Safety tips for solo female travelers in Vietnam

1. Be careful of pickpockets, bag snatchers and frauds

Foreign women are likely to become prey for petty crimes like pickpockets, snatchers and frauds. These crimes usually take place in crowded areas such as markets, bus stops, attraction sites, etc where people can easily lose sight of their belongings. To avoid this issue, one useful tip you should take is not to bring your valuables and essential things like Passport, jewellery, expensive electronic devices when going out. Another safety measure is to pack your belongings into a thick-strap handbag with zipped lock and keep it in front to make sure you can always watch it.

In terms of frauds, you might easily get tricked by local retail sellers since they will charge you more than market price knowing you are a foreigner. Therefore, if you want to buy something, choose a supermarket or a convenience store where every product has a price tag. If your surroundings do not have such stores, you can check the market price for some products in Vietnam beforehand by searching on the Internet or asking the locals. It is essential that you bring changes – 1000 or 10000 denomination and learn how to spell it in Vietnamese.

2. Pay attention to chaotic traffic

The first experience in Vietnamese transportation might be a cultural shock for you as there are a lot of motorbikes on the street. They constitute the greatest part of vehicles used in Vietnam. Occasionally, you might enjoy small walks and sometimes you have to cross the roads where there are no red light signals or pedestrian crossing. One thing to etch in mind that time is not to freak out, all you need to do is to walk slowly while carefully observing the vehicles so that drivers might have time to notice you and adjust their speed to pass you by.

If you are still not acquainted with that, you can ask a local to accompany you when crossing the roads. Vietnamese are always hospitable and pleased to give you a hand since they understand the transportation here and know how hard it is for foreigners to follow that. 

If you have to travel long distances during your trip in Vietnam, you can consider taking a taxi or motorbike taxi. However, be careful as you might be overcharged. There are many cases reported by tourists that a short taxi ride costs them higher than it is supposed to be. In these cases, the figure displayed in taxi meter might be fake. That’s why you should book reliable companies like Mai Linh, Ha Noi, Taxi Group.

It is worth noting that Grab – an application allowing you to book transportation services anywhere and anytime, is getting more and more popular in Vietnam, especially in big cities like Ha Noi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh city. Therefore, it is recommended that you install the application via Appstore on your phone and use it to book car, taxi or motorbike. A plus of this application is that the prices of their services are public and reasonable, which makes it convenient and widely used by Vietnamese.

3. Be aware of cultural differences 

If you come from Western countries, hugging and kissing might be considered as an act of greeting and welcoming a friend or an acquaintance. However, things are different in Asian countries like Vietnam. In Vietnam, hugging and kissing is not an appropriate action to express greeting or friendship, especially between men and women. Therefore, if you have local male friends, you should avoid such manner in order not to create any misunderstanding about your relationship. Instead, you can shake hands with them to express your friendly greeting – they will appreciate that.

You should also pay attention to your clothing. Many of Vietnamese women dress modestly and conservatively. It is advisable that you follow that style and cover up when going out. Although it is unlikely that you can be attacked by doing otherwise, you might get impolite or pry glances from locals. Therefore, in order to enjoy your holiday in Vietnam and avoid unnecessary attention, it is best that you put on decent and simple clothes.

As a solo female traveler, you might be bombarded with questions regarding your marital status like “Are you single”? Or “Do you have any kids?”,etc. If you are over 30 and still single, it is likely that you will receive a curious and surprised look from locals because it is considered unnatural from the perspective of many Vietnamese people, especially the elders. If you feel bothered by such conversations, you can try to distract the locals by asking them about their life or politely changing the topic. Be assured that they may hold no grudge against you, it is just the difference in culture and viewpoint.

Ensuring your safety is the most important thing when travelling alone to another country. If your destination is Vietnam, this article can be helpful to you. All of these travelling safety tips can be essential for your travel to Vietnam. You can consider them as a part of Vietnam Travel Guide. If you have any question regarding this issue, feel free to contact Nadova Tours via email or leave your comments below. We are pleased to help you out!

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Common travel scams in Vietnam and how to avoid

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