Vietnam Part 2

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I began my morning feeling more relaxed than adventurous. I slept in, and ventured out of my room only to look at the trips offered to Sapa at my hotel doubling as a travel agency. Sapa is a mountainous region of northeast Vietnam, made a famous tourist destination for its many surrounding villages and enticing trekking opportunities, seemingly off the beaten tourist path. I had long since selected this as a mandatory destination for my trip, but had been debating how best to go about this portion of the trip. Originally, I wanted to hire a motorcycle tour guide from the same company as Brian had taken, but they only offered tours in the south. When I inquired from the extremely helpful concierge at the girls’ more expensive hotel, he very adamantly discouraged me from hiring any such driver. He explained very resolutely that as a young female traveling alone, it would be extremely unsafe for me. As he wasn’t trying to coax me into some tour offered by his hotel, I trusted him and with some level of disappointment resolved to take the train.

I had enjoyed our organized tour of Halong Bay and thought perhaps a similar sort of prepared tour would provide me with plenty to do and see, as well as keep me with other people and more safe than I would be off wandering alone. Not a seasoned traveler, I was more inclined to go with a guide and group. I was not traveling in Vietnam ignorant of the inconveniences, if not dangers, of going it alone. I was surprised to see so many options in the Sapa tours, and quickly got excited by one offering 4 days and 5 nights (including 2 nights in sleepers on the train there and back.) I discussed with the man in charge the cost, and was very excited to learn it would be $85 U.S. The amount was all inclusive, and I could hardly scoff at less than a hundred dollars for transportation, food, guide, and lodgings. I signed up for my tour, and set off into Hanoi with a renewed sense of exploration.

I had a lingering lunch in the Highlands Coffee café and made plans for the day with my faithful Lonely Planet. I walked full circle around the Hoan Kiem Lake and crossed the Red Bridge to the island housing the Ngoc Son Temple. I made my way to the cluster of taxis and showed them the One Pillar Pagoda’s address in my LP. I insisted he used the meter, as I’d been taught to do, but I fear it was a useless insistence as the extremely short trip translated to just under $10 U.S. (an obvious rip off.) As soon as I stepped out of the taxi there was a tout asking me where I wanted to go and telling me he’d drive me. It was easy enough to dissuade him by saying I wanted to go to the One Pillar Pagoda which was right in front of me, but what I couldn’t have known was the area left me with little escape and there were too few tourists to get lost in any crowds. The man let me go easily because he knew he’d see me again in a matter of minutes.

The One Pillar Pagoda is a modest pagoda supposedly famous for its “amazing” ability to stand on one pillar. In truth, the extremely large cement pillar supporting it left no mystery in how it was secured. I was mildly disappointed by its homeliness, but still enjoyed it for its background. It was built by an emperor to express his gratitude for the birth of his male heir. He intended it to resemble a lotus blossom (standing for purity) rising out of a sea of sorrow. I walked fully around it, and hoped to move on to the nearby Dien Huu Pagoda, but was wearing shorts and they had no sarongs for loan, like in the temples of Thailand. I located on my map the location of my next destination (within walking distance) and set off only to immediately run into the previous tout. He started talking to me while I walked, insisting he could drive me wherever I wanted to go and despite my insistence that I only wanted to walk around he wouldn’t leave me for a further two blocks till I said as much as perhaps later I would take him up on a ride.

I walked by the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum, but both were closed for annual upkeep while Ho Chi Minh’s body was in Russia for its annual embalming. Next were Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house and the Presidential Palace. The Presidential Palace was closed to visitors, but its grounds and the grounds of Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house were open and a lovely walk around. I killed plenty of time and satisfied myself that there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to go, except back to Hoan Kiem Lake. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the tout at the exit of the grounds. He immediately latched on to me, along with another. I expressed that I only wanted to go back to Hoam Kiem Lake. They both said, sure sure. Then the one who had been trying to coax me since my arrival got in a fight with the younger new arrival. After a harsh Vietnamese exchange the dejected look on the face of the older tout told me he had lost. Apparently I would be riding with the younger one. Before I went anywhere I asked how much. He said, “Twenty.”

I said, “Twenty thousand dong? That sounds reasonable. Ok.” I swear he nodded. I should have known by the look on the old tout’s face (which had a hint of sorrow usually reserved for taking long last looks at someone on their way to the hangman’s noose) that this ride would end in agony. The young man was very nice. He spoke pretty good English and questioned me about where I was from and how long I was staying in Hanoi. He drove a motorbike, which I’d been leery of in the insane Hanoi traffic, but I decided it was part of the experience and I should branch out. In truth, I really enjoyed the ride. I was extremely proud of myself for relaxing and trusting in his driving capabilities. When we arrived at the lake I got off the bike and started pulling out my money. I held out 20,000 dong and said, “Twenty Thousand dong, right?” Here he looked at me and shook his head. “No, twenty dollars.” That was a ridiculous amount for such a short ride, but I considered it my fault, my miscommunication, and figured I’d take it as a learning experience. I didn’t have any US cash on me though, and proceeded to try to explain to him that I needed to pay him in dong.

In a complete 180 degree turn that I should have seen coming, he got immediately angry and started yelling at me. He yelled things like “You American, American bad, you let go more money.” I got flustered and insisted that I didn’t have US cash, that I needed to pay him in dong and for him to just tell me how much dong I needed to pay him. He kept yelling something about Americans and his father. It would only occur to me much later that he was trying to tell me Americans killed his father, which made no sense as he was only 20 and the war was long over by the time either of us were born. By this point he’d been adding in a few good “Fook you!” shouts for good measure. The strained accent with which they came out would have been amusing, if I hadn’t been so caught up in the altercation, and felt so affronted by his unwarranted language. He finally got my point and quoted me 400,000 dong. At 16,000 dong per US dollar, he was quoting me roughly $25. This was beyond a ridiculous price, but (as I’m sure he was aiming for) I simply wanted to get rid of this strange man yelling at me in the middle of a park by the lake.

I handed him the 400,000 dong, more disappointed in myself for allowing the miscommunication than angry with him, but he didn’t stop yelling. He decided I was a rich American, who needed to “let go more money.” He broke out into full swing, yelling for another 400,000 and upping the frequency with which he yelled “Fook you!” At this point, I switched gears. In my eyes, I’d been beyond reasonable up to that point, but there was no reason for him to ask more money of me, and I certainly wouldn’t be giving him any. I stopped any attempt of being understanding or reserved and yelled back. Well, not so much yelled as simply looked at him like he was from Mars and said very clearly, “No, I’m not giving you any more money.” I started to walk away, but he followed on his bike, still yelling. I went down a one way street and we went down it the wrong way to follow me. I turned around and he pulled a u-turn, aggravating some other bicyclists to continue his pursuit. Indeed, not until I entered the safe shelter of a sidewalk café did he drive off and leave me alone. I bought bottled water, uncaring of the fact I already had one on my backpack. It was simply the first thing I could think of.

It either helped or only made things worse that I got lost while walking home. The time I hoped to use to clear my head was interrupted by the overly frequent offers of rides or goods of some kind to sell. For the first time, I became truly annoyed with the frequent pestering of “Madame, Madame!” I finally found my bearings when I realized I was in front of the restaurant the girls and I had eaten dinner at a few nights prior. I dined alone, and then returned to my hotel room. I struggled not to let the angry man get the better of me, but he’d ruined my sense of adventure and made me rather wish I didn’t have to leave my hotel room at all. There was nothing much I wanted to see else in Hanoi, and I became all the more anxious to escape the busy, noisy city for my trip to Sapa. I spent most of my remaining time shamefully absorbing myself in HBO or online, but left the hotel long enough to eat at various cafés and sit reading at a bench in front of the lake, where I was happily left alone, for the most part at least. It wasn’t a bad way to pass the time before returning to the hotel for my ride to the train station for the night train to Sapa. I was thrilled as my excitement for the next leg of my journey began to outweigh my anxieties.

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Photos

Lunch at Highlands Coffee
I couldn't help it. I loved the presentation!

Ngoc Son Temple
A nice relaxing island temple surrounded by the small lake and folliage.

Ngoc Son Tortoise
The legend of this lake is that the Heavens gave Emperor Ly Thai To a magical sword he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. After the war he was approached by a giant golden tortoise on the surface of the water who snatched the sword and disapeared. The legend has left its affect on the present day, as tourists and locals alike look out for rarely surfacing giant tourises rumored to live in the lake.

Indochinese Green Peafowl
On the grounds, next to the stilt house.

Carp filled pond
The view from Ho Chi Minh's stilt house. Not a bad back yard, if I do say so myself.

Comments

[Mark]

LOVE
My sweety is the most amazing in the world, so you're lucky Vietnam you just got visited by a world treasure.

[Mark]

Scammers
I really hate those people that take advantage of tourists, Kira and I had a similar experience with someone in Jamaica who put bracelets on our wrists that we didn't really want, and then demanded an outrageous sum. Seems like they are everywhere.