Shoe Heaven

Vietnam!

So we arrived in Hanoi 2 weeks ago. We were told that the local people in Northern Vietnam especially were not very nice, but so far everything has been really good with a couple of exceptions. In Hanoi we took a taxi to the waterpark, instead of using his meter (which he could take us on a more scenic route to up the charge) we agreed on a set price of 60,000 dong (approx $3.70 CND). Which was fine, when we got there the meter was 55,000 so we didn't loose much, about .40 cents. We figured on the way back we could find a ride for 50,000 dong being that the drivers weren't looking to busy and would settle for less. We found someone who agreed. It doesn't seem like much money, but here it can buy you a bottle of water so your mind starts to really value that .40 cents. We showed our driver on the map where to go before we left, he got so lost that by the time we arrived back at our hostel the meter was at 110,000 dong, we paid him our 50,000 dong and started to get out when he told us we had to pay the meter amount. We argued with him for about 20 minutes then tried to get out of the car, he slammed the door on Mallory. We were really frustrated and shakey. The hostel people spoke pretty good English, so we waved them over to help to explain to the driver that he was ripping us off, which he knew he was. We were so furious, it was his fault he got lost the meter should have never been that high and initially we agreed on a set price anyway. The entire ride we were like thank god we picked a price before we left because this guys is so lost. Eventually we just offered him 70,000 dong to end the fight and after about 10 more minutes of fighting with him he took it an left. Grrrr. We were so mad at that incident. So we made very sure after that taxi drivers were going to give us the rate we decided on in the first place by showing them the money up front of what we'd give them for the total ride.

After Hanoi we went to Halong Bay on a tour. It was a two night and three days tour including an island and sleeping on a boat. There was an option to pay for $100 tour or $44 tour, we took the cheaper one of course. We saved a lot of money and I don't regret taking the cheaper one, our group was really great so we made it fun, but the tour itself was a disaster. When our bus dropped us off no one was telling us where to go or what to do so we decided to be proactive and just jumped in with another group of people being escorted to a boat, no one seemed to notice. I think if we hadn't we would have definately been left behind. Our tour guide changed every hour so we never knew where we were going or what we were doing. When the tour guides escorted people onto their boats, they took their passports, being that no one talked to us we thankfully still had ours. They really don't understand the concept of how important tourists passports are to us, it's kind of our only way out of their country. So day two we are getting off the island to spend the night on the boat and everyone wants their passports back before we leave the island so they aren't stranded there. The guides put up a huge fight and the boat started pulling away, leaving people on the island whose luggage was on the boat. Finally it all got sorted out 20 frustrated minutes later when the guide handed back the passports which he had the whole time on the boat and everyone got on. We were all just like if you would have told us you had them this would have been a whole lot easier, but everyone thought they were getting left on the island.

So things like that make Vietnam frustrating. But besides that the people have been really really nice and the food has been amazing, I'm hooked.

After Halong Bay we went back to Hanoi where I had a birthday party at our hostel, which served free beer that night, how convenient. Then the following day we took a night bus to Hue, we cheaped out and got the sitting bus instead of the sleeper which I really regret. I don't think I slept more than 20 minutes between the freezing A/C, bumpy roads and horn blaring all night.

In Hue I rode a motorcycle for the first time! Very scary at first but after getting used to it it was very fun. I will also have a scar for a while to remember it by because I put my leg on the hot exhaust pipe.

Next we went to Hoi An. Which I would like to think of as heaven. It is an entire town that is completely dependant on clothes and shoes. The shopping is amazing, there are 500+ tailors. You walk into a shop with a picture, or flip through a magazine, point at what you want, they measure you, and hours later you can have a tailor-made whatever. It was really amazing but also very tedious when you have to go several times for adjustments. It was really great but I have never been so exhausted from shopping before, being that you keep going back like twice a day until it's perfect. I bought from about 5 different tailors all over the city too so it made for some seriously long days. However, I now have a much larger shoe collection which I am very excited about. How can you say no to a $10 pair of heels in your own chosen colour and design.

Well that's Vietnam so far, it has been an interesting but great experience. We are here for about another week so there should be more to come...

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