VIETNAM BASIC INFO
Vietnam, a country in Mainland South-east Asia. In fact, it’s part of the well-known Indochina (that includes Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). The country is not large but is long and very varied in landscape and terrains. In addition, the scenery is beautiful and 54 different groups of ethnic people make Vietnam one of the most interesting places for travellers to Asia. To help our customers have some information about the country, people, weather, customs, and festivals we created this page – Vietnam Info. Please click on the link to get the information you want to know. We hope you find it useful when planning your travel to Vietnam. In fact, we try to provide any information (info) hub about Vietnam.
Basic Vietnam Info
– Basic details
– Factbook
– 54 groups of people
– Weather & climate
– Traditions, customs & rites
– Main festivals, holidays & recreation
– Tales & legends
– International border entry/exit gates
Planning Your Safe Motorcycle Adventures In Vietnam
– Destinations & Riding Route Map
– Practical Road Rules
– Riders’ Age
– What To Bring
Contact us at [email protected] in case you need more details of Vietnam Info that you couldn’t find or have any suggestions for us.
I have a full motorcycle licence in Australia. I understand this licence does not allow me to ride in Vietnam. Do I need an international drivers licence as well as my normal drivers licence to ride on a guided tour in Vietnam?
Hello Richard,
First, none of the foreign licenses is valid in Vietnam, including your country license. There are conflicting reports about this but the reality is unfortunately not good news.
However, the good news is IDP (international driving permit, 1968 Convention and not the 1949 Convention) is now valid in Vietnam from August 1st, 2016 with the 46/2016/ND-CP decree. You can purchase an insurance policy easily when you have a 1968 IDP. If you have 1968 Convention IDP, please also bring your home country driving license with motorbike endorsement.
You can try this website (https://www.e-ita.org/vietnam) to get an international driving license. They also abide by the 1968 Convention so check if they can get you this type. The application process is 100% online and takes about 3 minutes including uploading a headshot. We are not associated with them in any way so please check it for yourself.
In case you have no IDP or Vietnamese driving license, the police rarely stop you to check license unless you do something wrong. It’s more to do with personal medical insurance which will be further explained below.
You can’t get a Vietnamese license with a tourist visa. In case you have a business visa, you need a company to sponsor you and wait 7-10 days after you arrive in Vietnam to do paperwork. This means nearly impossible to get a local license and therefore you can’t buy any insurance in Vietnam unless you have a valid IDP. Luckily, you can buy a personal medical insurance policy from companies like Allianz, CHI or World Nomads…They only request your country driving license. Vietnam driving license is a very complicated issue. Even Vietnam doesn’t recognize any foreign license but take it easy you will be ok. More details are at this link.