What to pack for Ho Chi Minh City

Luggage and bags: I just recently retired my old Karrimor backpack. This is a new Karrimor Global 50-70liters.

It come with a removable day sack which is very useful for camera storage, guide books & etc.

I didn't mean to say that only expensive backpack fit for long travel, but you definitely don't want your inner secrets pouring out at airport checking points because the zipper give way.

Miscellaneous: The Karrimor Global, is one of the 'world traveler' rucksacks with so many features i may need extra columns to write about it.

The Karrimor Global is aimed at serious travelers, capable of conversion from a suitcase to a proper rucksack. The Global can cope with airlines and trekking porters all in one go.

The Karrimor Global also comes with the Karrimor Gold Star guarantee which puts in the true 'lifetime' category. The carrying system is hidden behind a zipped panel which rolls away into a small storage pocket to reveal the SA Super Cool back system, within a few seconds your suitcase becomes a rucksack.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: 1. Rain Coat
A rain coat is advisable during the monsoon season. The very thin plastic type disposable rain coat is sold everywhere in HCMC. During my trip to Mekong tour, bought 1 piece (cost less than 1 USD) to cover my fiancee's camera.

2. Cap
The sun may be too hot for you. Good to have one if you plan to be on foot going around the city. Otherwise you can opt for Vietnamese raw hat. Dont forget your sun glass to go with it!

Miscellaneous: Calculator.

You need this to bargain when you go for shopping. Its easier rather than saying/arguing out loud for the price you want. It will also help u in converting the Viet Dong quoted to your home currency so that u can know whether the price is reasonable or not.

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Luggage and bags: When traveling and am out and about in a city I always carry the following necessary items.
A small backpack that has my necessities and camera gear out of sight..

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: As you will be doing a lot of walking around make sure that you have a good pair of walking shoes or boots

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: MOST IMPORTANT..Always carry AND USE an effective Mosquito and Insect repellant when travelling in the tropics as Malaria and Dengue fever are prevelant.
A small tube of sunscreen
A small tube of Moisturiser
A tube lip Balm
A packet of wet ones (always good when its hot)
a small packet of tissues..(in case the roll is empty)

Photo Equipment: I make a point of charging my digital camera batteries at night for the next day out.
I always carry my digital battery charger with an international power adaptor
A spare memory card

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: I always carry a small poncho in case of tropical rain (which is anytime) this also covers me and my small backpack.
NEVER be without a small torch..preferably a self charging type..without batteries

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Take as little as possible. Just buy what you need or have your hings laundered. There really wasn't a need for anything "dressy."

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Don’t worry about getting medicine if you become sick while you’re in Vietnam. I took along Cipro with me in case I ate something that didn’t agree. Not only did I have no problem with the food/water I found I could get what I needed at the local pharmacy far cheaper than what I pay in the U.S.
I managed to come down with a fever/cough/sore throat while I was in Vietnam. I stopped by a pharmacy and had no trouble conveying to the woman behind the counter what my symptoms were despite the language barrier. She offered me a selection of medications for my problem and let me read the English inserts that came with the medications to be sure I was getting the right thing. I bought just the amount I needed and the price was only a few dollars.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: I took along a gel neck pack to help me stay cool and it was a great help! They work better in dry enviroments where there is more evaporation but it still helped so much! You should be able to find them a at good outdoors/hiking store.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Just pack light (cotton T-shirts, bermudas, etc). The weather was hot and humid (although we were there in June, which was supposedly the monsoon and rainy season, the weather was HOT, averaging 34 deg Celsius per day). For footwear, bring something comfortable. I always wear my old, battered Birkenstock sandals when travelling (they've accompanied me to places like Bali, Hong Kong, US, Beijing, etc).

You should also bring some raincoats or disposable ponchos, you might be caught in a sudden downpour.

Miscellaneous: I think all seasoned travellers should know that it is best to leave your valuables (jewellery, branded bags, etc) at home. We were especially careful with our cameras and money, after reading the tips from other travellers. Lucky for us, we did not have any unfortunate encounter with pickpockets and snatch thieves...but my friend did lose a wallet to a pickpocket (in Hanoi).

For the airport departure tax, prepare USD12 per person.

Miscellaneous: US Dollar are widely acceptable in Vietnam. Bankers will give better exchange rate on bigger note ($50 & $100).

If you happen to run out of VND for small purchase, small dollar note will be assumed as VND15.000 per dollar.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Take enough sun lotion with you for your whole trip. It was the one thing that we didn't take with us, assuming it would be on sale everywhere - how wrong we were! A few places sell miniture bottles of factor 30 Nivea suncream, otherwise you will be left to burn. Also take aftersun lotion or moisturiser if yoou are trying to get a tan - all the moisturiser we saw on sale was skin whitening - not so helpful for us!

Also take some strong deet with you as we didn't see much available.

Miscellaneous: Vietnamese Dong is the currency of the country and is the means of payment for some supermarket and some local businesses. The US dollars serves as an alternate currency for most small local businesses thriving on tourist trade.

Dongs are in thousands and millions with (.) as the separator.

Example:
200.000 would be translated to two hundred thousand dong.

Seems to be following the European Euro format.