Phones

Communication fees in Vietnam are quite high but impeccable. You can use pre-paid card phone services for your hand phone, the SIM card costs around 15 US$. Prepaid card costs 100,000; 300,000 and 500,000 VND.

The best International rates are from the post offices that have a pay per call service and a fax service. The central post offices in Hanoi, Saigon and Hue also accept calling cards from various international telecommunications companies. It is not possible to make collect calls from Vietnam.

You can dial 171+00+ for lower cost.

Internet

Internet and e-mail services are readily available in most major places throughout the country. Some hotels will have this service available and there are many Internet cafes in the major areas. The speed of your connection will vary however depending on the time of day. Average charge for Internet usage is around 4.000 VND per hour in cyber cafe internet.

Several hotels for business travelers in Hanoi and Saigon are equipped internet with high speed access in business center and in room guest.

Trading hours

Governmental agencies work 8 hours/day from 7.30am to 4.30pm (excluding one-hour lunch). Working days are from Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday are close.

Banks are open from 7.30am or 8am to 11.30am and from 1pm to 4.30pm. Some banks are open on Saturday morning from 8am to 11.30am. Sunday is close.

Almost shops are open from 8am or 8.30am to 9pm or 10pm.