Among many Australians, Vietnam is known for Ha Long Bay, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. But there's a whole lot more to Vietnam than that - including a bunch of life-skills we Australians suck at. 

After spending a week in Vietnam, I have become painfully aware of these blemishes. To rectify that for any readers thinking of visiting, here they are: 6 things Vietnam does better than Australia.

Driving

If you thought British aristocrats were entitled, you should see how a Bondi driver reacts when you try to merge in front of them... After coming from Sydney's toxic mess of horn blasting and road rage at the smallest infraction, it was heart-warming to see how, in Vietnam, tooting your horn doesn't necessarily mean you're angry. It's just a way to communicate "I'm here" (or "get out of the way, I'm not stopping"). Like sonic braille. 

Though Australians also like to spout cliches like "there are no road rules in South East Asia" and act like our driving system is inherently much better, I'd say learning to drive in Vietnam would actually make you a much more understanding - and more attentive - driver.

Eating

I won't lie. Thanks to growing up eating chicken breasts (I used to find even drumsticks a bit icky), the thought of eating chicken feet made me queasy. But, buoyed by the desire to impress my tour group, I gave it a shot, and it wasn't that bad. Just rubbery and and salty. 

This is just one example of the many ways Vietnam is less wasteful (and more creative) with cooking than Australia. Others include eating eel, fish guts, sea snail and pig's ears (neatly sliced in a salad, in case you were wondering).

On top of that, I found Vietnamese people eat less junk food. As our friendly guide Thành Vương told us, it's actually cheaper to buy local (fresh) produce from the wet market than it is to shop in the supermarket.

From my own experience I noticed that, even though I was on a Death By Food trip, feasting three times a day, because the food was so fresh and wholesome (rather than my diet of processed food and caffeine which I follow religiously back home) I felt better and healthier than ever. 

Napping

While we Aussies whine about the fact that our business class seat is an inch off fully flat, in Vietnam people appear to be comfortable taking a lie down everywhere from the seat of their moped (using the handlebars as a futon) to across chairs, church benches, buggy seats and, of course, hammocks (which are everywhere, especially in the island of Phu Quoc).

Saunas

I don't know if this was just the hotel I stayed in, but from what I saw, Vietnam has less of our Western hang ups around sauna nudity, and takes more of a Finnish/Japanese onsen approach to saunas. This saw me looking like quite the weirdo in board shorts (by the time I realised it was too late, and I figured it would look even weirder to suddenly take them off).

Living in the moment 

Forget going on a Yoga retreat in Bali, or doing three months of Vipassana training in India: just cross a road in Hanoi. You'll be more in the moment than you've ever been (and practicing gratitude for your life like never before).

Egg coffee

Forget lumping butter into your morning coffee like some kind of crazed intermittent fasting American fitness coach, Vietnamese egg coffee is where it's really at. Cafe Trung, or egg coffee, is a kind of coffee made with black coffee, condensed milk and whipped egg yolk.

It's nice and sweet - and a convenient way to tell yourself you've started the day off with some protein. It's real selling point though is that, if you're anything like me, it's so tasty it will send one eye in one direction, and the other in another.