The usual assumption for many westerners is that they can just rent a car while on vacation. After all, they went to the trouble of getting an international driver’s license. Not so fast.
I have lived in ten countries. Traffic in Vietnam is different. The ubiquitous motorbikes come from all directions, don’t have lights at night, signal left when they want to turn right. There are exactly two stop signs in all of Danang. I know where one is. Nobody else knows what they are, or even where they are.
In this article, I will do my best to convince you that you should not rent a car in Vietnam. Instead, I recommend that you hire a car and driver, hire a Grab car or a Taxi. This article is about Renting a Car in Vietnam (and why you shouldn’t do that). See this page for other modes of travel in Vietnam.
Hiring a car and driver will be the most enjoyable trip. Your driver usually speaks good English, is personable and knowledgeable about what to see and do.
Yes, technically you can rent a car in Vietnam. Enterprise, Avis and some other western car rental companies are doing business in Vietnam. However, your international driver’s license is invalid here. You will need to trade in your current driver’s license for a Vietnamese license to drive.
If you don’t have a valid driver’s license, you will be forced to pass the Vietnamese driver’s exam, which is only in Vietnamese.
And, you will need to take the driving test.
Partly, this is a good thing because the laws and expectations are different here. In western culture, laws and traffic signals generally regulate traffic. In Vietnam, and probably other Asian nations, the respect for others is the regulating authority.
The default action, even in busy intersections, is to pull out and see if they can drive through. The rules and laws that westerners follow are unknown and/or disregarded here. This is not a criticism, just an observation. Think of it this way, the main street does not have the right-of-way.
The motorbike in front of you has the right-of-way.
That said, their system works very well for Vietnamese. It’s the western idea of what we are supposed to do that’s the problem. For example, when a car honks their horn, they aren’t mad (almost no one is angry in Vietnam), they are telling you where they are.
Generally cars have the left lanes, motorbikes have the right lanes and bicycles (and other slower traffic) are to the right of motorbikes.
Of course, this presents a problem when turning at intersections. The cars on the left want to turn right and the motorbikes and bicycles on the right want to turn left. It’s all done in slow-motion, and with a lot more respect than would be expected in a Western society. It works.
There are several car and driver companies in Vietnam. Private Car is a car and driver company in Danang. I don’t know anything about this company but they have a website. Also, I can’t say much about this company, but you might take a look.
If I haven’t talked you out of renting a car, here are a couple of suggestions. Enterprise Car Rental has an office in Vietnam. Avis Car Rental has an office in Danang, Vietnam.