Good Morning Vietnam!

Nice Pics :)
I must make my way up there some time in the near future. The north does have a worse reputation for scams than the south. In some areas, ripping tourists off does seem to be a Vietnamese national past time, so be careful. The most common scam comes at the petrol station when refuelling your bike. Always make sure they zero the pump and watch the numbers carefully. Stick to the well known taxi services such as Vinasun and Mai Linh as some of the lesser known companies can be a little suspect. Some shops and traders will generally try to make a few bucks out of you, sometimes charging you double what the locals pay. Generally, once you have agreed a price, people very rarely go back on it. The Vietnamese people are still quite honourable but if you do get into any difficult situations then threaten to call the police. The word for police is 'Canh Sat'. Realistically, most of the police officers here don't speak English and won't come to your aid if the amounts are small, however, your hotel should be able to help you if you encounter any serious problems. Otherwise, don't become too paranoid. Vietnam is a wonderful country, the people are wonderful and thankfully, scams are still few and far between.