don't ever Overpay When You Rent a Taxi
The first concern as you're traveling through the country is to never be paying double or triple how much you should pay for taxis. I do not have to be concerned all that much about transportation outside of these modes because generally speaking the cost is dependable. But there is a giant assortment in excellence and honesty in the universe of rentals.
Firstly, a good rule of thumb for which taxis to give business to in Vietnam is to choose one of the vetted organizations. Perhaps the biggest and honest taxis are Mai Linh, and Vinasun. if you constantly employ one of these two companies you won't have be anxious about being overbilled or run around in circles to charge up the meter.
but be alert. they're many imitator taxi "companies" that paint their cars as the celebrated taxis in order to con people into giving them their money. the taxi economy is unregulated in the country of Vietnam so you may see a limitless number of individual drivers around. This is one of the areas where you need to be wary because taxi related cons everywhere.
though, if can simply employ the tenet of using the two known corporations pointed out above you will most definitely be fine. always keep an observant eye on the meters price have a smart phone with you so you as a minimum be familiar with where you could be going and you will be able to tell if you're being taken in a entirely roundabout direction to your final destination.
exploit Motorized Bike Taxis or "Xe Oms" (pronounced "say ome")
a nice fun alternative option to yellow taxis are the low-cost and more audacious "xe ome" motorbike taxis. taxis are placed throughout the city and are game to leave whenever you are. They are simply just unemployed or "self-employed" men that work as motorcycle taxis who receive their bones usually off of tourists, but locals use them as well.
You do have to be careful of being overbilled because of them as well, but for the most part the Vietnamese are pretty honest people just seeking to earn a living. you may need to do a little negotiating on price, but that is an entirely average thing to do in lovely Vietnam.
a normal price for a xe om ("xe" means "vehicle" or "auto" and "om" means "hug"; so the authentic translation is "hug taxi"!) is between 10,000-15,000d/mile. The exchange rate is generally 20,500/$1 but fluctuates on a regular basis. when I arrived in the country of Vietnam in 2007 the exchange rate was roughly 16,000/$1 and has gradually gone up to around 20,000-21,000d/$1 in 2012/13.
a standard cost for a regular taxi may be between 25,000-30,000d/mile so it is a bit cheaper to go by xe om, specially if you're riding in the much of the time. The the noticeable downside with riding in a motorcycle is that it is quite added treacherous zipping through the city with some random guy, with no earthly clue where you're going to. yet, I cannot seem to recall experiencing any real predicament traveling with a motorbike taxi for the period of the first few months that I was in the nation of Vietnam when I journeyed this way exclusively.
[http://sharesend.com/zfyrlw00 vietnam traveling]
