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Travel Vietnam

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23 contributions to Travel Vietnam
Day 1… I’m In Love
So after a thirty hour trip to get here and a few hours of shut eye Danang does not disappoint. Up early to check out the beach activities and was so inspired I actually got a run in. And that is saying a lot as I have not run since my double hip replacement. Exchanged USD for VND at a gold shop and was given a higher rate than the exchange. 🥳 Money in my pocket and now eating a delicious meal.
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New comment 11d ago
1 like • 12d
My wife goes to the gold shops. I would recommend using the airport booths for only the minimum needed to get somewhere.
1 like • 11d
@Baby Steve she used to get a conversion at the bank, but they want a percentage. She found it’s best if I just transfer USD to her.
Zoophobia, lions and tigers, and spiders, oh my
@Travis Carrasquillo - I follow multiple forums on travel. One forum a man illustrates his spider bite encounters in Vietnam. Are spiders an issue in Vietnam? Are there pro-active measures to lessen the encounter? I saw you mention the multiple encounters with the tiger mosquito (dengue).
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New comment 13d ago
0 likes • 13d
I’ve only been bitten by mosquitoes that like my ankles, and I’m surprised by the lack of bugs as compared to Louisiana. Rats is another issue. I’ve never seen so many rats in my life. They’re mostly afraid of people and don’t go near you. One night we were returning to our hotel room on floor 7 where the stairs and hallways were open to the outside. A rat popped out from under a housekeeping cart. Then it darted straight at sandal-wearing me, and I had to jump out the way. My gf was not disturbed by this, and we stayed in this hotel a lot.
Intro to Tones and Basic phrases in Vietnamese
This is a quick overview of the 6 tones in Vietnamese and a few words/phrases you can use on day 1. Let me know if this is helpful and I will do more! *Take a quick video and post your pronunciations here so we can all see. Should be a fun little exercise. https://www.loom.com/share/69b1bbf7d9974d0a876285a2a10558f5?sid=3004e4da-013b-40fd-9955-2bc371c5c86d
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New comment 13d ago
Intro to Tones and Basic phrases in Vietnamese
1 like • 14d
There are regional differences that are driving me crazy. I believe the broken tone is different in different regions. I noticed my wife uses a y sound for D without the bar. Words I recognize with just a little effort: Quán - restaurant (sometimes open garage style place to eat) Cơm - rice Bò - beef Gà - chicken Chiên - fried Sữa - milk Trà - tea Cà phê - coffee (probably the only free word you get that’s an obvious import). Nam - male Nữ - female (these 2 used on toilet doors or signs and one time for me I encountered only these words and was glad I knew them). America is the only place that tends you use “restroom.” In Europe they just say toilet or WC (water closet). You will see WC signs here. The bowl ǒ and the hat ô are accent marks and not tone marks. On my first trip I thought they were tone marks. White House or Maison Blanche (house white). It’s maison blanche like French. Nouns go before adjectives, so milk tea is trà sữa. I think it helps to know the up and down tones (á, à) are start low and go to the middle and start in the middle and go low. I know basic Mandarin where those tones are start in the middle and go up and start high and go to the middle.
0 likes • 13d
Y is always like an i and never the consonant sound. My sounds like mi. Vy is like the letter vee. Yeu is the word for love and sounds like eww. “Xe” always refers to some kind of vehicle and sounds like “say.” Xe buyt is bus. Xe máy is motorbikes and sounds like “say my.” I would describe an X sound as a wide S sound made more towards the back of the mouth. If you take a Z sound and make it smooth like an S sound with no buzzing. This will make your mouth tired, but you can get used to it. Xin chao sounds like “seen chow” with the X sound.
Traveler’s Diarrhea
Symptoms: - Suddenly passing three or more looser watery stools a day. - An urgent need to pass stool. - Stomach cramps. - Nausea. - Vomiting. - Fever. Southeast Asia (including Vietnam) frequently has travelers experiencing this problem. You can probably prevent it if you consume only major manufacturers’ bottled/canned drinks and packaged foods. If you want to dive into the culture and eat the local food, you will probably get it sooner or later. It’s difficult to pinpoint where the infection comes from, because it can be from the previous day or two. People will often blame what they ate or drank prior to getting symptoms. Don’t drink the water, but the water is used to wash dishes, fruits, and vegetables. I read ice mostly comes from major manufacturers, but I’ve never seen any ice transport going on. I used to try avoiding ice, now I just avoid drinking melted ice. As someone from a food science background (mostly applied microbiology), the handling of raw meat here is disturbing. They are so ignorant and careless. They even let you cook your own food at the table at Korean buffets (they seem to be popular here). People just aren’t careful keeping the raw meat and raw meat utensils separate from food that’s ready to eat. I got a case on my first trip on day 5 that lasted about a week. It was mostly severe cramping with mild diarrhea. I tried using honey and turmeric and probiotic yogurt to fight it, but I don’t think it helped much. On my second trip I started getting it, and my gf got me several medicines for it. One was called Yumangel, which I kept seeing as Yum-angel when it’s probably Yuman-gel. The third trip I brought a probiotic supplement, and I think I didn’t get it at all. I did get a case of gastroenteritis, though, but maybe that falls into the same category. The symptoms were way different, though, with serious diarrhea and two episodes of vomiting. In the past 10 years vomiting makes the lights switch off. I am sitting, standing, or kneeling. Then I’m on the floor (in one case a small ditch) not knowing how I got there. This time I was standing in a small bathroom and ended up on the floor was a long scrape on my back that my wife noticed before I did.
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New comment 16d ago
1 like • 16d
What a coincidence! I think Cambodia may have got me. I forgot to say that if you’re going on short trip of 90 days or less, you should do a parasite cleanse when you get home. The easiest way is to get a liquid inside bottle with dropper. I believe they contain clove, black walnut hull, and activated charcoal. Just consume the drops with drink 3 times a day as recommended on the bottle.
VietJet or Vietnam Airlines to Bangkok
I think Travis mentioned that Vietnam Airlines is much more reliable than VietJet but VietJet flies direct from Da Nang to Bangkok whereas Vietnam Airlines goes via HCM. We need to be at Bangkok airport at 7pm for our flight home to the UK and there's 2 VietJet flights from Da Nang arriving Bangkok at 12:25 and 3pm. Any advice on whether that would be ok or too big a risk and to book Vietnam Airlines instead? Or perhaps fly the previous day just to be sure. Thanks!
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New comment 16d ago
1 like • 16d
At 3pm even if the flight leaves at 7pm, that gives you 4 hours for everything. That should be enough unless lines in Bangkok are ridiculously long. Most flights I end up waiting over an hour to get on board.
1 like • 16d
I have flown on VietJet between Saigon and Ha Noi and Vietnam Airlines going out. I found the plane experience to be about the same, although, the Viet Jet flights were short, local, without a meal. I like the VietJet music, though. 😄
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Brad Trammell
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13points to level up
@brad-trammell-3765
I’m from Louisiana and living in Cà Mau with my wife. I’ve been to Saigon, Da Lat, the northwest mountains where the Hmong people live, and Sapa.

Active 15h ago
Joined Oct 22, 2024
INTP
Cá Mau
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