A normal working day in Vietnam starts from 7am to 8.30am and finish between 4pm to 6pm, from Monday to Friday and until noon on Saturday, leave the afternoon (most) and Sunday off.

Normal work hours are limited by labour law to not more than eight hours a day and 48 hours a week. Workers of less than 18 years of age and women who are over seven months pregnant or with a child of less than one year in age are granted an extra hour off a day and are not permitted to work overtime.

Lunch is taken very seriously.  Everything shuts down between noon and 1.30pm. Government workers tend to take longer breaks, so figure on getting nothing done between 11.30am and 2pm.

Post offices open from 6.30am to 9pm.

Banks open from 8am to 4pm and Saturday’s morning.

Museums also open in the weekend for visitors but close on Monday.

Temples and pagodas open every day, from 5am to 9pm.

Markets open at 7am and close at 5pm, except Night market (from Hang Dao Str. to Dong Xuan market – walking streets, in the evening of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 8pm to 3am)

Schools open from 7 am, except in winter because of its cold, they open later, about 7.30am and close 12h or 5pm

Super-markets (mini-marts) open from 8am to 8pm or 9pm.

Private shops, restaurants and street stalls stay open seven days a week, often until late at night.

Bars and night clubs often open in the afternoon and to midnight (official closing time) but always till 1pm or 2pm (most).