Hanoi Hotels
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Hanoi'd!
Entry 29 of 44 | show all | print this entry |
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The majority of travelers I had met during my first couple of months on the road who had been to Vietnam were not what you would describe as overly impressed with the place. Mostly they complained of rip-offs and attitude issues. Things like changing prices, agreeing to a lower price and changing it back to the higher price when it comes time to pay and bullying, I guess somewhat to the degree and frequency that it made for an unpleasant time. I have learned not to let this sort of talk affect my view and furthermore, those I had talked to who liked Vietnam, really liked Vietnam. I was pretty sure I'd fall into that category.
Well, Vietnam and I did not get off to a good start. My hotel was supposed to send a cab to meet me at the airport. Awesome. You know how I feel about the whole airport cab thing. Immigration was easy and my baggage was there. Oh oh, no cab. I called the hotel and they told me to grab one at the airport. Then I made my first mistake, one I know not to make. A fellow in the airport offered to take me for a rate, quoted in USD, slightly lower than what the hotel had said it would cost. He had cell phones and stuff so he looked official. He was friendly too. When I went outside, he wasn't parked where all the other cabs were parked. I sensed something funny was up. For some reason, I got in. The first stop was a toll booth. I had to pay the toll. I should have told him to take me back to the airport. Then we took the long ride in to the old quarter of Hanoi. I was nervous. But he didn't seem like the kind of guy who was going to do anything funny. We made it to the old quarter. Then he started talking about only accepting payment in Dong. I argued that he had quoted me in dollars and that (although I had gotten some Dong at the airport) I would prefer to pay in dollars. He would have none of that. He pulled up in front of an ATM. I told him I had Dong. I should have gotten out and told him to get f*^#&d. Anyway, it was at this point that he bamboozled me with a messed up exchange rate. Apparently he's adept at grabbing newbies at the airport who are not yet familiar with the rates, finding out where they flew in from and messing with a combo of exchange rates. He drops a zero somewhere in the discussion too so 8,000 become 800, something to that effect.
That's not where the scam stops. When we pull up in front of the hotel, a guy quickly runs out and explains that he has no room at this location but can take me to related hotel. It's too dark for me to make out the sign in front and things were happening fast. Cabby plays dumb and innocently asks, 'full'? Another guy gets in the front to guide the driver to the new location. This is really smelly. I had just spoken to the hotel from the airport. Great, I think, now I'm getting robbed for sure. Maybe not. They drive me to the other hotel. Then I pay more than I have ever paid for a cab from any airport to any downtown in any other city in the world and about four times what I should have paid and cabbie leaves. What an idiot. I don't like this one bit.
I checked in. The guys running this place have 'dickheads' written all over them. I grab a map and make the 10 minute walk to the hotel I'm supposed to be at. It looks nothing like the first place we stopped. I figured that was the deal. Sure enough they had a room for me and were wondering where I was. I went back to the other place, grabbed my stuff and on the way out, dropped my key on the counter and suggested that I wasn't sure but there must have been a mixup. I knew better than to let all this happen. It was my fault, so I decided not let this first experience ruin my impression of the country or my time in it. I think that was a good idea.
Some pics going back to March 9 are up. Takes a lot of time. More thumbnails ...
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