Top Travel Tips For SE Asia!

Top Travel Tips For SE Asia!

Hi everybody. Welcome back to the channel. 
Tyant Tina here from Taikantina’s Adventures or uh to be more appropriate for the country we’re 
in, Singcha. Sing Singchow Singchow Singchow Singchow which is hello in Vietnamese. Yes, we 
are here traveling in Southeast Asia and we have a few dos and don’ts for firsttime travelers 
or slow travelers or early retirement travel or whatever the case may be. we’ve come up with a 
few tips and tricks for you. So, the first thing um that we want you to do is do trust the people. 
Um this culture is such a beautiful, friendly, smiley culture. So, we want to make sure that you 
um understand it’s safe here and the people are friendly and they really are happy that you’re 
here because you’re, you know, doing tourism, you’re adding to the economy, you’re spending 
money. So, they’re very grateful and helpful. So, we want to make sure that you do let your guard 
down and trust the people. Smile, say hello in their in their language. they’ll they’re they’re 
very accommodating and and I don’t think there’s a big learning curve in that regard. Um so the 
that was a do so a don’t that we want to share. Uh this mostly is prompted by Tina. She said uh 
don’t trust that there’s always going to be toilet tissue or toilet paper. Yes. Um so uh if you’re 
in a hotel there is obviously. Um, but as you travel and if you go to um a a movie or you go to 
a shopping mall or uh something like that there, that’s usually not an issue. Yeah. Uh yeah, most 
of the common places that you’re going to go, restaurant, um a movie like Tetetta, shopping 
mall, things like that, you’re going to have very nice accommodations. You’re going to have toilet 
paper. We’re talking about some of the touristy stuff that you might want to do when you’re in 
Vietnam or Southeast Asia. Some of these can be pretty rural and it’s nice that it is rural 
because you don’t want it to be destroyed by, you know, Wi-Fi and telephone poles and, you 
know, wires all over the place. You want that beautiful view. So along with that, you know, not 
being updated to the current infrastructure comes some no plumbing and other things like that. So 
our tip is don’t trust that you’re going to have toilet paper when you go on some of these outback 
excursions. So pack your own appropriately. Yeah. And you’ll be happy you did. Yep. Uh the next 
do is do explore. explore all the areas from the touristy, you know, mountain type things with, 
like we said, a little bit less infrastructure and plumbing and things like that cuz it’s 
beautiful. And do explore walking around. Um, there’s so many things you can see just within 
a few blocks of your hotel or your Airbnb. So, do that. We want you to feel comfortable 
exploring because it is safe and there’s a lot of things that are easy to walk or take a 
short little taxi which here is called a grab. Um, you know, you can go somewhere. We went to the 
mall the other day from our hotel for $1.50. So, it’s really reasonable. We want you to explore 
and fast. Um, explore the things and have fun doing it. Yeah. So, a don’t. Again, that’s a do a 
don’t is don’t just walk. Um the the grabs and the public trans or not public transportation, but the 
grabs basically the taxis uh are so inexpensive and relatively quick and you don’t have to um 
deal with crosswalks which are uh not pedestrian friendly. They’re as opposed to like the United 
States or even uh what travel we’ve done in Europe. There are crosswalks and there are signals 
and they are supposed to yield and they are obeyed and there’s fines if you drive through a 
crosswalk. Here it is. It is cycles, buses, taxis, cars. Uh they have rightway. So you have to just 
learn how to weave in and out just like they do in their traffic. There’s very few signals, very few 
um uh traffic management uh things that go along with being a pedestrian friendly. Not saying that 
you can’t walk, you can. You can and you’ll figure it out. You know, it just takes a minute to kind 
of Yeah. But just get used to it. Yeah. You just want to be very aware. Yeah. And their horns honk. 
Their horns are their warnings. They are warning you. If they honk, you need to pay attention cuz 
they’re telling you to like, I’m coming through. I’m not going to stop. Yeah. Sometimes it’s lane 
bylane crosswalks where you you walk out into traffic and wait for the next lane to clear up so 
you can cross it and the next lane to clear up so you can cross it. And uh but they also are, 
you know, as long as you’re staying between those lines, they’re they’re watching for you. But 
again, don’t walk. Don’t make walking your primary mode of transportation. Yes. Uh because there’s 
just a lot of good alternatives. You can even take uh taxis that are on the back of uh scooters. 
So, those are super inexpensive um and quick. And again, um we’ve been here a couple of weeks. 
I haven’t seen a crash yet between a pedestrian and a vehicle. They know what they’re doing. They 
know what they’re doing and so do the people. So, but again, there it’s a lot of inexpensive ways 
to get around besides hoofing it. Yeah. Plus, if it’s warm and sunny outside, it is the cars 
are air conditioned. The cars are air conditioned. It’s just really nice. So, the next do is do 
get a massage for sure. The massages here are so inexpensive and lovely. Especially if you’re out 
and about walking and exploring, you’re going to want your little footsies to be rubbed. So, I went 
and got a foot massage. It was 30 minutes and it was $5. So, you can’t beat that price. I went and 
got a facial the other day and it was a 60inute facial and it was less than $10, $963 or something 
like that. So, make sure you do those things and treat yourself. And even if you’ve never gotten 
a massage before, because back in the States, massages are you might get lucky and be able to 
get like a $50 massage with a coupon or something, but most of the time you’re going to spend between 
$70 and $100 for an hourong massage in the States. And then you’ve got a tip and you know, you’re 
lucky to get out of there under $100 for a 1-hour massage. Yeah. here. If you’ve never tried it 
before, what a perfect time to try because for less than $10, you can get an hour-long treatment 
and see if you like it. No, no harm, no foul, right? Try it out. There’s a lot of people that 
we know that were in our group here that tried it for the first time and now they’re like hooked. 
So, treat yourself and get lots of massages while you’re here. Yeah, it’s it’s the price is right 
and the services are are they’re just really exceptionally serviceoriented. And so the don’t in 
all of that uh is don’t forget to tip. It’s really not expensive to tip at all. There’s there’s no 
minimum gratuitities uh that you see sometimes so prevalent in the US. Yeah, they will never tack 
on a tip like they do in the US. They don’t expect a tip, but they do greatly appreciate it. And 
you can tip uh like right now with the exchange 25,000 Vietnam dollars is one a little less than 
one US dollar and they would love that for a tip. I mean that’s probably the most that they would 
even expect. You could tip less than that if you wanted, but $1 in US money is a pretty decent tip 
to give the staff. And it’s all relative. It’s not like you’re being a cheapkate. It’s just it’s just 
that’s their exchange rate and you know in our dollars that means a lot to them and pay5 to $10 
for a massage. So a dollar tip is 20 10 to 20%. So that’s if you factor that into our into one of our 
goals here is to share retirement early retirement tips where you can save money get exceptional 
experiences um so live an amazing lifestyle. That’s just part of it right there. Yeah. Great. 
you. So, yeah, the next do is do try new foods there. It’s like a melting pot here where we’re at 
right now in Vietnam. They We’ve had pizza. We’ve had uh hamburger, like a cheeseburger with they 
they do French fries really well here. We’ve had some really good French fries. Um they have their 
traditional bamei and their faux soup and um all that stuff. You can get pretty much anything you 
want. Yeah. really close here. Seafood is really popular here. So, try seafood pizzas. Try the 
foods. Again, like we said with the massages, it’s super cheap. You can eat as cheap as a 
$1.50 a meal. You could probably get it for a dollar. Well, I know you can get it for a dollar, 
US dollar, because I’ve seen some videos where you can get meals for a dollar. Um, so anywhere from 
a dollar to the most we’ve spent on a meal is here at the hotel. a really nice dinner we had with 
friends and it was $11 per person. So that’s like a really nice there’s more food without food with 
the tip and everything was $11 person. So you know you can go a little crazy if you want or you can 
eat for just a couple dollars. Yeah. And there and the options again the options are full spectrum. 
So, one don’t that I have is uh almost every menu we’ve seen, in fact, every menu we’ve seen has 
a picture of the food. Yes. Um and it’s maybe somewhat isolated, but I had a salad. I ordered 
a salad the other night and it was warm and kind of soggy and it had uh lentils on it, which I 
didn’t see in the picture, and it was just not great. Uh so my my don’t would be don’t trust the 
salad. Uh if you are a salad person, you might ask the weight staff, is the is the lettuce chilled? 
Is it, you know, is it going to be cold? Uh and uh going along with that, sometimes they don’t get 
you that stuff. You know, in in the United States, it’s pretty consistent. If you order a salad, they 
get it to you first and etc. Here we were we were done with the main course and then they brought 
the salad. So yeah, you you kind of have to uh reinforce maybe the order you want your food. But 
again, my advice is don’t trust the salad. And if you got to have a salad, ask them more about it. 
So there’s my don’t on that one. The next do is since we are here with our retirement, this is our 
lifestyle. We’re not here on vacation. This is us living this life. Um so we take a nap almost every 
day. So, I encourage you do take naps, especially since this time of year, um, it’s really warm in 
the middle of the day and you really can’t enjoy yourself outside. Yeah. In that heat and humidity. 
So, it’s a nice time to just stay in the hotel in the air conditioning comfort of your room and take 
a little nap. Yeah. And what goes along with that in the don’t category is uh don’t um go out in 
the midday sun if you can avoid it in the midday heat because it is hot and it’s humid. So, if 
it’s um 90°, the humidity factor and the UV rays because you’re it’s sunny, you’re close to the 
sun this time of year and it it’s their summer, uh boost that temperature into the triple digits. 
107 105. Yeah. And it is it is it is daunting and you definitely don’t want to get dehydrated or 
have heat stroke or something like that. So, pace yourself. Yeah. And if you’re going to be 
out it, be prepared. Make sure you have plenty of liquids. Um the cooling towels that you see, 
they work really well here. And the fans, I love my neck fan. Yeah. that the ones that actually 
blow the air conditioned air, not just circulate warm air. Because even with this when it’s super 
hot, when we did our all day tour where we went um up to the ancient city, um by the time this cool 
air got to my face, it was kind of lukewarm. So, yeah. Um and definitely recommend the fan. 
Yeah. So, pace yourself. If you do go out, make sure you’re prepared for it. There’s nothing 
wrong with an umbrella. um big hat, uh you know, clothing, bring some necessities. Yeah. So, the 
next thing that we do want you to do is trust the night life. Mhm. It’s not scary here after 
dark. It gets dark at 6:00 at night. So, there’s still a lot of time left in your day to enjoy, go 
out to eat, and that’s when the locals come out, too. Yeah. The locals come out, they’re done 
working, and it’s way cooler once the sun goes down substantially. they don’t have to worry 
about, you know, the UV rays affecting them, any risk of skin cancer, things like that. So, we 
want you to trust the night life. Get out there, go enjoy things, go have some dinner, go there’s 
plenty of little like nightclubs and things like that if that’s your vibe. Almost everything’s 
open till 10:00. Yeah. At least minimum. At least. Yeah. Yeah. And with that, a don’t is to 
don’t trust your footing. Uh what I mean by that, and this is actually during the 
day as well, but mostly at night, um when you’re not maybe you can’t really see 
the lay of the sidewalks, and there’s there’s some pretty uh sketchy places in regard to how 
the sidewalks are finished. Pothole kind of potholes and and uh there’s a lot of pavers that 
they use. Um, so that smooth, really easygoing sidewalk you might see in a lot of uh area, a lot 
of cities and towns isn’t consistent. So, just kind of watch your footing where you’re going, 
where you’re walking. Just be cautious. Yeah, just it is better than a lot of places, but 
when you get off on some of the side streets, there’s some construction. There’s things like 
that. Some of the steps aren’t, you know, there’s no like code, so some of the steps can be a little 
larger stair step up or down off the curb, things like that. So, just be careful with your keep your 
eyes open. Yeah. Another do we want you to take advantage of is do learn about the Vietnamese or 
whatever country you’re going to learn about the culture. Um maybe learn a couple catchphrases like 
sanchcha means hello. Um come on means thank you. you know, it will really go a long way and it 
will bring some beautiful big smiles to their faces if you uh say a few of those phrases in 
their language. They will really appreciate it. And if they engage you in English and really 
act like they want to speak to you in English, let them be. We’ve had a lot of the kids we’ve had 
a lot of young I mean little kids little kids want to practice. They want to practice their English. 
So, they’re like, “We had a It was just really fun to let them talk to you and ask you questions and 
uh let them answer and and it’s just really uh fun and it’s a really neat way to engage.” Um, also, 
Vietnam is kind of a conservative area. Um, the uh I don’t think I’ve ever seen more polo shirts 
on men in my life. What I mean by that is not a lot of people running around in tank tops and uh 
they are conservative in regard to their um dress and also that translates to PDAs, public displays 
of affection. So, just keep in mind, you know, that um while it might be something in the United 
States that you just learn to ignore or don’t even notice anymore, here it’s uh just be it’s a nice 
way to show respect to to the community. Yeah, we don’t want to be disrespectful at all. So, 
another do is be friendly. This is such a happy people here. The culture is one of friendliness 
and happiness. You’re going to see lots of smiles. Everyone’s helpful. Everyone wants to be able to 
do something for you. The driver wants to take you someplace. They want to give you more information. 
They want to tell you about their country. Um, so just remember that they are friendly and 
it’s not like a scam to get more money out of you. You can trust that the cab driver, the taxi 
driver, the grab driver is going to be fair. And you know it just just be open and friendly. 
Yeah. And be honest with them. If you don’t if you’re offered a price on a a a cab that’s 
not as good as one that you’ve got lined up, just tell them and they’ll just they’ll just 
they’re respectful. Yeah. Um they’re also trying to make a living, so I don’t blame anybody for 
asking me for business. So um and and with that, try to enjoy um your time here. There’s uh 
it’s an international city. Um it’s the it’s the biggest smallest uh city in in talking about 
Vietnam in Daang. We’re in Daang. Uh a little over 1.2 million. Um but it doesn’t feel overwhelming. 
Uh so it’s enjoy the time that you have here. Um there’s there’s so many ways that you can save 
money and have a super enjoyable time. Yeah, for sure. And you know, just if you balance your 
schedule with the heat, you’ll have a lot of fun. Yep. Yep. And our last do is dress comfortably 
and cool. Not every day, not every moment needs to be an Instagram ready picture perfect moment. 
I mean, you are going to be here. It’s hot. It’s humid. You’re going to want to be comfortable 
so you can enjoy yourself. So, just remember, um, wear clothes that are comfortable, breathable. 
Mhm. Yeah. We we have some nice breathable clothes and you want to be able to be comfortable. 
So, make sure you’re dressing comfortably, not for that perfect Instagram picture moment and 
for that don’t moment I kind of uh uh kind of in implied a little bit earlier. Um you know that 
don’t um underdress. What I mean by that is that it’s a pretty conservative culture. uh people are 
wearing they’re covered up. Um and not to say that you can’t wear things like shorts and stuff, 
but like for example, if you go to a temple, um they want your shoulders and your knees minimum 
covered up. Yeah, they would prefer that. Now, I can’t say that we saw anybody trying to enforce 
that, but the people we saw were respectful in that regard. And there are lots of temples and 
opportunities to visit um worship type sanctuary places here. So you might as well just make that 
part of your wardrobe at least like a layering shirt or something you can maybe stick in your 
bag or tie on around your waist or something. But like covering your knees on a regular basis 
is probably it stays a little cooler if you can keep the direct sun off of your skin. It’s 
actually a little cooler. So yeah. Well, we hope you enjoy these tips for traveling specifically in 
Southeast Asia. Yep. And we’ll see you next time.

Travel tips for anyone interested in traveling outside of the US.

@TykeandTinaAdventures

Affiliate Links:
Insurance: https://safetywing.com/signup?product=nomad-insurance&callbackUrl=%2Fdashboard%2Fnomad-insurance%2Fpurchase&referralToken=9bd989b9-dab6-480f-a016-458f9d3c64f3

Hotel Points with IHG credit cards: Earn 4 free nights with the IHG One Rewards Premier credit card. Earn 80,000 bonus points with IHG One Rewards Traveler credit card. Earn 140,000 bonus points with the IHG One Rewards Premier Business credit card. I can be awarded if you apply here and are approved for the card.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/210F/OX0WFBCG8V