frequently asked questions

There are several out-standing names with which you can  such as DHL, GNN or EMS to fulfill your demand. In Hanoi, you can easily assess their services when walking around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. You can also find some trustworthy domestic deliverers such as Hanoi Post office or Viettel Express with reasonable fees. In Ho Chi Minh City, you can drop into the post nearby Ben Thanh market to send out your package abroad or some representatives of these above international express posts along Dong Khoi Street. Thanh Tin Express in Hue and Babylon Express in Da Nang are also among the most popular suppliers of delivering services across Viet Nam.

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Hue is rather limitted in terms of Italian or Spanish cuisines, though you might some great fares at major hotels. For example, Imperial Hue Hotel has a beautiful restaurant that is decorated in royal Hue style - we are sure you will both the quiet and romantic dinner there. If you really want some foreign taste, you can head to Little Italy (2A Vo Thi Sau) or in general, the Pham Ngu Lao area where most foreign restaurants are located. To be honest, Hue remains very traditional in its dining sphere so do not expect supreme pasta or pizza.

For a local experience, try Khong Gian Xua (205 Dien Bien Phu) - a Vietnamese restaurants located about 5km from Perfume River. This restaurant offers exquisite Hue food at a very affordable price.

As a break, you can take your wife to the cafe La Boulangerie Francaise (14 Nguyen Tri Phuong) for some tasty French style dessert.

Some sites that you can travel together: Hue Imperial Citadel, The Perfume River, Thien Mu Pagoda, Lang Co Beach. A biking trip to royal tombs in Hue can be extremely romantic on its own (visit our page on Hue for detailed description of attraction).

We hope you find this piece of information useful. 

Hanoi is not the best bet for some pedestrians, but if you really want to go for a walk, there are still some choices.

The Old quarter is supposed to be on your top list with many local shops and street vendors. Old houses with French colonial architectural style dotted along streets are all worth sightseeing. A walk in “night streets” (at weekend’s night markets) is even better with wonderful light and very local feel atmosphere. You would certainly feel the lively nightlife of Hanoi by visiting the Old Quarter at night.

Areas around Hoan Kiem Lake, Thanh Nien Road or Ly Thai To Park are better choices for people who want to contemplate the tranquility of Hanoi, or want to take photos. Another suitable place is Truc Bach Lakeside with wind blowing and the road lined with trees. The trail that curves around the lake has trees and water on the one side and many street vendors on the other. You can always stop for some ice cream or sweet treats along the way. So just off your taxi or tour bus for a while and enjoy a walk for a better health! 

Welcome to Hanoi, Vietnam. December is in the winter in Hanoi. Therefore, it is cold but is still ok for travellers, especially those from temperate zone like you will not have a difficult time at all. The temperature is about 16 Celcius degree on average, with light rain and windy weather. You can go out for sightseeing comfortably, but make sure that you bring some warm clothes because Vietnam does not have central heating system like North America so it might be colder than it sounds.

Many Hanoians talk about having ice-cream and walking around the tree-lined Hoan Kiem Lake as a leisure activity during the winter days. Winter food in Vietnam is not about apple cider and fresh-from-the-oven brownies, but there are sure things to enjoy: sweet potatoes grilled on charcoal or toasted corn on the cob; chicken skewer and a hot bowl of pho will definitely give your stomach a satisfying feeling like you never feel before. 

Enjoy Hanoi!

Suggested Readings:
Hanoi Travel Guide
Hanoi weather in December

With most major English centers, trainers are required to have Bachelor degree and teaching certificate (TESOL/ CELTA/ TEFL). Those with certificates or knowledge of TOEFL iBT, IELTS, SAT, GRE, GMAT are preferable.

However, if you do not hold any certificate, your circumstance may be considered if you have more than one year experience teaching English. In some English centers like ILA Vietnam center, trainers without certificate will need to join a training course conducted by the center.

Read more about Teach English in Vietnam

Taking place every Sunday’s morning, Bac Ha is the local market where ethnic communities living in Lao Cai Province gather to exchange and trade goods. Bac Ha Market attracts tourists from all over Vietnam as well as foreigners for the original and diverse features of culture. People can visit Bac Ha Market by catching buses from Lao Cai Terminal or Sapa Terminal, as it is located 70km far from Lao Cai City and 80km from Sapa Town.

Every day, there are three buses departing from Lao Cai Terminal at 6 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m., with the fare around VND 70,000. In addition, passengers who travel by train can get off at Pho Lu station, which is only 50km far from the market; and then use local buses or motorbike service.

From Sapa, tourists have several alternatives to go to Bac Ha Market: buses or motorbike. There are direct buses from Sapa Terminal with the ticket price of VND 80,000; and it will take up to three hours to reach Bac Ha Market.

Tourists can also hire motorbike (Minsk is the most popular) for VND 100,000/day and enjoy the wildly picturesque sceneries on the way to Bac Ha. The route passes through Ban Phiet; then following Highway 70 for about 40-50km, turning left at the three-way crossroad leading to Bac Ha.

If you have a family and want to visit places with little noise and traffic, you may take your family to museums, historical relics or traditional music theaters because these places barely have local people visiting so there are not too many people around. Below are some suggested popular places that you might consider:

- Thang Long Imperial City: This is a group of various historical relics in Hanoi with from Ly Dynasty a thousand year ago. The remained parts of these relics reveal many aspects of the lives inside royal palace in the past, and also information about the development of each dynasty in the history of Vietnam. Most of these relics such as Doan Mon Gate, The Flag Tower or 18 Hoang Dieu Relic are located in the central area of the city at Hoang Dieu or Dien Bien Phu Street.

- Ho Chi Minh Complex: This destination is the attractive complex, including some of the most fascinating attractions in Hanoi like Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where Uncle Ho is resting, Ho Chi Minh Museum and also the famous One Pillar Pagoda. You can take a cab and arrive at the complex’s entrance at Ngoc Ha Street to register and get in.

- Vietnam Museum of Ethnology: the destination exhibits numerous information about lives, belief and culture of Vietnam’s ethnic groups. The museum is also quite interesting to children with various activities like museum tours, painting or watching movies about Vietnam ethnic communities and traditional games. The museum is truly a haven away from the noise of Hanoi, with green open space and very few people. 

Related Readings:
Family Travel Advice

Hanoi has plenty of instrument providers. If you go with local people and are not afraid of bargaining, you had better go to Hao Nam Street. This street is famous for instrument trading, since it is near Vietnam National Institute of Music. Shops here offer a variety of instruments, from foreign ones such as guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, violin, cello, piano, flute to traditional instruments like bamboo flute, bau luthier (dan bau), 16 strings zither (dan tranh), Vietnamese violin (dan nhi) or even t’rung (a Ba Na ethical instrument from Tay Nguyen). The price is not too high, but you should be careful because instruments here are not always as good as what they look like.

Hang Manh Street also has instrument shops, but the range is much narrower compared to those in Hao Nam Str., and the quality is not even as good. In general, shopping at these addresses is not always safe, and moreover they do not provide any warranty service at all. In order to buy good instruments with famous brand names in Hanoi, consumers just have 3 choices: Hoang Phuc, the officially distribution center of Ibanez and Roland instrument in Vietnam, located at Vincom tower, 191 Ba Trieu Str.; Yamaha official store, 24 Ly Quoc Su Str. and SolG, 13D2A Van Phuc Str. The prices are higher than those at Hao Nam and Hang Manh Street, but customers are given full information about the suppliers, the original countries and instrument's conditions, along with certifications and warranties. Price or quality, the choice is yours. 

For a private tour, $5 tip per day for the tour guide and half of it for the driver is acceptable. If you are pleased with the service provided and find the trip enjoyable, some more dollars might be a good motivation and they would be happy to receive because they are deserved to it.

Remember: 50,000 ($2.5) and 100,000 ($5) are considered big notes in Vietnam!

Read more about Tipping culture in Vietnam.

In HCMC, latest 2D and 3D movies can be seen at Galaxy Cinema or Megastar Cineplex. These are currently the only two cinemas that retain English dub or have English subtitle.

Schedules can be seen online at the website of Galaxy Cinema or MegarStar. Online booking is also available. You can choose either to pay immediately or pay later. If you choose to pay later, you just need to arrive at the cinema at least 45 minutes prior to the showing time to pay for your tickets. Besides, you can check out these websites to know about concurrent promotions.  Price is a little bit higher in Megastar Cineplex (at least $6 for a 3D ticket and $4.5 for a 2D ticket at noon and $1-$2 extra in the evening and on weekends).

It is recommended that you book tickets for the latest 3D movies online because they might have run out of seat when you get there, especially on weekends.

Ho Chi Minh City Cinemas:

Megastar Cineplex
Address 1: Hùng Vương Plaza, 7th floor, 126 Hung Vuong, District 5,HCMC
Address 2: CT Plaza,10th floor, 60A Truong Son, Ward 2, Tân Bình District, HCMC
Address 3: Parkson Paragon, 5th floor, 03 Nguyen Luong Bang, District 7, HCMC

Galaxy Cinema
Address 1: 116 Nguyen Du, District 1, HCMC
Address 2: 2/230 Nguyen Trai, District 1, HCMC
Address 3: 246 Nguyen Hong Dao, Tân Bình District, HCMC 

The best way for the tourists to get from Hanoi to Nha Trang is traveling by train or plane because of safety and comforts. For tourists who can afford the time and would like to enjoy beautiful scenes along the way, train is the best choice. The most prominent scene is Hai Van pass, the famous beauty spot between Hue and Da Nang. Traveling by train is the best way for tourists to appreciate the marvelous beauty of this pass, especially in the dawn or sunset. It takes you about 27 hours from Hanoi – Nha Trang by train.

For those who want to save time, they can take a flight from Hanoi to Nha Trang. It only takes about 1.5 hour, and Vietnam Airlines maintain frequent daily routes between these two cities. One way ticket is about $90 and Nha Trang Airport is about 40 minutes from downtown area. 

Besides, tourists can travel by open tour bus offered by plenty of travel agencies in Hanoi Old Quarter.