Hanoi

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I got to Hanoi early in the morning. Got a really nice hotel room for $16 a night. Lodging seams to be the most expensive here. There is a nice lake in the middle of the city. Hanoi is a bit better than Saigon in terms of traffic. The weather is a lot better - not as hot or humid. In the evening, I went walking to find a nice bar, got hopelessly lost and had to get a guy on a moto bike to drive me back. The guy didn't speak any English so it took a while to explain what I wanted 😊
Hanoi, just like Saigon has a bunch of rogue taxis with meters that run amazingly fast. I took one with a bunch of travelers, and the meter said we went 8 kilometers and we barely went 3! We got out and confronted the driver, who didn't speak English but demanded that we pay the meter rate. We gave him what we thought was a fair fare, which was about 40 percent lower than the meter. He then tried to rip the money and throw it back in our faces, which was really funny as the money in Vietnam is plastic and doesn't rip. We finally grew tired of him and just walked away.
I got to be honest with you. I am so sick and tired of all the scams and rip offs up here. I am sick and tired of having to bargain with everyone for everything. I am sick and tired of being asked to pay exorbitant prices for some things. Like 10 times as much as what the Vietnamese pay for the same thing. It is still a cheap country to visit, but you get a bad felling in your mouth. I can't wait to be back in Thailand where the prices are posted and are the same for all. Up here, even the price of bottled water is sometimes up for discussion. They just look at foreign tourists as walking ATMs and try to extort as much money out of as they can. What they don't realize is they are hurting themselves in the long run, since most people I spoke with will not return to Vietnam. Thailand on the other hand strives on repeat tourism.
Anyways, I left the best for last. Next stop, Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island followed by Sapa.

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Comments

[Paul]

Scams and rip-offs in Vietnam
<> You are right. But things have improved a lot from 5- 10 years ago, except taxi and other transportation business. Nowadays tourists can buy things in the supermarket and shopping centers where the prices are posted. I don't remember much about Ha Noi, but Ben Thanh market has a huge section with displayed prices for everything. Most shops in Sai Gon also post price. Buying a bottle of water, just giving the seller about 8,000 dong or 10,000 dong. a few thousand dongs extra from the price recommended in the guide book is fair price. It's just so simple once you know how thing works and of course if 10 cents is unimportant to you and you should always ignore the extortionate price. After all, the Vietnamese practice Chinese culture, so they do business just like the chinese do. There is even a Chinese proverb, "we can always fool the foreigners." In Vietnam, particularly north VN, the asking price is usually 3-5 times more than the sold price, but in China in tourist areas, they post 5-10 times more expensive, and of course, the local Chinese all know the real price for everything. That's the reason why the Chinese bargain for whatever they buy. I think you should write down all scams and rip-offs that you'd encounter during your Vietnam trip and then some hints about how to fight them in order to help future travelers enjoying more their trips. Many travelers said they won't come back when they are in Vietnam, but many do come back because after the trip to Vietnam they are automatically a bit smarter about how to deal with every thing. Besides, one trip, people hardly know all tourist attractions in Vietnam. Con Dao, Phong NHa cave, Qui Nhon, Ninh Binh, Mai Chau, Bai Tu Long bay, Ha Giang province, Kom Tom, taking one day or 2-3 day boat trip through numerous villages and pass under tens to a hundred of monkey bridges along several canals (water system) in the Mekong Delta, etc. are still not popular destination. I hope you enjoy your trip although being constantly scammed and ripped-off. About taxi. If you think the meter went too fast, you just pay the estimate correct price, perhaps add another 10-20 thousands to make sure that it's fair price to the driver and then walk away. You don't have to stay to fight with him. Don't fight! just write down all information on the displayed card in front of the front passenger seat and license plate number. That will scare the guy off. In conclusion, taxi in Ha Noi just try to rip off thin-skin tourists and the ones who hadn't well done their homework prior to the trip. Take care! Paul