My husband and I will be spending 2 weeks in Vietnam and Singapore. It is necessary for me to telephone my elderly mother once daily. Is it easy or possible to use a phone card? Would hotels have telephones in the lobby in which cards could be used as they do in China? Is it better to bring a cellphone from the U.S. and buy a Sim card in Vietnam? How easy is that to do? Is there a better way than either of these two choices? Are costs totally exorbitant? Many thanks.

While I was in Vietnam I used Skype to call friends and family in the US. Many of the internet cafes have this available. You can set up your account at www.skype.com.

Good luck!

If you have a cellphone that is unlocked and tri or quad band, you could buy a sim card in VN. They are available at the 100's (probably 1000's) of shops selling mobile phones in HCMC (and of course other towns as well).

International calls from Vietnam are some of the most expensive in the world. Skype is highly recommended

you can easily buy a simcard while you are in vietnam. popular operators are vinaphone, mobile phone or viettel-price is not so expensive.

I have Vietnamese friends in the States that speak to their parents in Vietnam every week. Its cheaper for their parents to call the States than it is for my friends to call Vietnam. Of course they use some type of internet cafe phone service.

That's right. The telephone fee in Vietnam is rather high. It's great if your parents call you from the States as it's very cheap if your calls start in State. But the idea of using Skape is the best. There are a lot of internet cybers in Vietnam. The price is very cheap too. The price for foreigners is around or 50cent/hour. If you bring a laptop with you, just get in a coffee bar with wifi, you have to pay for the drink only. Hope this helps!