Our First Visit to Vietnam... Suggestions Needed, Please.

(Miguel Cruz) wrote in message ...
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

miguel

:-)

Well, what you are really looking for is food which has been freshly
cooked and is served still piping hot. Food which has been cooked to
order rather than stuff which was cooked and then kept warm is a must.
One thing you are likely to be able to see in low end restaurants or
pavement places, is where the food is actually cooked. In 'classy' or
'nice looking' restaurants, the kitchen is usually out of sight, so
who knows what state it might be in. One thing about pavement places
which might put you off is the way they often do the washing up:
loads of plates and chopsticks in lukewarm (i.e. ambient temperature)
water with a wee bit of detergent.... Of course, the 'nice looking'
places may be no better. Still, I have never had any problems in
Vietnam from eating food, and have had many marvellous meals at
phenomenally cheap prices.

Another thing to watch out for is ice which is often carried on bare
backs or slid across the pavement. I always take the line that the
'dirty' bits will have melted off by the time I get it in my drink.
Others recommend staying away from ice altogether... it's up to you.
(In large towns the ice is made from purified water, elsewhere, who
knows?)

At the end of the day, you are not likely to die from a bad meal in
Vietnam (although I suppose there is a theoretical risk of that). One
other risk in Vietnam which might *really* spoil your holiday is to
stand on a discarded syringe which are becoming increasingly common
to see around the parks in Saigon. Another good reason to keep of the
grass.

That said, Vietnam is really a very low risk place to visit with the
only major risk for a *sensible* tourist being road travel.

There is a wealth of good advice to be had over at
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ca...s.cfm?catid=24
although I wouldn't recommend the LP guidebook.

If you want to see what you will miss if you *don't* go, try
http://www.terragalleria.com/vietnam/

Cheers,

William.

(Miguel Cruz) wrote in message ...
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

miguel

:-)

Well, what you are really looking for is food which has been freshly
cooked and is served still piping hot. Food which has been cooked to
order rather than stuff which was cooked and then kept warm is a must.
One thing you are likely to be able to see in low end restaurants or
pavement places, is where the food is actually cooked. In 'classy' or
'nice looking' restaurants, the kitchen is usually out of sight, so
who knows what state it might be in. One thing about pavement places
which might put you off is the way they often do the washing up:
loads of plates and chopsticks in lukewarm (i.e. ambient temperature)
water with a wee bit of detergent.... Of course, the 'nice looking'
places may be no better. Still, I have never had any problems in
Vietnam from eating food, and have had many marvellous meals at
phenomenally cheap prices.

Another thing to watch out for is ice which is often carried on bare
backs or slid across the pavement. I always take the line that the
'dirty' bits will have melted off by the time I get it in my drink.
Others recommend staying away from ice altogether... it's up to you.
(In large towns the ice is made from purified water, elsewhere, who
knows?)

At the end of the day, you are not likely to die from a bad meal in
Vietnam (although I suppose there is a theoretical risk of that). One
other risk in Vietnam which might *really* spoil your holiday is to
stand on a discarded syringe which are becoming increasingly common
to see around the parks in Saigon. Another good reason to keep of the
grass.

That said, Vietnam is really a very low risk place to visit with the
only major risk for a *sensible* tourist being road travel.

There is a wealth of good advice to be had over at
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ca...s.cfm?catid=24
although I wouldn't recommend the LP guidebook.

If you want to see what you will miss if you *don't* go, try
http://www.terragalleria.com/vietnam/

Cheers,

William.

I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled.

Always drink bottled water rather than tap water in any developing
nation. Make sure the seals on the water bottles are intact (i.e.
that they aren't used bottles refilled with tap water).

If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later.

Cooked food from clean stalls is usually fine. Things to watch out
for are raw shellfish, drinks with ice made from tap water, or raw
vegetables/fruit that aren't peeled.

I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled.

Always drink bottled water rather than tap water in any developing
nation. Make sure the seals on the water bottles are intact (i.e.
that they aren't used bottles refilled with tap water).

If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later.

Cooked food from clean stalls is usually fine. Things to watch out
for are raw shellfish, drinks with ice made from tap water, or raw
vegetables/fruit that aren't peeled.

Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti:
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have
eaten in many sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food
without disasterous results later. The only place that I did ever get
any food related illness was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.

If you want to avoid illness in developing countries, yes. Subject to your
definition of "nice-looking", of course.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti:
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have
eaten in many sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food
without disasterous results later. The only place that I did ever get
any food related illness was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.

If you want to avoid illness in developing countries, yes. Subject to your
definition of "nice-looking", of course.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

(Iceman) wrote in message om...
Always drink bottled water rather than tap water
in any developing nation.

You mean like New York, U.S.A. in 15th August 2003?

Make sure the seals on the water bottles are intact (i.e.
that they aren't used bottles refilled with tap water).

Well... That would be easy, it's the same rule around the world.
Though if they're wise, they probably would refilled it with boiled
water.

Cooked food from clean stalls is usually fine.

Correct. Always make sure that you get your food cooked, though it
might be hard to get your food cooked in poor Japan.

Things to watch out for are raw shellfish,

Correct.

drinks with ice made from tap water,

Not if they boiled the tap water.

or raw vegetables/fruit that aren't peeled.

Correct.



What do we learn here folks? That you need always to cook your food
and drink to be absolutely.

"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...
Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti:
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have
eaten in many sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food
without disasterous results later. The only place that I did ever get
any food related illness was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.

If you want to avoid illness in developing countries, yes. Subject to your
definition of "nice-looking", of course.

I didn't define anything. I merely referred to someone -verbatim. So, in ill
looking places one doesn't get ill.

"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...
Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti:
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have
eaten in many sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food
without disasterous results later. The only place that I did ever get
any food related illness was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.

If you want to avoid illness in developing countries, yes. Subject to your
definition of "nice-looking", of course.

I didn't define anything. I merely referred to someone -verbatim. So, in ill
looking places one doesn't get ill.

(Elisabeth) wrote in message . com...
Hi everyone -

Let me start with the most obvious - I am a long time lurker, first
time post-er. I've enjoyed reading the many travel experiences from
folks in the group. Figured I'd toss my inquiry in the mix & hope
someone could offer thoughts & opinions.

Here's my situation: Hubby & I live in D.C. We are new tourists to
Asia altogether - with specific interest in Vietnam. Our next 3-week
vacation will fall between 11/26-12/18 of 2005, when we plan to trek
off to Vietnam. What I am doing now is... (ta-da) research!

When you say "trekking" do you mean you're planning on back-packing
through Vietnam?

I would greatly appreciate opinions, suggestions, recommendations on
*anything* & everything relating to this trip; eg. where to get cheap
tickets, what health issues should concern us, lodging info, places to
visit, transportation, &/or ???. At this point, we know very little
about Vietnam except perhaps Saigon.

First thing to know is that it's now called Ho Chi Minh City.

HCM is set up nicely for tourists. You do need a visa to get into
Vietnam. Taxi from the airport is easy. You should get a hotel
reservation before you go.