Vietnam: bikes, rip-offs and how I made it to Ha long but failed to see the bay

@ Chau Doc

I have to admit it and say I'm getting a little bored with South East Asia, It's my 3rd year coming here and I'm like totally templed out! I've been finding myself getting far more annoyed and snappy with people and things over here than I should be. Invitations for a "tuk tuk miss" makes me want to tear my hair out and I'm no longer feeling guilty for waving away begging children in a huff of annoyance. However, never having been to Vietnam before, it felt like a breath of fresh air! Yes, there were children begging and the noodle soup here was the worst I have ever tasted but I had my best meal of the trip so far here (rice with some awesome chicken, simple but just perfect) and the children do go away if you ignore them long enough. 

Even the tiniest streets are busy!

What they say about the traffic is true, it's bad and there are bikes everywhere but it is just so exciting taking a Xe-om (moto taxi) here and every moment feels like life or death! Who would have thought traffic could be so exhilarating! I've since found myself missing the craziness of Vietnam roads and wishing my drivers would go just that little faster believe it or not! The trains and buses in Vietnam weren't the cheapest but they were the best and cleanest I've been on in South East Asia.

                       Yay for sleeper buses!

I didn't get the chance to do everything that I wanted to due to being completely unprepared for the costs in Vietnam. It can be EXPENSIVE when compared with neighboring countries like Thailand. I went through about $250 dollars in just 5 days, which about $180 was spent on bikes, being over charged and my stupidity! I was charged $5 for a 2 minute Xe-om ride after getting off the bus from Chau doc to Saigon, I knew I was getting ripped off but I was just too tired and my bags were too heavy to bargain too much (note to myself to pack a lot lighter)

Might look sweet but far from it!

It seems being over charged is a fact of life when you travel and no one minds being over charged a little but in Vietnam it's like 5x more than it should be. People can be extremely rude and unfriendly here and I felt like people were always out to get me or short change me somehow. I was offered a photo op by an elderly lady selling bananas; smiling sweetly her and her friend insisted she didn't want money. I was suspicious but thought OK what the hell. I was then told I needed to buy some bananas for a steal at only $4.50! I politely told her she must be crazy, and then they said OK you buy 2 for 8000 dong (38 cents) instead. I was angry and paid up but to my disgust I saw one of the bananas was rotten! I wanted to punch her but I ended up throwing the banana back at her and they responded by giggling which made me even angrier but I had to walk away with a lesson learnt nothing comes for free.

A common sight in Vietnam.

After visiting the museum of women and seeing how hard it is for some of the merchants here, I decided to help out a woman and buy some of her bread. She said it was 3000 dong, I planned to give her 4500. She claims she has enough change so I handed over 100,000 dong but she didn't really have enough so I ended up paying 30,000 dong...that was the end of my attempted charity work. 

Everyone knows it doesn't pay to get angry over here but how can you smile and keep your cool when people do this kind of stuff everyday? Some people need a slap not a smile! However, I did meet some real genuine people in Vietnam; it was my birthday while I was here and oh the joy I got to spend the day on a train. However, I brought a hard seat ticket but ended up in 2nd class bed after some friendly banter with the staff so I ended up having a really pleasant journey. A lot of the problems could of been avoided if I had bothered to read about these kind of scams before I got here (note to self-do your research, you usually do so why you didn't do it this time I will never know)!

So how did I end up going to Ha Long and not seeing the bay? Well, being the hard core independent traveler I am, I decided I was too cool for a tour. I'd read all the advice claiming that this was the one time everyone should take a tour but I knew better of course. My options were take a train at the crack of dawn or catch a bus, I decided I was going to take the train but being the lazy girl that I am I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to catch a bus and that was a bad decision. 

I woke up early (around 6 am), ate some tasty BBQ and then grabbed a Xe-om to Kim Ma Bus Station, which ended up being wrong one but the driver took me to the right one, happily letting me know after we arrived I now needed to pay double ($5).

The Interwebs had told me I needed to take a bus to Haiphong, which would only take around 2 hours and then I would need to catch a bus to Ha Long city from there, it all sounded so simple and the helpful drivers even put me on a direct bus to Ha Long. I waited and waited for the bus to leave (I got on the bus at 9am but we didn't leave until 9.30) but I was so pleased with how easy this would be and how awesome me would avoid the cost and annoyance of a tour that I was in a great mood.

Then comes the bomb shell, after the bus had left the conductor gives me the price 500,000 dong. 500,000 dong! That's all the cash I had on me and I had no idea if there would be an ATM in Ha Long but as I hadn't done my research, I was unsure of the actual price of the bus and not wanting to argue with him I explained I only had 400,000 dong, which he takes no problem. then I sit back, I calculate how much 400,000 dong actually is ($20), I watch the other passengers handing over their cash and it isn't 500,000 dong and it dawns on me, if that had been the price, he wouldn't have accepted 400,000! I hit the roof and start demanding to be let off the bus and that I want my money back. I'm ignored until I threaten the guy with the police then he gives me back 200,000 dong and we leave it at that but I should of paid only 100,000! At this point I'm in a foul mood and pissed that I'd been so stupid so when after about 2 hours on the bus we have a toilet break, I'm thankful to get off the bus, have a little walk and calm down but in the back of my mind I'm confused why we need to stop when it's only a 3 or 4 hour journey and aware I need to get there before 2. We get back on the bus and the minutes are ticking by, we must be there yet? Why haven't we arrived? I check my phone and see its 1pm! What in the world is going on?

Well the bus ended up taking 7 hours! But I was still kind of hopeful I'd be able to catch a boat out to the bay. I catch another Xe-om into town who again charges me $5 for a $2 journey. I was taken to a travel agency (I'd wanted to be taken to the bay to see if I could find a local boat to take me around) and they did try but there were no boats willing to take me, what a waste of time! My options were then pay another $5 to be taken to the bay to look for a boat myself, stay till tomorrow and take a tour for $22 or catch a 4 hour tour bus back to Hanoi in a couple of hours for $7. I went away and thought about it over some food, which was bloody expensive, $5 for fried rice! I've found street and cheaper local food is quite hard to find in Vietnam unless you want to eat noodle soup, which just tastes like noodles in water here.

In the end I depressingly decided just to get the bus back, I was tired, had no change of clothes and was short on cash. I cannot believe I spent about $27 to basically ride a bus! If you are considering doing this on your own, take the train or just take a tour. I missed out on something I really wanted to see just because I had to do it independently. I will have to do it next time and I will return to Vietnam, despite all the problems I dealt with here I'm looking forward to coming back again, hopefully a little wiser next time.


Average daily cost: $25-$45