Is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? Coming from Seoul, the capital of South Korea, HCMC looks a bit sketchy, but it’s just the first impresison. Even putting in all the cunningness of an experienced gossip journalist of a morning talk show program, one can only answer in one way: Ho Chi Minh City is not dangerous. I can add something more: this answer can be extended to all of Vietnam. That’s it, I did it, gone, that’s all.
Despite this though:
- you’ll have to put up with the post on is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? and also the next posts about Vietnam, even if I have revealed part of the ending. Because I hope you know that there is always something more complex and I don’t like easy answers.
- and also, in regards to Ho Chi Minh City (abbreviated as HCMC), you need to pay attention to some behaviors, small rip-offs, and possible scams.
Dangerous Ho Chi Minh City, little rip-offs and scams, a list for madames and messieurs
The word scam, to be totally honest, sounds excessive to me. Small rip-offs could actually be more fitting for the episodes that I report below. Almost all fall under some form of a “tax” that the inexperienced tourist finds himself paying to the locals. Those who have traveled to other places will have experienced the national variant of these little rip-offs and will already know how to avoid them, for all the others let’s go:
- The little rip-off practiced to tourists more frequently is that of the shoe shiner (we have already encountered similar versions in Buenos Aires and Rio De Janeiro in particular). In Vietnam, especially in the north but also in the south, the shoe cleaning service while sitting at the bar is widespread. In practice, while you drink coffee, a guy cleans your shoes, on the spot or by bringing your shoes nearby and leaving flip-flops for you. The service exists and not every shoe shiner is shady but it could happen that, having not agreed on the price in advance, you will find yourself in unpleasant surprises at the time of payment, especially if it was the shoe shiner himself who insisted on cleaning the shoes.
In general, having your shoes cleaned, especially after a trek or a long city walk, might not be a bad idea but it is often difficult to understand how much you are going to pay (they will rarely charge us the Vietnamese price, and that’s okay, but if you arrive over 20 euros, this could annoy someone). My advice is to avoid shoe cleaning altogether, except perhaps in Sapa, but in this case, you could rely on your hotel.
- Another local “rip-off” is the rickshaws. Characteristic but now on the verge of extinction, rickshaws are almost always driven by old gentlemen who know how the world spin, and getting a decent price, or even just figuring out the price they want to charge you, is generally complex. Why then you want to get on these contraptions and look like a pot-bellied European escapes me, but in any case, if you really want to take a leap into the French colonialism of the 30s, rely on an agency that will organize everything.
- I use this point to talk about two things that are not rip-offs and don’t even have much to do with the question is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? but I think it’s a good place to talk about them. It’s about the coconuts and wipes/peanuts at the restaurant. The former is sold by street vendors in the HCMC center. A normal price is around 25-40,000 dong and, if you ask politely, you can even take a picture with the local vendor. For the wipes and peanuts, it is basically the Vietnamese cover charge. As long as the price remains around 25-50,000, it’s ok. Years ago, restaurants had a double menu with prices for tourists and locals. Now, this clear division no longer exists and the “cover charge”, for the restaurants that use it, is generally calculated for both tourists and Vietnamese.
Is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? We go, as usual, neighborhood by neighborhood
It is useless to hide that the majority of tourists move to district 1 of HCMC, with perhaps some small tours towards districts 2, 3, and 4. Those who instead move to HCMC for work (you will have heard of ex-pats I imagine) generally prefer districts 3 and 7 (district 7 is very clean and “European” but I don’t think you will be able to see, being quite far from the center).
As mentioned above and in the post on Ho Chi Minh City what to see (the post is in Italian), one of the most infamous districts of HCMC was, for a long time, the 4th. To the point that the good bourgeoisie of the city crossed the area without stopping even at traffic lights (like in South Africa to be clear ), just to avoid the risk of robberies.
Now the situation has changed to the point that I myself have stayed in District 4 and walked up and down at any hour of the day or night. In this area, there are several residential complexes with swimming pools and gyms, very popular, especially on Airbnb, and have a variable degree of shabbiness. Personally, I don’t feel like recommending them but only for reasons of position and certainly not of danger (after all I love shabbiness). Staying in District 4 means a 15-20 minute walk every day to reach District 1 and walking the streets of HCMC can be not only sweaty but quite stressful given the ubiquitous Vietnamese moped.
The quality of the air and that of the water (rivers and various rivulets) are, generally in every neighborhood, both very bad, which is why outdoor masks are still very popular here. Drinking tap water is definitely not recommended while brushing your teeth with it shouldn’t cause problems (at least it didn’t cause me any).
Is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? mopeds and traffic
We start with the question is Ho Chi Minh city dangerous? and we arrive at traffic and road rules. This is also because many tourists rent a moped. If you are going to do this I won’t dissuade you but be very careful. The data leave no room for doubt, in Vietnam, the mortality from road accidents is about 29 per 100,000 inhabitants, against 4 per 100,000 in Italy and 2.8 per 100,000 in Germany.
Ergo, driving in Vietnam is dangerous for tourists and locals, there’s not much else to say. The rules are systematically violated (for example one-way streets do not exist, or the helmets used are practically simple hats and the number of people on a moped can easily reach 5), especially by mopeds. Fortunately, it seemed to me that the speed at which the Vietnamese drive is slightly slower than our standards, which avoids many accidents. Furthermore, almost always, the unexpected presence of a moped is announced by a gentle sound of a horn.
HCMC, like Hanoi, does not yet have a subway (it was supposed to be inaugurated in 2020 but we are still far from completing the works) and has major traffic problems which however are different from ours, being mostly created by motorcycles and not by cars. This obviously means that walking around the city is not generally a pleasure, the mopeds and car horns will keep you on the edge of your seat, at least in the first week.
Because of import costs and taxes, cars remain the prerogative of 5-6% of the population but everyone has one or more mopeds (Vespa’s are on the rise). I would like to remark on this issue for a moment. When I tell you mopeds are everywhere I mean literally everywhere, to the point that sidewalks are often just parking spaces for mopeds. Also for this reason, the first few times you will find it difficult to cross the road, that is, you will sweat to understand how it is possible to get to the other side without being overwhelmed by an almost infinite swarm of small motorbikes. Then you will learn and you will succeed.
Is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? conclusion…
Those of you who have had the strength to get here will have concluded that no, Ho Chi Minh City is not dangerous. As in any big city, there are little rip-offs waiting for you around the corner, but usually, it’s nothing that will jeopardize a trip. Small extra expenses, a few big “tips” and maybe some prices higher than the Vietnamese standard, that’s all. Violent crimes against tourists are quite rare and to be honest, I also had the impression that thefts are quite rare, especially if the objects in question belong to tourists.
That said, attention must remain the right one, also because the police are nowhere to be seen. Above all, be really careful if you rent a moped. As I already said accidents are not rare and the general respect for the highway code is rather low.
As in the case of the post on dangerous Bogota, the biggest problems in this metropolis are environmental and traffic. Considering Vietnam’s recent history, I’d say it’s a big step forward.
The post that tries to answer the question is Ho Chi Minh City dangerous? is over. If you feel like it, you can leave a comment, I would be grateful, or you can continue reading:
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