Case #1: Having heard about the hotel scam pulled upon Carl, Jocelyn, and Vivian's arrival in Hanoi, Christi and I were prepared -- savvy and street smart, with our guard fully up. We went straight to the official meter taxi stand at the airport, which had a clearly posted sign indicating the flat rate to town was $10 or 150,000 Vietnamese dong. We reconfirmed the price with the eager driver who showed us into his cab, and I felt better when he chatted excitedly with us, asking where we were from and if it was our first time in Vietnam.

When we arrived at our destination, Christi offered a $10 USD bill as payment; he declined, asking for dong. "Great," I thought -- healthier for all involved not to rely on US currency. Without thinking, I pulled out two 100,000 dong bills and handed them to him. Next thing I know, he's shoved them in his pocket, grins widely, and says, laughing, "I good driver for you!" Uh oh. At first, I think he's joking with us, and politely ask for change. He declines. Repeat interaction 5 times. No progress, except Christi and I are getting angry, though we are keeping our calm. Finally, I decide to throw in the towel. 50,000 dong is around $3, so it's not the worst thing in the world, but it's still basically petty thievery. As we walk away, I yell at him that I would have given him a bigger tip if he had given me my change. Of course, this complicated a sentiment in English means nothing to him, but it still felt better to vent.

Case #2: After getting Christi checked into her tour group's hotel, we went over the the hotel I'd selected. With Frommer's advice that "everything in Vietnam is negotiable" fresh in my mind, and knowing that it was off-season, I was ready to bargain my way to my room. "Do you have any single rooms available?" Yes, of course, and the price is $30 USD. "OK," I say... "well, if I stay two nights, can you make the price $25?" The receptionist laughs and says, "well, Madam, I think we can lower the price $5 for you." Whee!!! Score!!! Wait... that was too easy... I didn't anchor low enough! Regardless, I checked in, happy that I was paying less than the originally quoted price.

Fast forward two days to checkout. Suddenly, the room price appears as $27.50 per night. What?!?! I brought it down to $25! I guess according to the hotel, though, they offered to lower the price by $5 over two nights, not per night. Oh, and they forgot to quote me the VAT (room tax) as well. Suddenly my good bargain wasn't looking so hot after all.

Case #3: I'm waiting in line at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater, waiting to buy a ticket for tonight's performance. Prices are 20,000 dong (a bit over $1) and 40,000 dong (shy of $3). I step up to the window and ask for a second-class ticket at 20,000 dong, and present my 50,000 dong bill. The box office clerk stares at me, and asks if I have a smaller bill. Now, in Vietnam, I had already seen denominations of 100,000, 50,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, and 500. I can't see how scraping together 30,000 in change seems like that big a deal, so I hold my ground: "no, I don't have anything smaller." She stares at me. I stare at her. Repeat. Likely, the dozens of people in line behind me stare at me. Finally, I give in, and pay the extra $1+ for a first class ticket. Had I really been scammed, again? These are little tricks, but they add up, and leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Despite these rather deflating experiences, I will say that Hanoi grew on me over the course of my day. I wandered around the Old Quarter, dodging swarms of honking motorbikes, cyclo-cabs, and fruit sellers, to make my way to Hoan Kiem lake.

Hoan Kiem Lake

We really dug all the propaganda art posted in public places

The lovely garden of the Green Tangerine in Hanoi

My 24 hours in Hanoi passed quickly, and then we set off for a 3-day tour to enjoy the stunning and peaceful scenery of Halong Bay. More on that to come...

In Vietnam, sight lines are optional