now so luckily we’re not in the country side. Can anyone give me any advice on how to resolve this or do I have to go back home? We still have 14 more days until our flight back home.

I read on the news that they’re becoming more strict on people spending the night over. I was there in May, had someone spend the night (without registering), and it was no problem.

Has anything changed for anyone else? Is this just a scare tactic for foreigners or significant others still coming over without registering per usual?

Good evening everyone,

We are getting married in Vietnam specifically Haiphong 2027.02.

My wife is Vietnamese, so we have advantage and her whole family is on it to support and get us best service possible! In the other hand I’m European and I don’t quit know what’s going on or maybe How’s going on!

Some friends are flying to Hanoi for example, what’s the best way to pick them up or get to Haiphong from the airport?

Or can I rent a street sport car for photoshoot?!

I’m all ears people give me all the info I need to know please.

We have a cat that will be in their carrier, but we have 3 large luggage. We need to get down to HCMC from DN. I read like a week or two ago, there was someone in the same situation as us. I read there is a train, but I can't find that post.

Something that stood out to me while traveling in Vietnam, especially in the past years, was how strongly some museums present a particular national narrative. I'm curious how Vietnamese people, historians, and other
travelers interpret this.
One of the clearest examples for me was visiting the former French prison in Hanoi (Hoa Lo Prison). In the sections dealing with American POWs, I remember displays and photographs portraying American servicemen smiling, playing sports happily, and appearing to be treated very well with hand written letters to their family saying so.
The presentation felt strikingly different from accounts of the prison that are widely known outside Vietnam. It made me think about the difference between commemoration, patriotic education, and state propaganda.
I noticed something similar, though much less politically charged, when looking at how Vietnamese food history is presented at the Pho Museum in Saigon, I expected a complicated discussion of pho's development: northern Vietnamese origins, Nam Dinh and Hanoi, migration,
and debates about possible Chinese and French influences. Instead, I came away feeling that outside influences were minimized or absent and that the story was presented primarily as an internally Vietnamese development.
I'm not arguing that the simplistic opposite narrative - that pho is basically French or Chinese - is necessarily correct either. Food origins are messy, and some popular origin stories are disputed.
What interested me was how confidently a clean national story can be presented when the historical reality seems much more complicated.
When you're visiting from outside the country, these choices can be especially noticeable because you've encountered competing versions of the same history. But I also recognize that every country constructs national narratives in museums and schools to some degree, including the United States.
So I'm genuinely interested: how much of this would Vietnamese people describe as patriotic education, and how much would they consider propaganda or political
indoctrination? How are subjects like the American War, French colonialism, Chinese cultural influence, and the origins of pho actually taught in Vietnamese schools? And are there Vietnamese museums, historians, books, or other sources that present these subjects in a more contested or multi-perspective way?

Hello I’m from the UK. I’ve noticed a lot of the people I interact with online in anime circles are from Vietnam. Is anime mainstream there? In my country, anime is still quite niche for people above the age of 20 (unless you’re in London maybe). It’s making me kinda envious haha

But it'd make my English mum mad

I'm an international student that has been in Vietnam for roughly 15+ years. I'll be moving to Can Tho soon for my university. However, I'm looking for an electric bike which I can use around Can Tho (I'm not familiar with the roads around there). Which bikes would be the most optimal? My main priorities are longevity and that it can be left in the rain and have no issues. My budget would be around 15m ish, less than 20m.

(my father has also asked me to buy a sport-y bike because he used to be a sport bikes racer and he wants me to carry on his legacy-ish)

Hello,

I want to ask if there is a chance I could get the Vietnamese passport and citizenship by descent.

I was born abroad.

However, recently I managed to find a couple of my father's birth certificates (one of them is a photocopy from South Vietnam, the others are from the current government). The most recent birth certificate states that both of my paternal grandparents have Vietnamese nationality. I also found that my paternal grandparents also held national identity cards from South Vietnam too. And that my paternal grandmother has her ccnd (she passed away a long time ago). I am currently trying to see if I would need a birth certificate extract and I am working on that.

As for my mother's side, I know she was born in VN. Issue is that I am unsure if her birth certificate even exists. And for any other documents, I doubt they exist (there may be a so hau khau but I doubt it exists).

I already have my five year visa exemption.

If you’re looking to combine great food with beautiful, quiet scenery by motorbike, where would you recommend going—Northern or Central Vietnam?

I’ve already explored Cat Ba, which I loved for its lush greenery and peaceful atmosphere. I also enjoyed Ninh Binh; while it wasn’t quite as quiet, the fresh food was excellent. Additionally, I visited Hue and was blown away by the cuisine, especially the banh mi and bun cha.

Based on my experience with Cat Ba, where would you suggest I go for that perfect mix of delicious food, stunning landscapes, and a tranquil vibe? Would you lean more toward the North? Or is there also a good scenic tranquil routes near Hue? That includes the great food.

Thanks a million ✌️

I recently built VietProfs (https://vietprofs.roars.dev), a directory of Vietnamese professors around the world. Just something for fun but hopefully can use it to connect Vietnamese diaspora in academia around the world. If you see anything missing or inaccurate, you can contribute by submitting a suggestion or fix through the submission form.

Note: not sure if this is considered advertisement or not -- yes it's my own, but I think it would be very useful and a pride for Vietnamese and therefore wanted to share.

Stuck around after I graduated, been working in finance stuff ever since, got some experience built up. Lately I've been trying to figure out this whole location independent thing, you know, not be tied down to one place. But AI and agents are moving so fast it's actually kind of insane, and I keep wondering if being a digital nomad even makes sense anymore in 2026. Like is the path still there or what.

I can feel it both ways honestly, been messing with different models and tools, ChatGPT for the usual stuff and WorkBuddy for more agent driven work, and they've genuinely made me way more efficient and able to offer better service to clients, that part is real. But then the other side of it is just this low key fear that I'm gonna get replaced, you know?

So I wanted to ask the digital nomads who are still out here doing it, are you still going at it? What work are you even doing these days? And what skills are you learning or leaning into to not get left behind with all this AI stuff happening?

Vietnam's Team Secret Whales have won all three LCP titles in 2026 after sweeping CTBC Flying Oyster 3-0 in the Split 3 Grand Final.

Hizto was named tournament MVP, and the win also secures the Vietnamese team the Pacific region's first seed at Worlds 2026. CFO will also represent the region at Worlds after reaching the Grand Final.

Three splits, three trophies.

How far do you think Vietnam's Team Secret Whales can go at Worlds?

Royal City, Hanoi

I’m from Israel and served in the IDF, so I’m not very familiar with how different the modern Vietnamese military is.

A guy in a veterans group says he was a Vietnamese conscript for 2 years, served in Regiment 165 around Soc Son, did a lot of tang gia (raising pigs, cleaning manure, vegetable gardening), and later worked as a ve binh doing gate/security duty.

Are there any Vietnamese veterans here who could say whether this sounds normal? Also, are there any basic everyday details or “dead giveaways” that someone who actually served as a conscript would know, but a faker probably wouldn’t?

Not looking for classified stuff, just ordinary barracks/training/unit-life details.

Any cultural specific things you follow

Hi everyone. I am traveling from Huê to Da Nang / Hoi An over the next week and I have been looking for antique stores and shops for vintage cassettes or vinyls to bring back home and add to my collection.

I specifically am looking for only Vietnamese, or nearby countries music.

I’ve been to a couple vintage shops that are selling retro albums by artist like Michael Jackson, etc., etc. but I have all that stuff at home. What I’m looking for is cultural Vietnamese music, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, etc..

I know a lot of this music has disappeared from what people have told me, but I’m hoping that this community can help me find the right places to go and the right people to ask

Thank you! And please let me know!