What are some of the biggest misconceptions about Vietnam that you would like to clear up?  

A surprising number of Vietnamese people, especially those in the larger city areas, actually know some English. My first visit took me back because I was under the assumption that very few did when it seems like in recent years, most seem to know some basic words or phrases at the very least.

A lot of people had told me churches do not exist in Vietnam and I believed it out of sheer ignorance. I think I had a westernized view of what a "holy building" was so I never thought anything of it. Come to find they have temples, shrines, etc. ALL OVER the place and they play a huge role in the culture and heritage of the country. 

People told me prior to going for the first time in my teens that it was poor and trashy. That they kept garbage out in the open and it flooded the streets. And there were rats everywhere! I should not have believed any of this but I was young and it bothered me. I know now that they take trash and littering in general very seriously. They have some of the cleanest cities in the world. I can say without a doubt they are much cleaner than Paris!

That it is filled with people who want to scam you. I can't tell you how many times I have heard this and never once was I scammed there. I was scammed several times in Mexico though! 

Scam ? They do like all people everywhere in the world, they give you a price and you bargain ! I am always amazed by people talking about scams here when they are scammed constantly in their own country, starting with the price of gasoline (Shell made a profit of over 40 billion dollars in 2022), cigarettes and others. You want scam, go to Cambodia or worst to Thailand !!!!

Diversity not only from region to region, but mostly from many places within a region. This is due to the existence of 53 minorities, each of them ferociously preserving its culture. For example, in Sapa, you have Black H'mong and Red Dao people plus some smaller minorities ; 120 km north-west, you are in the kingdom of the Flower H'mong and White Dao, same culture but different costume. That explains why all those minorities were persecuted by the Viêt or Kihn, which composes roughly 80% of the population, at the beginning of the communism regime (1954 in the North and 1975 in the South), but no longer ; the local authorities leave the tribal chiefs a lot of space.