Shopping
You should not buy items because it is cheap, just buy what you can't find at home town, when you come across a shop on sale promotion you need to check quality of the products, need to know why they are on sale, because the purpose of business is profit, not for charity or community. When you buy stuff in a different country, it is impossible to have warranty for what you buy. When you visit Hoi An, a shopping paradise for international tourists there are a lot of attractive things and don't hesitate to buy it because you may not have second chance for the similar things.

Eating and drinking
Each place has it's own cuisine or different way of making food, especially in a culturally diversified country like Vietnam where people live in different places with different habits and customs, and tasting local food is a chance for visitors learn about local people's life, that is food culture. Passengers are recommended to try local Vietnamese food instead of western restaurants, just study information about food and restaurants of the places you are going to visit so that you can try when you come. Local food means local food for local people, not restaurants for international tourists. Street food is a culture of the Vietnamese, there are many mobile kitchen on the side walks along the streets, especially the Old Quarter of Hanoi, you can just try if you like or just have a look around to understand local culture, and once you are in Hanoi don't forget to enjoy Bia Hoi (steam beer), available every street corner. You can also try some coffee or fruit juice on the pavement without too much worry about quality or hygiene.

Get cash from ATM
Before the tour you need to check if your credit cards are acceptable in Vietnam and more importantly check how much you have in your account. In Vietnam, ATM are available in almost every big city, most hotels and restaurants accept payment by credit card, however card holders have to pay 3% bank charge for Visa or Master cards...and 5% for American Express cards, you can just get Vietnam Dong, local currency from the ATM machines.

Change money
when you travel Vietnam you just need to change some Vietnam currency at the airports or border gates. There are many branches of bank in big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city, Hoi An, Nha Trang...Banks in Vietnam open from Monday to Friday every week, don't change your money at the jewelry shops on the street as you may have fake money, if necessary you can change some at the hotels you are staying however exchange rates offered by the hotels are usually lower than the banks.