How to prepare for arriving in Saigon (HCMC) - Q & A

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
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This thread is for asking questions about how to prepare for arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (locals prefer to their city Saigon) Vietnam. I and the rest of the LTL Saigon team will be answering all questions, so please go ahead and ask whatever you want to know. There are no bad questions, just go ahead.
Here some first tips

Apps

  1. Facebook: People in Vietnam use Facebook for pretty much everything. Many businesses and organizations only have facebook pages and no website. They often expect people to contact them via Facebook Messenger too. Get a Facebook account and Messenger

  2. Zalo: This is the Vietnams most popular messaging app. It works similar to WhatsApp. Make sure to install it to be able to chat with local people.

  3. Grab: Grab is the most popular taxi app in Vietnam. “Be” is their main competitor and its worth downloading that app too. In Vietnam you can always choose between a car or motorbike taxi. Motorbikes are faster and cheaper, but also a bit more of an adventure. Cars are safer.

Weather:
It is either hot or warm in Saigon. During rainy season from June to October it usually rains in the afternoon for about half an hour to an hour.

Airport Arrival
Taxi:
ONLY take Vinasun and Mylin taxis. The people asking you at the front of the taxi queue to join any other taxi services are a scam and will severely overcharge you. A ride into town should not cost more than 300k VND.

Any other questions, please ask.

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Totally agree the Grab app for taxis is an absolute must! Adds so much peace of mind knowing that 1) You’re definitely going to the right place and 2) You won’t need to worry about negotiating a price

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I did this and can second the advice. Look out for those Vinasun and Mylin taxis which are at the back of the taxi queue.

Go left outside the airport and keep walking away from the people who approach you for a taxi.

You’ll see these two brands appear.

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Totally agree! Grab is SO useful and super easy to use as well :star_struck:

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  1. Exactly, only grab a Grab (Pun intended) :joy:
  2. Do not use phone on the street nonchalantly, be a bit careful
  3. Carry a lot of water, especially if you will go around the city during the day
  4. Don’t hesitate to try local restaurants, they have the BEST food
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I recently went through the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Saigon and here are some points to share:

  1. If you opt for a physical SIM card instead of an eSIM, a Vietnamese friend recommended I only go with Mobifone, Viettel or VietnamMobile. I went for Viettel and the set up only took a couple of minutes at the airport. I got 4 GB of data per day for 10 days and it cost 250,000VND (less than 10USD, so super reasonable)

  2. Grab has been mentioned here before but really make sure you have it set up on your phone before you go to Vietnam- saves you having to link a card and number in the airport. Mine was already set up and it meant once the SIM card was sorted, I just crossed the road to the pick-up area (there are plenty of signs to point you in the right direction) and hopped straight into a Grab without having to even try giving directions.

  3. I paid 25 USD for the The Fast Track Service to get me through immigration quickly at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Honestly this is a bit of a gamble - a friend of mine said it saved her lots of time, but when I arrived the express line was the same length as all the others and didn’t move any faster. Everyone seemed to get through in 10-15 minutes. If anything, I actually wasted time trying to figure out where to go for this line and probably came out a couple of minutes slower because of that, so up to you if you want to take the risk :eyes: but I’d imagine on a busy day it could be worth it.

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I signed up for a vietnamese language course starting in about four weeks and have already made a deposit. So far, I haven’t received any further details about the next steps, registration, or the full price. Since some parts of the registration process are still incomplete, I’m wondering when I can expect more information.

I’ve already been in touch with Andreas, and he suggested I ask here. For those with experience:

Is this timeline normal, and when do course participants usually receive further details?

I appreciate any insights—thank you!

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Hey :slight_smile:

Welcome to our forum and thanks for posting. Have you checked your spam folder? It can be quite common that the first email goes into a spam folder.

Be sure to add our emails to your contact list to avoid this in future.

If you see nothing let us know and we’ll be here to help :slight_smile:

Excited to hear you will study at LTL Saigon, it’s a lovely location and you’ll have a blast!

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Hey Max,

thanks for your response! Yes, I’ve checked my spam folder, but unfortunately, I haven’t received anything.

Back in December, I had already contacted Andreas because LTL had an incorrect email address for me in the system. I just want to make sure I haven’t missed any important information regarding the next steps.

Looking forward to your help!