VN is a noisy place; frankly, it's often not a very peaceful place. The population density, or something about all those bodies busy making a living, it seems that the ambient intensity level is just a notch or two higher than in a place like, say, Thailand. You can find places to relax, a cafe or restaurant may look quite unimpressive from the street but on the inside may be a comfortable green oasis and refuge. The other escape is upward, to rooftop cafes with the added bonus of getting above the vehicle exhaust plume. My personal favorite drink is cafe sua da, iced coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk.

   Chances are somebody's going to be trying to sell you something, repeatedly and persistently; Vietnamese street vendors seem to have the idea that "no" isn't really "no" until the 4th or 14th time. It can be annoying, but here's the deal: it is a cultural issue, and you have to do your part to communicate in language they understand. Americans are trained to refuse politely, but that smile and friendly wave is misinterpreted as interest...in fact, ANY contact is interpreted as interest. They are not being rude, nor are they stupid, they simply interpret your body language differently than you intend. It takes some effort, but you have to show NO recognition to any appeal that is not of interest to you, Stone-faced Nothingness, or a curt single shake of the head or minimal wave of the hand. If preserving some sense of decorum is important to you (Middle America habits are heard to break!), you can by smile politely but speak in Vietnamese: KHONG CAM ON, no thank you. It usually does the trick.

   The same holds true for begging. You may decide that you wish to preserve some sense of dignity and compassion in the face of human misery. If so, you can set your own standards for charity then stick with them pretty strictly. After a steady parade of pleading land mine victims when I was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I made a rule: "if they have 2 eyes, 2 hands, and 2 feet, then they get no money", with exceptions for extreme old age and gross deformities, but I'm not recommending that one for general consumption. However, having a set routine will protect you from the two extremes of either being taken for a sap or falling victim to compassion fatigue. A cynic might recommend checking your Western sentimental values at the border, but cynical I am not and there's no reason to forget your manners.

   Vietnamese have a different sense of personal privacy; people will see someone who is alone and think something is quite wrong and feel obligated to keep you company; just accept the gesture in the spirit with which it's intended. If you get into the spirit, you can have a lot of fast friends and have a great time. The people in general are extremely sociable and surprisingly open, and "National Geographic" moments where you are invited into real Vietnamese households are not uncommon, though the larger the group you travel in then the more difficult it will be to interact closely with the locals. People here just live closer together; after awhile it grows on you.

   Violent crime is not an issue. The greatest danger, physically, is the street traffic. In the city however, property crime by opportunistic thieves is not to be ignored. I have been the victim of one extremely skillful and impressive act of thievery, a daypack was literally stolen from right between my feet (bummer for the thief though, his booty was trivial). In general there are three ways to get screwed: (1) anything that carries the suggestion of making easy money in any way, shape, or form; trust me on this, there is NO easy money in Viet Nam; (2) sometimes, trying to help people you don't know can also get you fleeced. There are some who consider Western compassion a form of weakness to be taken advantage of; (3) being stupid; my ex-wife had a money pouch designed to be worn around the neck and hung inside the shirt. Well, she thought it was too hot and so put it OUTSIDE her shirt, she may just as well have painted a big fat bulls-eye on her back, a passing motorcyclist pair deftly relieved her of pouch containing credit cards, passports, and cash. Ouch!

   For the sake of your peace of mind, resist the temptation to look out the front window when riding in a bus or taxi. You'll be sure every minute that somebody's going to get killed right in front of you, and it will only make you uptight and can make your road trip pretty miserable. Leave the worries to the driver, despite the chaos of the highways your chances of being involved in an accident are pretty low.

   two-tier pricing

   line-jumping