Hanoi, Vietnam

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I have no pictures from Hanoi because my camera was stolen tonight. We were at the night market, looking at a vendor's goods. I was wearing a small backpack and the camera was (foolishly) in the front pouch. I felt someone bump into me. I reached back and noticed that the front was unzipped. Everything was intact, though, and I wrote off the incident as merely being bumped into in a very busy market. I was sure that we had accidentally left the pouch unzipped, and I thought to myself, "good thing I noticed it before something bad happened!" Less than two minutes later, someone "bumped into me" again. But this time when I reached back the camera was gone. I freaked out. I started quickly walking through the crowd, hoping to catch the thief. Of course nothing came of it. All I got was small crowd forming around me as I yelled and cried. The locals encouraged me to go to the police, but really, what good would it do? After a few very intensely emotional minutes, I realized I had seen the same person walk past me each time I felt the backpack move. It was a woman, and I remember what sort of shirt she was wearing. I fiercely walked up and down the market several times scanning each person in the crowd, but to no avail. The camera is gone.

At least I have this blog. We've uploaded 120 pictures of the trip so far on this website, and we've chosen the best ones to showcase. I am so thankful for this! But we had around 500 photos on the camera, including several short videos. This can never be replaced. Here are the lessons I have learned:

1. NEVER keep anything important in an even slightly remotely accessible place.

2. Consistently upload all photos onto a secondary device just in case (we should have known this one; our camera broke in South America causing us to lose some photos).

3. Don't cry or scream in such a situation. Act quickly and think fast. If I had done this, I might have been able to catch the woman who took it.

You know, Hanoi was my least favorite city in Vietnam even before this happened.

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Comments

[Ann]

Aw, Jessica. I am SO sorry. What a loss.

[Denney]

Oh Angel Face
Oh Angel Face, I am so sorry. At times like this it's good to count your blessings. As you know there are many. I am sorry that someone did something so mean and unfair to you. Karma is a bitch! This means that it does all work out in the end. I promise. Please keep writing in your blog anyway. It is still a wonderful diary of your travels. I love you and can't wait to see you soon. Love to Brad. xxxxooox Den