Ho Chi Minh City is the easiest way into Vietnam. One hotel for five nights, no internal flights, and the two big day trips both leave from the city. What follows is the practical detail that decides how the week runs, rather than a repeat of the itinerary.

The visa is simple, but only on the right website

Vietnam opened its e-visa to every nationality in August 2023, so a Nepali passport holder applies online like everyone else. It is valid for up to ninety days, single or multiple entry, and costs USD 25 single entry or USD 50 multiple. Official processing is around three working days; give it five to seven.

The catch is the website. Only the Vietnam Immigration Department portal on the .gov.vn domain is real. Copycat sites on .com and .net charge fifty to a hundred dollars for the same twenty five dollar visa and harvest your passport and card details on the way. One useful tell: the government portal takes payment by bank transfer and does not ask for credit card details, so a site demanding your Visa or Mastercard number is a reseller at best. Your passport needs six months validity and two blank pages. We handle the application if you would rather not do it yourself.

The arrival card that only started this year

Separate from the visa, and easy to miss. A Vietnam Digital Arrival Card became mandatory at Tan Son Nhat airport from 15 April 2026, filed online within the seventy two hours before you fly. Since this tour flies into and out of Saigon, it applies to you. It does not replace the visa, and it is a second thing to complete, not an alternative.

Getting there: nobody flies direct

There is no direct flight from Kathmandu to Vietnam, so every routing connects. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are the sensible options and door to door usually runs around eighteen hours. Some of the cheapest fares route through mainland China, at Chengdu or Guangzhou, and whether a Nepali passport holder can transit there without a Chinese visa depends on the exact routing and airport. Ask us to check that before you book a cheap fare, because it is the sort of thing that ends a trip at the check in desk.

When to come

Southern Vietnam has two seasons rather than four. The dry season runs November to April, with December to March the best of it. May to October is the wet season, when the afternoon rain is heavy but usually short.

One date to plan around: Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, falls on 6 February 2027, with the holiday running roughly the 3rd to the 11th. During the core days most local restaurants, shops and street stalls close, several museums shut for the first three days, and domestic transport sells out for a week either side. It is a fascinating time to be in Vietnam and a frustrating one to sightsee in. We will tell you if your dates fall near it.

Cu Chi: which site, and what the noise is

There are two tunnel sites and they are different products. This tour uses Ben Dinh, about fifty kilometres and ninety minutes from the city, where sections have been widened for visitors. Ben Duoc is further out, larger and narrower, and better if you want the authentic version.

Two honest warnings. First, the crawl is genuinely tight and dark even in the widened sections. If you are claustrophobic, do not feel obliged; participation is optional and there are exit points every few metres. Children from about seven or eight upwards usually manage it well. Second, there is a live firing range on site and the gunfire carries across the whole complex. It is not included in the tour and you do not have to use it, but you will hear it, and it startles young children. Earplugs are worth having.

The Mekong day, described honestly

The delta trip goes to My Tho and Ben Tre, and it is a full day of about nine hours door to door, sometimes closer to twelve with Saigon traffic. A fair chunk of that is the drive.

What you get is a river boat, a sampan through the narrow coconut canals, a coconut candy workshop, fruit tasting and traditional music. The canal section is lovely. Some travellers find the workshop stops staged, and that is a fair criticism, so we would rather you knew before you booked than felt sold to on the day. If you want a quieter, less commercial delta experience, tell us and we can look at an overnight in Can Tho instead.

Money, and the ATM arithmetic

Vietnam uses the dong, at roughly twenty four to twenty five thousand to the US dollar, which means everyone becomes a millionaire and everyone misreads a note at least once. Count the zeros.

Cards work in hotels, malls and larger restaurants, often with a three to four percent surcharge. Markets, street food and most taxis are cash. The thing to plan for is the ATM: each withdrawal costs twenty two to fifty five thousand dong in fees, and machines cap you at around two to five million dong per transaction. That means several withdrawals and several fees over five days, so take out the maximum each time rather than little and often. And do not count on US dollars being accepted; a handful of tourist businesses take them, but it is not a payment plan.

Traffic, taxis and the scams you will meet

Crossing the road in Saigon is the first thing that alarms visitors. The traffic does not stop for you. The technique is to walk slowly and predictably so the riders can flow around you. Never stop suddenly, never run back. It works, and after a day you will not think about it.

For getting around, use Grab, Xanh SM or Be, where the fare is agreed in the app before you get in. Among street taxis, Mai Linh and Vinasun are the reputable brands, but rigged meters are a real and common problem. Two other set pieces worth recognising: the shoe shine, where someone takes your shoe, cleans it unasked and then demands a large sum, and the cyclo, where a low quote turns out at the end to have been per person, per hour, or in dollars. Agree the total in writing before you sit down.

One thing not to plan on: do not rent a motorbike. Vietnam recognises only the 1968 Vienna Convention international permit, and Nepal does not issue one, so a Nepali licence and IDP are not valid here. Beyond the legality, riding without a valid licence voids your travel and medical insurance in a crash regardless of who caused it.

Water, mosquitoes and drones

Do not drink the tap water anywhere in Vietnam, including in the city, and be aware that ice at street stalls is sometimes made from it. Sealed bottles and ice from established restaurants are fine.

Dengue is endemic and present year round, worst in the south and in the rainy months. The mosquito that carries it bites in the daytime, which catches people out. Use repellent during the day, not just in the evening.

Leave the drone at home. Flying one needs Ministry of Defence approval applied for at least a fortnight in advance, and unauthorised aerial filming draws fines in the millions of dong. The same goes for photographing military sites, personnel and checkpoints.

Who this trip suits

People who would rather know one city properly than see four badly, and who do not want to spend their holiday in airports. It is also the gentlest of our Vietnam trips logistically, since you unpack once. The two excursion days are long, so the free day on day four is there for a reason. If you want to add the beach, Phu Quoc is an hour away by air and we can extend the trip.