Vietnam is generally a safe country for women to travel around alone; most Vietnamese will simply be curious as to why you are on your own. That said, it pays to take the normal precautions, especially late at night, when you should avoid taking a cyclo by yourself in Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang or Hanoi; it's wise to use a taxi instead. Asian women travelling with a white man have reported cases of harassment - attributed to the fact that some Vietnamese men automatically label all such women as prostitutes.

If you have anything stolen, get the police to write up a report for your insurance company; try to recruit an English speaker to come with you - and be prepared to pay a "fee". Corruption among police and other officials can be a problem: you might be stopped on the road or at border crossings and "fined", and trumped-up fines are often imposed on bus, cyclo or other drivers seen carrying a Westerner - fines you'll often be expected to pay. But with patience, plus a few cigarettes to hand round, you should be able to bargain fines down considerably.

Not surprisingly, the Vietnamese authorities are sensitive about military installations , border regions, military camps, bridges, airports and train stations. Anyone taking photographs near such sites risks having the film removed from their camera, or the ubiquitous "fine". Unexploded mines still pose a serious threat: the problem is most acute in the Demilitarized Zone, where each year a few local farmers are killed or injured. Always stick to well-trodden paths and never touch any shells or half-buried chunks of metal.