Local traditions and culture in Vietnam

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In buddihst culture it's generally polite to take your shoes off before entering a building and this is particulary important if you enter temples or pagodas.
Most places have a sign asking you to take your shoes off before entering but it can be missed and you should just make it a habit in Vietnam to check if there are shoes by the entrance of a place and if there is then take your own shoes off before entering as that is one very sure way of paying respect to the people you visit there.

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International womens day on march 8 is a big day in Vietnam.
You will see the streets flooded with flower shops where men buy flowers for the wifes, firlfriends, mothers etc and there are many events all over the country celebrating women.
Many bars give free drinks to women and visiting female travellers will mabye also find that their hotel gives out little presents to all female visitors so march 8 is not a bad day to visit Vietnam if you are a woman.

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Most vietnamese families have an altar in the house and you will see that most businesses have one too.
these altars are mainly there to honor the encestors.
These ancestral altars are a key thing in most vietnamese families and you will see small offerings on them and if it's the death day of an important person in the family then you will often see them put out by the entrance to the house that day.

You will also see altars at just about every business in Vietnam displayed in the main room of the hotel, restaurant, office or whatever it is.

The vietnamese do in general pay a lot of respect to their ancestors and this is the most visible way you will see it.

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The hammock is a very important itam for many vietnamese.
Many people sleep most nights in a hammock including most truckdrivers who usually sleep in a hammock attached to their truck.
And in the southern part of Vietnam just about every house on the countryside has at least one hammock in the garden and you have whole cafes where there are hardly any chairs, but just hammocks that you can lie in while having a drink.

In Vietnam you will see that most of the boats have eyes painted on the front of the boats.
this is an old tradition that they have in order to keep seamonsters away from the boats and from what i hear they also try to have the same kinda eye painted on the baots from each harbour so they can use it too see what harbours the boats come from.
As a tourist you will almost certainly notice this, but to the vietnamese this is the way it has been for centuries so they are often a little suprised that the foreigners find it an exotic tradition.

The Dan Bau is a traditional vietnamese musical instrument that is made from bamboo and has only one string.
The string can be vibrated in many ways though and it's a very hard instrument to play and it requires a lot of precission and skill.
In the past young unmarried women were not allowed to hear the Dan Bau being played as the vietnemse considerd the sound to be so beautiful that a Dan Bau player could easily seduce the Women.
Man would i have liked to be a Dan Bau player back in that day.

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Cockfighting is popular in Vietnam, especially in the Mekong Delta.
You will often see big strong cocks kept in cages there that are waiting for next weekends fights.
There are for sure many opinions about this sport and i am not encouraging it, just informing that this is a popular persuit in this part of the world.
Lot's of betting goes on during these fights and it's very much a mans world if you go to see any of these fights.

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You will very often see vietnamese car number plates with a little holder for incense sticks.
While i won't say that vietnamese are a very religious bunch in a dogmatic way, they certainly have a liking for their own little spiritual rituals and you see this on the number plates of their cars for instance.
The long ditance busses especially have them which is logical as their drivers they more and less live on the roads of Vietnam.