General information & Health and safety in Viet Nam

If you are interested in Vietnam I am sure you have done your own research already a bit. The first reference point is Wikipedia, where you can find a handful information about the country origins, geography, politics etc. I recommend you read it to put a solid fundamental for your future reading. For example did you know that the official name of Vietnam is actually Socialist Republic of Vietnam?



So here is the basic stats to make it easier:
Official country name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Capital city: Hanoi
Population estimate:  90,549,390 (13th)
Largest cities: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hai Phong, Danang
Official language Vietnamese
Currency: dong (VND)
Time zone: ICT (Indochina Time) (GMT + 7). For referencing Poland it translates into +5 hrs (summer time), +6 hrs (winter time)
Climate characteristics: North Vietnam - tropical with four seasons, South Vietnam - tropical with two seasons (dry and wet).
Obligatory vaccinations: none
Drivers: on the right
Calling code: 84

I spent relatively  enormous time trying to understand the weather conditions, and here is the most comprehensive information I could find. Many sites will give general information like above which is hard to "translate" into the real weather conditions.
The information below is a combination from Buffalo Tours and Travelfish.org, which I found the most explanatory and helpful.

Generally speaking you can experience two types of weather in Vietnam: hot & wet and hot & dry. This is mostly connected to the two monsoons that are ruling the weather in Vietnam. What is worth remembering is that the southwest monsoon  is hot and it goes from April to September. The northwest monsoon is cool and it goes from October to late March / early April.
The southwest monsoon primarily effects Southern Vietnam, warming up the Mekong Delta through HSMC (Saigon) and all along the coastal strip as far north as between Qui Nhon and Da Nang. It also influences the Central Highlands region.
The northeast monsoon effects the North bringing lower temperatures to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sapa and the the coastal strip as far south as around Hue.
For the majority of the country, the temperature swings between the mid 20s to low 30s year-round.
Additionally, as there can be many local variations that affect the rain, it can be summarised as follows:
The South (Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet).
-          May to October: Hot and wet.
-          November to April: Hot and humid.
The Centre (Nha Trang to Hue).
-          Nha Trang – sunshine all year round apart from November and December when the area has heavy rain.
-          Dalat – cooler than the coastal area – particularly from November to March.
-          Danang and Hue – Experience typhoon activity from mid October to mid December, climate becomes cooler, more overcast and wet.
 The North (Hanoi to Sapa)
-          April to October: Temperatures between 30-35°C with occasional bursts of heavy rains.
-          December to March: Temperatures between 10-15°C. February and march can be damp with drizzle and overcast skies.

Now, since we got the weather sorted lets look what it actually means in terms of practicalities.
I translated it into the following:

• bring with me clothes that are light and easy to dry,
• be prepared for heavy rain from time to time, so taking waterproof gears are a must,
• what type of shoes to consider? (still thinking about this one!),
• be prepared for humidity range between 60%-100%. In some areas it can happen that object are "sweating" due to the high humidity (!),
• you need to check the tropical diseases that are dangerous to travellers.

 Next step was to consider health "dangers" and take appropriate steps. It appears that there are no obligatory vaccinations one must take before travelling Vietnam as the country has developed a reasonable medical standards and there has been no wide epidemic alerts in the recent years (maybe except of the global panic over chicken flue).

Nevertheless I took on board advice to take some recommended vaccinations, namely being:

-          Hepatitis A and B (żółtaczka typu A i B)
-          Tetanus (dur brzuszny/tyfus)
-          Typhoid (tężec)
-          Polio (polio)
-          Diphtheria (
I skipped:
-         Encephalitis (japońskie zapalenie mózgu) - it is said to be needed only if you are going to spent more than 4 weeks in a deep countryside, which I am not,
-         Meningococcal meningitis (meningokokowe zapalenie opon mózgowych) - it can happen also in Europe and we do not vaccinate ourselves therefore I didn't.
-         Rabies (wścieklizna) - there has been no epidemic cases in the recent times therefore I am not worried about that, I will be keeping the sensible approach and stay away from strangely behaving animals.

Other recommended medicines to take with you (I repeat an advice from tropical diseases specialist that I saw):
- Yellow fever - it is present in the more rural parts, mainly in the central Vietnam, but also close to the border with Laos and China. There is no vaccination, you can only take preventive tablets (which are not giving 100% guarantee anyway) - I was recommended MALARON.
- Denga and other horrible staff carried by mosquitoes - use anti-mosquito repellents containing DEET (MUGGA, Moustidose, Autan). Check the % of DEET as they may vary from 9% - 50%.
- Diarrhoea - mind that it is most common symptom for many of tropical diseases. I was given Xifaxan and Gastrolit tor. However for food-caused problems I read somewhere that you can eat bananas and drink coke (normal, not diet!) and eat the famous Pho soup and it should help as well...
- Skin irritation and allergies - Bedicort