[travel] I know the real price, motherfucker.

[mattbell]

Vietnam is famous for price-gouging and scamming tourists, although a fellow traveler has noticed that they gouge each other as well.

I found I can bargain down food vendors by 20-50% and motorcycle taxis by as much as 80%, though I'm sure I'm still paying well above the local price. The strangest experience I had was with the public bus system though. We had been warned ahead of time that the price for the bus from Hoi An to Danang was 10,000 dong, but they often charged foreigners several times that. We arrived at the bus station prepared to negotiate, but saw no one to negotiate with. The operators just told us to get on the bus. Bad sign. In the station I noticed a sign in Vietnamese that said:

blablabla 10km – 4000 dong
blablabla 10-25km – 7000 dong
blabla 25km blabla Danang – 10000 dong

I took a picture of the sign.

We got on the bus along with a colorful assorrtment of locals, and a few miles later we were harassed for a much larger fare. My companion (an Israeli who has a lifetime of bargaining experience from the tough Arab street markets) told the fare collector we were only willing to pay 10000. He hovered over us, insisting on the larger amount for a while, and then moved on to shout at a nearby Vietnamese passenger about her fare. When he came back to continue bugging us, I showed him the picture I had taken of the fare sign.

He got a very annoyed look on his face and then took our 10000 dong.

The actual amount we were arguing over wouldn't even buy a coffee over in the US, but I want to make it a principle not to encourage skimming as long as it doesn't detract from my vacation experience. Personally, I found shutting down this guy's racket to be rather fun.

Comments

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

but I want to make it a principle not to encourage skimming as long as it doesn't detract from my vacation experience. Personally, I found shutting down this guy's racket to be rather fun.

Rock on. Makin' the world a better place one pissed off fare collector at a time!

[juverna.livejournal.com]

That does sound like fun. :) Good for you, and thanks for a handy tip that could be useful in the future. :)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm getting into the habit of taking photos of *everything* instead of taking notes. I've taken photos of city maps, museum guides, information on computer screens etc. It's actually nice to be reading info off a camera instead of a tourbook when you're standing on a street corner. Salespeople are more likely to leave you alone.