Flew to Hanoi yesterday. Culture shock from the peaceful ways of Laos. This is a big bustling city complete with a bagillion motor bikes. To cross the street you have to just step off the sidewalk and go! There are no breaks in traffic. They just swerve around you.
I feel a little bad because I heard so much about how the Vietnamese try to scam travelers that I am scheptical of so many of them. Are there smiles genuine, or to lure me into a purchase? I am so cautious of getting scammed. And within 3 hours of being here I was !!!!!! While walking around the lake in the old quarter of town a woman came up to me and I looked in her basket to see what she was selling. It was a long, narrow donut. I told her "No, I'm not interested," and started to walk away. She didn't know much English, but enough to convey that there was chocolate inside. So of course I was interested and I turned back to her. She wanted 10,000 dong for 2, and I bargened down to 2,000 dong for 1. I was feeling quite happy about my bargenning skills as I sat on a bench to enjoy my treat. I imagine you can guess by now that there was no chocolate inside! And guess what else, my seller was no where to be found. Surprise, surprise. So that was my first, and hopefully my last Vietnamese scam. Lesson learned for only 13 cents :)
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