Before any Vietnamese readers get mad at me and start hurling insults because I didn't like my experience there, please understand that while I know that every now and then it is expected that you run into unsavory characters when travelling abroad it doesn't make the experience of being conned or insulted any less unpleasant.
We arrived in Vietnam via bus to Dien Bien Phu and decided to spend 2 days and a night over there before heading to Hanoi. We immediately booked a room at the nearest place we could find:
Upon arriving we were naturally exhausted and hungry coming from a long bus trip. After resting for a while we decided to look around for ticket agents to procure a bus ticket for Hanoi the next day. As soon as we arrived in the bus's station ticketing area (there are several small "offices" of bus ticket agents here) we were swarmed by several people speaking loudly and shoving cards in our faces. They were half shouting and some tried to maneuver us into certain directions. Luckily, my boyfriend was able to shrug them off and we went to this respectable looking agent's area. She was in her late 20s, looked strict and was semi-busy tallying figures or schedules behind the table. We asked her about the bus schedules and she gave us a list of available sleeper buses for our desired schedules. Ranging from old and new buses with prices in accordance to their features and size.
We arrived in Vietnam via bus to Dien Bien Phu and decided to spend 2 days and a night over there before heading to Hanoi. We immediately booked a room at the nearest place we could find:
This was really close to the Bus station
Upon arriving we were naturally exhausted and hungry coming from a long bus trip. After resting for a while we decided to look around for ticket agents to procure a bus ticket for Hanoi the next day. As soon as we arrived in the bus's station ticketing area (there are several small "offices" of bus ticket agents here) we were swarmed by several people speaking loudly and shoving cards in our faces. They were half shouting and some tried to maneuver us into certain directions. Luckily, my boyfriend was able to shrug them off and we went to this respectable looking agent's area. She was in her late 20s, looked strict and was semi-busy tallying figures or schedules behind the table. We asked her about the bus schedules and she gave us a list of available sleeper buses for our desired schedules. Ranging from old and new buses with prices in accordance to their features and size.
While we were discussing this with her, other "independent" agents (agents who dont have offices and just walk around on foot harassing prospective passengers) were constantly butting in. These men and women (YES. There was 4 or 5 of them loitering around and butting in our discussion!) obviously couldn't understand a word of English but they started to get worse when my boyfriend mentioned the word "toilet". One of them insisted that we take his bus because it has a toilet to which the lady behind the table snarled "NO TOILET!" but the other guy was still trying to convince me and my now confused boyfriend that his bus had a toilet and was doing hand gestures and smiling.
"NO TOILET!" came another snarl from the lady behind the counter but this time she almost sounded like she was yelling. She gave him a look that was enough to make him shut up and go away. She then turned to us and told us that the buses there are not equipped with toilets like the ones in Bangkok, but there are stops every now and then for passengers that need to go. There was also 2 options for the tickets. One was just for the trip and the other had meals included. It would be an overnight ride and there will be a stop at a specific restaurant for the passengers.
At this point we already knew what to expect so my bf decided to try out others to see if there are cheaper options. He found another agent who showed him the actual bus we were using and was impressed with the interior since there were beds inside it and it seemed fairly new. The price was lower than the other agent's so it was decided that we will take it. We booked for 6:30pm and paid extra for the meal option and with that everything was set!
The next morning we decided to roam around Dien Bien Phu to see what it has to offer. Unluckily it was a weekend and a lot of the stores were closed. We wanted to have lunch but it seemed like everything was closed. There was a restaurant which was wide open but we couldn't see any staff in sight. We looked around and saw them but they ignored us and we gave up trying to get their attention after a while. When we finally saw a restaurant with people eating in it we were super relieved. As we sat down to take our order a glum looking girl handed us the menu.
Now, I've heard that in some restaurants they don't put prices in their menus if they know you are a foreigner. In this case it must have been glaringly obvious based on the way we were dressed and how we looked like. This restaurant didn't give us a menu with prices. We called the waitress over and tried to ask her about the pricing but she couldn't seem to understand basic English or hand signals. At some point I whipped out my phone and practically begged her to type the prices so we could finally order. She called her manager, a woman in her 30's to sort it out. The manager couldn't or wont speak English either. She looked at me, then at my boyfriend and then proceeded to snatch away the menu from our hands without saying anything. She then started saying mean things in Vietnamese. How do I know it was mean? Because you don't have to understand the language to know when someone is being rude to you. She spoke rapidly and angrily and a "go away" gesture with one hand then turned her back on us. The other customers looked amused to have witnessed the spectacle and some guys seemed to be asking the waitress about us and was making jokes about what happened by the looks of it since they were looking at out direction. Meanwhile, my BF and I were just sitting at the table. Stunned and embarrassed. We then went out of that restaurant and started heading back to our lodgings which was about 2km away from there. I remember sitting down and crying the middle of the way due to frustration, fatigue, anger and hunger.
Actual pics of the bus
The next morning we decided to roam around Dien Bien Phu to see what it has to offer. Unluckily it was a weekend and a lot of the stores were closed. We wanted to have lunch but it seemed like everything was closed. There was a restaurant which was wide open but we couldn't see any staff in sight. We looked around and saw them but they ignored us and we gave up trying to get their attention after a while. When we finally saw a restaurant with people eating in it we were super relieved. As we sat down to take our order a glum looking girl handed us the menu.
Now, I've heard that in some restaurants they don't put prices in their menus if they know you are a foreigner. In this case it must have been glaringly obvious based on the way we were dressed and how we looked like. This restaurant didn't give us a menu with prices. We called the waitress over and tried to ask her about the pricing but she couldn't seem to understand basic English or hand signals. At some point I whipped out my phone and practically begged her to type the prices so we could finally order. She called her manager, a woman in her 30's to sort it out. The manager couldn't or wont speak English either. She looked at me, then at my boyfriend and then proceeded to snatch away the menu from our hands without saying anything. She then started saying mean things in Vietnamese. How do I know it was mean? Because you don't have to understand the language to know when someone is being rude to you. She spoke rapidly and angrily and a "go away" gesture with one hand then turned her back on us. The other customers looked amused to have witnessed the spectacle and some guys seemed to be asking the waitress about us and was making jokes about what happened by the looks of it since they were looking at out direction. Meanwhile, my BF and I were just sitting at the table. Stunned and embarrassed. We then went out of that restaurant and started heading back to our lodgings which was about 2km away from there. I remember sitting down and crying the middle of the way due to frustration, fatigue, anger and hunger.
I believe this was what we have encountered
We ended up eating at one of those canteen style shops near the bus station and nursed our hurt feelings with cake at a nearby coffee shop afterwards.
When it was time to head out to the bus station a bunch of guys in their late teens to early 20s were loitering around the entrance. They were not travelers from the look of it because they didn't have any bags with them. When I tried to pass, one of them stuck out his foot to trip me but I saw it and sidestepped it while glaring at him. He even had the nerve to look at me like some hard ass gangster because I didn't trip. I later found out that it was common practice in bus stations in Vietnam. Some guys would gather in a group and trip a backpacker/tourist with a huge bag then the whole group would all dive in to "help" the victim up and in the process would pickpocket them or slash their bags to try and get the valuables the victim owns.
We rode on the bus and it was then that I experienced the infamous Vietnamese bus driving style for the first time. The bus driver drove too fast and was furiously honking at the horn like a madman. LOL! This driving was consistent through the whole drive and I only felt slightly carsick. It was just the noise that was annoying. Other than that everything was fine. The toilet stop overs? Well I expected bus stops and stores. In reality it was behind private properties near rivers or behind actual houses! This was very strange for me. I would understand if it were the middle of an empty lot or field but letting off your passengers to pee behind obviously private domiciles and their inhabitants being aware of your presence was a VERY different case!
When it was time to head out to the bus station a bunch of guys in their late teens to early 20s were loitering around the entrance. They were not travelers from the look of it because they didn't have any bags with them. When I tried to pass, one of them stuck out his foot to trip me but I saw it and sidestepped it while glaring at him. He even had the nerve to look at me like some hard ass gangster because I didn't trip. I later found out that it was common practice in bus stations in Vietnam. Some guys would gather in a group and trip a backpacker/tourist with a huge bag then the whole group would all dive in to "help" the victim up and in the process would pickpocket them or slash their bags to try and get the valuables the victim owns.
We rode on the bus and it was then that I experienced the infamous Vietnamese bus driving style for the first time. The bus driver drove too fast and was furiously honking at the horn like a madman. LOL! This driving was consistent through the whole drive and I only felt slightly carsick. It was just the noise that was annoying. Other than that everything was fine. The toilet stop overs? Well I expected bus stops and stores. In reality it was behind private properties near rivers or behind actual houses! This was very strange for me. I would understand if it were the middle of an empty lot or field but letting off your passengers to pee behind obviously private domiciles and their inhabitants being aware of your presence was a VERY different case!
That night the middle aged Vietnamese man who worked for the bus was loudly shooing us away like dogs when we tried to sit at one of the tables for dinner during one of our stops and started screaming at us angrily in Vietnamese when we asked him questions. He kept waving his hands around and was puffing his chest like an idiot the whole time while screeching at us unintelligibly. He was a short fat man. Shorter than me and looked like he was in his mid 40's. This man was literally screaming and pointing his finger into my BF's face. I must point out that my BF is 6ft tall and in good shape so the bald man had no chance if it were to come to blows. I was so close to actually hitting him that I was literally trembling but my BF held me back, telling me it was pointless and since we were in Vietnam we would probably go to jail instead of them. I then contented myself by harboring murderous thoughts directed at that asshole. Finally someone pushed one of the teenage kitchen workers into the middle of things. He could barely speak or understand English but it seemed like he had an indea of what was going on so he signaled to us to show him the tickets and it turned out that we were scammed by the ticket agent and the food was not included in our ticket. What the hell??? For crying out loud, did we REALLY need to be humiliated like that?
This is what the food stop looked like
The rest of the drive was uneventful. We lost our appetite and I felt miserable and swore never to go back to Vietnam again, wishing this trip would end. Once we arrived here in Hanoi at 5 am, absurdly hungry, pissed and horribly dehydrated after eating only once yesterday, the taxi drivers closed in for the kill and tried to negotiate at absurd prices even though the area we want to head to was nearby. We finally found a younger driver who agreed to take us with the meter on but he drove us around in circles for a while, obviously pretending not to know the area so he could get more from us.
It was around 6 in the morning when we arrived in our destination. There were a lot of backpacker hotels around the area to choose from so we decided to roam around and see our options. Most of them looked closed so it was not like we had any other choice to begin with. Eventually, we found one that looked decent and had it's price posted out the door. It was $20 if I remember correctly and we were about to start knocking when this guy passed by and called out our attention.
It was around 6 in the morning when we arrived in our destination. There were a lot of backpacker hotels around the area to choose from so we decided to roam around and see our options. Most of them looked closed so it was not like we had any other choice to begin with. Eventually, we found one that looked decent and had it's price posted out the door. It was $20 if I remember correctly and we were about to start knocking when this guy passed by and called out our attention.
"That one closed! I have other hotel." he said in clear English
Never have I been relieved to hear a Vietnamese speaking in English but at this point I have become very wary due to what had happened to us earlier. My BF asked if he owned the hostel we were about to inquire at and the man just smiled and said yeah while beckoning us to follow him to this hotel he spoke of. We then followed him through an alley and into a small 8-10 storey building that looked fairly new and well kempt.
The hotel was clean, well maintained and it felt cool inside. The man informed us the rate was $26 a day - which was reasonable enough- and then handed us the keys to our room located on the 9th floor. There were no elevators but it wasn't such a big deal considering the fact that we were hiking in the mountains recently. The room was clean, spacious, had wifi access and the beds were not so worn out yet. We collapsed and fell asleep.
We woke up around noon and were too tired and fatigued to go out so we ordered online from KFC and the food was delivered within 30 minutes or less. I remember being amazed at how fast the food arrived.
God bless western franchises
My BF sent his pants and other clothes to be washed at the hotel. They promised us it would be ready by evening but failed to follow through so they told us it would be done early morning the next day but it didn't happen either. It took a lot of rescheduling and we had to call to follow up. The female manager screeched at us through the phone at one point because of it. We really did need those pants by the way, because my BF only had one good pair and we couldn't go out without it. We were promised a specific time but we were only able to receive our laundry 19 hours after the specified time which was very unprofessional and a day was wasted indoors.
Arguably the best part of my stay during Hanoi. Thank you Japanese franchises!
The rest of the remaining 2 day stay was uneventful until it was time to leave for the airport. The male hotel manager arranged a van service to take us to the airport early morning and charged us the night before we left. The next morning the van charged us again for the trip. It was very confusing since we paid at the hotel already. My BF didn't mind so I just let it go. I was just mildly annoyed that even at the last minute, we were still conned. It wasn't a huge amount ($17) but still the crime was there. It bothers me to think that this happens a lot.
I do not wish to return to Vietnam so far. It's also the country I visited that I actually disliked. It was the only country I visited that made me feel so alien, harassed and un-welcomed. To make it short, the Vietnamese I encountered in this trip are the most dishonest, crooked, rudest and Schadenfreudian people I have ever met. I don't understand why some of them seem to take a lot of pleasure ripping people off. While I understand that not everyone in Vietnam is like that, I have seemed to only encounter those kind of people. I have never experienced xenophobia before and Vietnam showed me exactly that. I want to like Vietnam and I really do, but based on my harrowing experiences there, my opinion is not going to change anytime soon.
Look son! Motorbikes everywhere!
It's cool though
"Last for leave"
"Normal food"
0 comments:
Post a Comment