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Emergency number for police:113, fire:114, ambulance:115
Hanoi has crazy traffic and unusual traffic patterns - you almost certainly do not want to rent a car. Our hotel provided airport taxi service with reputable drivers for US$17 each way for up to 4 people - a great bargain.
Crossing the street is a new skill. Drivers have right turn on red, but also take left turn on red or straight through on red. In other words, a traffic light is only a suggestion not often followed. Don't wait for the light to change (it doesn't matter). When you want to cross, just start walking at a slow steady pace, and the traffic will avoid you. Don't start and stop or rush - being predictable is your key to safety.
Some of the taxis appear to have a credit card reader, but the one time we tried to pay by credit card the reader did not work. Thankfully we had enough cash.
Credit cards are a mixed option. Many restaurants accepted them, but our hotel added a 3% credit card surcharge. Costs are very low, so we only withdrew VND 1,000,000 from the ATM for our 6 day visit (don't panic - that million was US$47). Our 6 days in a nice four star boutique hotel was a total of US$ 202.50 with daily breakfast for two.
Visa: Americans are required to get a visa to enter Vietnam. There are many types - the simplest is a tourist one month single entry visa (single entry means no side trips to Laos or wherever). You may send your passport off to a Vietnamese consulate and get the visa for a rumored charge of about $100 each plus postage and handling, but there is a widely used commercial Vietnam Visa service that breaks it into two parts. For less than $20 each, they get the government approval for your visa (our names were on the third page of the approval letter). When you arrive (with a copy of the approval letter) they get the actual visa entered in your passport for a "stamping fee" of $25 each (cash, US Dollars) in the airport, just prior to immigration. As convoluted as this may sound, it works quickly and efficiently.
I have heard that the visa process has been simplified. Google can be your friend.
Money: We had been told that lots of things were quoted and paid in US Dollars. Our hotel was charged in Dollars, but only a few other things - most of our charges were in Vietnamese Dongs (VND). Since I didn't know what to expect, I withdrew 1,000,000 VND from the ATM (only two of the bills like this) to get started (but that was only $47.40 and our bank refunded the ATM service fee... $0.02). Things are generally inexpensive like our hotel - our most expensive meal was just under a million (doesn't that take your breath away?), but actually cost US$37.50 with wine and tip. Sometimes you will see local prices displayed in thousands - 12.5 is 12,500 VND or 62 cents. Credit card acceptance is mixed... most of our restaurants accepted plastic; US Dollars are accepted at many stores in tourist areas, but museums only accepted cash (of course a 50,000 VND admission fee is only $2.50). Our million VND lasted all week.
Language: The most common language is, of course, Vietnamese (Viet is the largest of 54 ethnic groups identified in the country, with 86% of the population), but English and French are common secondary languages. We never had a problem "getting by" with our English, but did not find any natives (other than tour guides) with whom you could casually chat in English.
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