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Published: November 27th 2012
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And this is what you get for letting your guard down in Vietnam. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later to me, probably no tourist is immune to it. I got scammed.
It happened on the short 3h minivan ride from My Tho to Can Tho. I'd hailed a minivan from the highway and asked how much it would cost. The price was VND150k (about USD7.5), quite steep for a short 3h ride, but I thought I would just put up with the tourist price, since I wasn't exactly sure how much it ought to have been, and paid upfront.
Anyway, halfway through, several of the other passengers alighted, and the driver-conductor team swapped with a new incoming pair. I'd seen this kinda arrangement before in other places (other than Vietnam), so I thought nothing of it. The minivan continued for a short while, before coming to a stop. The new driver then asked me to pay! I tried to explain I'd already paid to the previous conductor. Of course the new driver just shook his head and said, "I don't know!" and kept repeating "No money, no go!". It was at this point that the scam
dawned on me. I was infuriated of course, and initially refused to pay again, especially since he was asking an additional VND100k for the remaining 1.5h or so half of the journey.
I evaluated my options, and wondered if I could just get off and try to hail another minivan instead. But apprehensive of yet another scam, I finally relented and told the guy okay I would pay, but only once we'd arrived at Can Tho. At this point, he took my backpack off the minivan, and told me to board another one that had just arrived behind us, and to pay that driver instead. Turned out he wasn't even going to Can Tho! I saw VND40k changing hands between the two, which I presume was the "finder's fee". I finally arrived in Can Tho soon after, but at the cost of a terribly inflated VND250k ride which I later estimated really ought to have cost maybe VND80k.
Despite arriving at a pleasant riverside city that's also the capital of the Mekong Delta, it took me a while (several hours) before I could get over the frustration of the episode. I tried telling myself that all in all,
Munirangsyaram Pagoda
Apparently of Khmer style. it was a relatively cheap lesson, and this was expected especially in Vietnam, but I guess nobody likes to be scammed. Ironically, I'd read online about similar stories, but I somehow thought it wouldn't happen to me, especially since I hadn't encountered it yet in some six months of travelling. Now I've learnt as far as possible (and especially in Vietnam) to pay only upon arrival at the intended destination...
Which brings me to Can Tho, a bustling riverside city that serves as the de facto capital of the Mekong Delta area, and apparently home to a one million-plus population. Famous for its nearby floating markets, the city sees many tourists making multi-day tours from Saigon to the Mekong Delta area, myself included. You can charter a private boat to the markets and canals for 3-4h for about VND300k, but of course I'm always on the lookout for cheaper options, so I managed to join a larger group instead again, for just VND85k. Chatted with a German mathematician working for IBM in Switzerland, and found out he'd spent a few months in Singapore too when he was studying. He told me how much he liked the variety of food
there, which of course only served to remind me of what I've been missing these past six months or so. But oh well, I'll be headed back pretty soon anyway...
Stayed at the Phong Nga Hotel.
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