Sharing some tips from my Hanoi trip

Sharing this from a tourist point of view.

I%26#39;m just back from 8 days 7 nights tour on hanoi city alone. These are the things to share especially to those who are visiting hanoi soon.

Cabs

The problem is, you never know when you would be cheated in hanoi. Alot of cab drivers have their meters tweaked. The best prevention is to be alert and have an estimation on the distance travelled. The correct rate should be 10,000 dongs for 1 km. If you see that the meter jumped very fast base on the distance travelled or the price always doubled with every km travelled, something is wrong with the meter. You may want to leave. Some cab companies are more reliable than others. One of the companies I often used is ';Hanoi Tourist';.

Trusting a local

Have doubts when a supposedly ';trusted'; local (like a guide) told you that the price quoted by a seller is acceptable. More often than not, the prices are highly inflated and not acceptable. Somehow, I always feel that the locals there protect their own people, and do not have much thoughts on the tourists. A same item could be selling at 30,000 dongs to the local and 120,000 dongs to a tourist and your ';friend'; could still be telling you that it is a ';normal'; price for a local. I have such experience not only with 1 local but a few whom I supposedly could trust and are there to help me. Of course, not all locals are so untrusthworthy. But always do your own research, instead of relying solely on words.

Old Quarter

If you need direction, it may be better to trust your own map. The locals (in the old quarters) are often confused especially the smaller lanes and they would be leading you round in circles. I got lost for hours and the locals led me to all directions. They refused to admit when they didn%26#39;t know the way themselves and would still point you the wrong direction. Some nasty cyclos or cab drivers may even diliberately lead you the wrong way when you refuse their cab or cyclo.

Buying souveniers

If you are buying clothes, scarfs and some souveniers, you may be better off buying at Dong Xuan market instead of the shops at old quater. The shops at old quarters charge ridiculously high price wheras the smaller stalls at Dong Xuan charges lesser. You may also be better off buying stuff at the night market smaller stalls during the weekend (and bargain) than the shops at old quarter. Most of the items I bought from hanoi are not from the shops in old quarter.

Street Food

A lot of sellers double their price for tourist. A corn could be selling 5000 dongs to a local and 10,000 dong to a tourist. Some sellers seem to have the mentality that they should reap tourist off as much as possible.

After 7 full days in hanoi, I learn to trust my own judgement and through my experiences as a traveller to other asian countries. That way, it saves me alot of frustration exploring hanoi.

Sharing some tips from my Hanoi trip

Ha!

Your comments about asking locals for directions made me laugh! Don%26#39;t worry, it%26#39;s not just tourists - I%26#39;ve seen Vietnamese get into physical fights over directions. And this is only exacerbated by the fact that most Vietnamese simplly cannot read maps - even highly educated people. It mustn%26#39;t have been a part of the old school curriculum, and it makes you realise that you shouldn%26#39;t take knowledge for granted. The fact is that after a couple of days of wandering around the average tourist is equipped with more knowledge of the city%26#39;s lay-out and directions than most locals.

I%26#39;ve seen people adamantly and confidently declaring that a temple/restaurant/shop doesn%26#39;t exist when it is literally 1 minute%26#39;s walk away.

Sharing some tips from my Hanoi trip

On the whole, I thought Hanoi prices to be a true bargain, but it%26#39;s true that a tourist must constantly keep their eyes and ears open. I learned a few things about the art of bargaining - start walking away when the offer seems too high, and immediately, that price will drop considerably!

I used the services of Hanoikids, and they taught me quite a bit about prices. I actually had more problems with directions at Hanoi%26#39;s airport - the worst airport I%26#39;ve yet encountered for signing.

Anywhere where there are tourists, vendors charge inflated prices...it%26#39;s not just Hanoi or VN. In Aruba, I paid $20 for a silly picture of my son with a monkey. In Maui, because I didn%26#39;t have a ';membership'; card that the locals had, I paid doubled the prices for snacks at the grocery store. I can go on and on...it happens everywhere but it seems only in the VN forum do I hear about scams and rip offs over nickels and dimes. The Vietnamese have the right to charge ';tourist'; prices like everyone else!

Sorry, I%26#39;m still trying to get over the ';banana pole mafia';.

Hi ntdan,

On the topic of prices, as tourist, I am prepared to pay higher prices. I have travelled to several asian countries, and yes, it%26#39;s a norm to be quoted tourist prices. We just have to bargain hard and accept a price that is reasonable to us.

When I step into a touristy restuarant, I am prepared to pay tourist prices. When I go to a souvenier shop in a museum, I am prepared to pay more.

But when I eat at a street side like the locals do, and the price quoted to me is 4-5 times more than what the local pay, then I feel that I%26#39;m being reaped off.

Basically as tourists in hanoi, we have to be prepared to pay higher prices wherever we go. But there are still places that do not charge as ridiculously as others.

I guess, on the whole, nobody likes to be cheated. Tweaking the meter of a cab to reap a tourist off, to me, is a cheat. Another example. One of the supposedly trusted local told me that it%26#39;s a norm for locals to pay 1 million dong for an item. I later found out that it only cost the local 20,000 dong. That, to me, is a cheat.

That%26#39;s just my thoughts :)

Hi jusjoe

This ';speeding'; tripmeter is very rampant.

Alway ask the hotel the approx.cost of travel and get hotel staff to assist to book a reliable taxi .

All entrace fee to tourist destination is alway double for a tourist.

Fruits at market is more than double for tourist.

Yes you are right,if you ask the local for direction at the old quarters they will give you the direction in ';circle';

Alway armed with a map and relied on the map.

Ask the price of anything before commitment in Dong not US,you will be ripped off.

Count the change carefully or you will be short charged.

All tourist are treated as cash cow to be milk dried.

Agreed with you 100%

Hi leopang,

It%26#39;s so true about counting the change. When taking a cab, I find that it%26#39;s best to have the exact change. If you pay with a bigger note, likely chance is that the driver will tell you to let him keep the rest of the change or he will say he has no change for you!

I also find it amazing when shop owners do not have small change and give you a tiny sweet instead. I can understand if it%26#39;s just 300 or 500 dongs. But I find it abit strange when they do not have 2000 dongs or 5000 dongs as change, and give you a tiny sweet instead. This happens to KFC too, when they do not have a 5000 dong for me as change! Imagine how much they would have collected for themselves at the end of the day if they do not have change for everyone.

Even reputable shop at big shopping mall would manipulate their sales code so as to charge higher pricing. I bought a pair of shorts. Sales tag on the shorts was 70,000 dongs. But the staff tried to change the code and in the end, type another string of codes belonging to other clothes and charge me 120,000 dongs.

Yes, I agree that in general tourist are better off and more wealthy than the locals. It means that we are able to buy more. It doesn%26#39;t mean that we are willing to pay ridicuously high prices.

Many of us have travelled to many other asian cities and have an idea of what is an acceptable price for the products. With more than 75% of the products in Vietnam coming from China, I do not understand why the local sellers think that they can continue with their tricks, scams and ploys and expect us to come back to vietnam again.

';Basically as tourists in hanoi, we have to be prepared to pay higher prices wherever we go.';

Not only in Hanoi, but ALL over the world. You said they charged tourists double price (a 10000 dong corn???) in Hanoi, why didn麓t you bargain to ';your'; supposed price? Come here in the Europe, many prices are 10 times or more (than the imported + taxed prices), and you can NOT bargain! Can I say they are cheating?

';When taking a cab, I find that it%26#39;s best to have the exact change.';

You are right if you do not want to lose some small change!

';If you pay with a bigger note, likely chance is that the driver will tell you to let him keep the rest of the change or he will say he has no change for you!';.

Because some generous tourists considered that change ';tipping';, many taxi drivers nowadays expect that (bad though).

';If you need direction, it may be better to trust your own map.';

Of course! Not all local people can understand Singlish. Many times I asked local people in the streets (Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Sturgatt,...) for directions (when having no map), I got lost. Do you think if I could consider them ';cheating';? No, I am not stupid enough to say so. I found later that I did not pronounce STANDARD English or their languages, which made them confused.

';One of the supposedly trusted local told me that it%26#39;s a norm for locals to pay 1 million dong for an item. I later found out that it only cost the local 20,000 dong. That, to me, is a cheat.';

Can you make it clearer? What item was that? Don麓t you know a fake (Chinese) Louis Vuiton bag costs only US$3, and the real - thousands?

';With more than 75% of the products in Vietnam coming from China.';

Can you PLEASE provide the reference for this information? If you can NOT, ';that, to me, is a cheat.';; then how can I trust what you mentioned?

Hi joe,

Thank you for warning us about some of the pitfalls of Hanoi, but it would be nice if you could balance your criticisms with an account of the things that pleased you. According to numerous TA members Hanoi is a wonderful place where the positive far outweighs the negative.

On the topic of taxis, I find it amusing the way from Noi Bai to Old Quarter is more or less understood to be VND230000 or USD16 (whichever currency you prefer to pay).

However, on the way back to the airport, it was difficult to get a cab for less than the above prices. No one would take us for less than VND230000.

A couple of cabs tried to get us to go by the meter which obviously is rigged since they are so confident they would get a better deal.

One other thing. The moment you start walking around the Old Quarter with your luggage, hotel touts on bikes would prey upon you like flies.