Vietnam is not the easiest of places for travellers with disabilities, despite the fact that many locals are disabled as a result of war injuries. Tactical problems include the chaotic traffic and pavements that are routinely blocked by parked motorbikes and food stalls. That said, with some careful planning it is possible to enjoy a trip to Vietnam. Some budget and many midrange and top-end hotels have lifts. Note that bathroom doorways can be very narrow; if the width of your wheelchair is more than 60cm you may struggle to get inside.
Train travel is not really geared for travellers with wheelchairs, but open tour buses are doable. If you can afford to rent a private vehicle with a driver, almost anywhere becomes instantly accessible. As long as you are not too proud about how you get in and out of a boat or up some stairs, anything is possible, as the Vietnamese are always willing to help. The hazards for blind travellers in Vietnam are acute, with traffic coming at you from all directions.
Haggle hard in marketplaces and most souvenir stores, and for cyclos and xe om motorbike taxis. Many hotels offer a discount; restaurant prices are fixed. Vietnam has very complicated weather patterns. Broadly there are two completely different climate zones.
Anywhere south of Nha Trang is hot and dry between November and March and the rainy season is roughly late April to October. Conversely central and Northern Vietnam's rainy, cool season is October to March, and summers April to September are hot and steamy. For more than three decades, four armies expended untold energy and resources mining, booby-trapping, rocketing, strafing, mortaring and bombarding wide areas of Vietnam.
When the fighting stopped, most of this detritus remained exactly where it had landed or been laid; American estimates at the end of the war placed the quantity of unexploded ordnance UXO at , tonnes. Since more than 40, Vietnamese have been maimed or killed by this leftover ordnance. The central provinces are particularly badly affected, with more than incidents in Quang Tri alone. While cities, cultivated areas and well-travelled rural roads and paths are safe for travel, straying from these areas could land you in the middle of danger.
