Packing tips for traveling to Vietnam:
Bring as little as possible, Vietnam has pretty much anything you can find back home.
Necessary documents: your passport and visa (with their copies); 2 photos (3cmx4cm), tour dossier (tour itinerary, address of travel agent or travel company operator, contact number… ) and others (if needed).
Cash in US$5’s, US$10’s, US$20’s and US$100’s (US dollars are commonly acceptable)
All the soaps and smellies are cheap and plentiful, and clothing, shoes and backpacks are all manufactured in Vietnam and available at a fraction of the price in the West. Tampons are available in all major towns and cities, but not in more remote areas.
A Swiss-army knife or equivalent come in handy, but you don’t need 27 separate functions, just one blade and an opener. A torch (flashlight) and compass are also useful.
Other handy things to bring are: name cards, as Vietnamese deal them out like a deck of cards; ear plugs to block the ever-present noise; a universal plug adaptor; a rain cover for the backpack; a sweater for the highlands and air-con bus trips; mosquito repellent to keep the bugs at bay; and a folding umbrella if you plan to visit during the rainy season (July and August are the wettest months).
The secret of successful packing: plastic bags – not only do they keep things separate and clean, but also dry. That means a lot at the end of a long, wet day.
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Tuesday, 23 September 2008 02:58
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Geographical Location Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country that features the total area of 329,560 square kilometers. Lying on the eastern part of the Indochina peninsula, Vietnam is a strip of land shaped like the letter “S”. China borders it to the north, Laos, and Cambodia to the west, the East Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the east and south.
The country’s total length from north to south is more than 1,650km. Its width, stretching from east to west, is over 600km at the widest point in the north, 400km in the south, and 50km at the narrowest part in Quang Binh province (in the Middle). The coastline is 3,260km long and the inland border is 4,510km. Also, Vietnam is a transport junction from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean. The current capital is Hanoi city, located in the north, or the upper part of the “S”.
