On my first visit to South East Asia in 2006 I complained at great length about what I called "the hassle factor". Being pestered to buy things, being overcharged/scammed and the wall of aggressive touts that hound you the minute you step out of a bus/train or airport.
Over time I developed what one backpacker described as "hard but fair" ways of dealing with them. I was determined not to let these people get me down on this trip and with the exception of Kuta beach in Bali I thought I had done well. By the time I arrived in Vietnam I had clocked up over 6 months backpacking in Asia and thought I could deal with nearly anything...............
Now to be fair the hassle factor was a lot less in Hanoi than in some parts of Bangkok but it was not the volume of it that was the problem but the nature of it. Walk for 10 minutes down Silom road in Bangkok and you will be pestered by about a dozen people trying to sell pirated DVDs. Now as annoying as they are the easy way to deal with them is not to speak to them or make eye contact but to just keep walking as if they are not there and within 10-15 seconds they pester someone else.
In Hanoi the number of people pestering you is far less but unlike their counterparts elsewhere these people will follow you for ages often pulling at your shirt of even physically grabbing you which I hate. The one that got me the most was a shoe shiner who despite the fact I was wearing white trainers just latched onto me everytime he seen me.
The money grabbing attitude of the people towards the tourists was obvious from day one. I watched a couple buying a few T-shirts off a woman who was still nasty, aggressive and trying to sell them more after they had handed their money over. She wouldn't have been happy if the couple had 30 T-shirts.
Overcharging tourists is standard in most of Asia but most of it is avoidable. The way I deal with this is not to do any business with the likes of Travel agents, Touts or Taxi drivers. There are people of course who have never attempted to overcharge me such as the noodle vendors in Thailand.
In Hanoi almost any business will attempt to overcharge such as normal supermarkets. A smoker I met went into the same place for a pack of 20 and was asked for double of what he had paid in the same place a couple of days earlier. Several times I asked for the price of something such as a meal then was asked for loads extra when it come to paying. They would often correct their mistake when asked but it was obvious what they were trying to do. Shortchanging happened in a lot of places as well, again the people corrected their mistake when pointed out but it soon felt like every transaction could result in some kind of confrontation.
My South East Asia guide book even advised against using the post office as they soak off the stamps to resell !!!!!!!!!
All these people achieved by doing this is that as soon as someone found an eating place that didn't do this is that everyone would eat there or back in the hostel. This horrible attitude of the people towards the tourists was one of the main reasons why I (and lots of others) spent a lot of time hanging around the hostel instead of being out in the city. One person who took a few days out to visit another city described it as "good but I got sick to death of people trying to rip me off all the time"..............I heard this phrase so many times it was unreal!!!!
What got to me the most was during my trip to Sapa. I had been to many rural areas in Asia and was always greeted by lots of friendly people and smiling waving children.
With the exception of one little girl there were no waves, no hellos and most of all no smiles. All I got was blank faces and emotionless expressions. Even the children were just completely blank apart from a few who gave us the typical greeting "GIVE ME MONEY".....Some have argued that they see tourists every day and would have been a bit jaded. I would argue that so does Lang Prabang across the border in Laos but the people are the exact opposite.
While on this trek 2 women started walking alongside us. Unlike everyone else they were friendly, polite and asking us all the usual questions....where are you from? are you married ? etc...... This continued for well over an hour. About 5 minutes before we stopped for a dinner break with our guide they dropped back. I remember eating and saying to the others that it was such a refreshing change to meet such polite and friendly people.
When we came out however it was completely different. These women were on the hard sell and were horrible, nasty and very agressive. I couldn't believe it was the same 2 women who we were talking to half an hour earlier. I can't remember what they were selling but anyone like that gets nothing from me even if they are selling something I want. I was followed, grabbed and the woman even kept walking in front of me for several minutes.
Seconds before I was about to explode in a fit of rage the woman finally gave up, cursed at me in her native language and stormed off. On arrival back in Hanoi the number one complaint by other people about Sapa was these women. One told me how he didn't want to buy anything but offered to make a donation instead. The woman complained that it wasn't enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought it was ironic that in the village there was a big sign telling the tourists how to "respect" the local culture!!!!!!!
In short Vietnam was the most unfriendly and unwelcoming country I had ever been to. (Egypt which I went to much later on in the trip was a very close second). I had the time and money to do the whole country but within 48 hours of getting back from Sapa I was getting my China visa sorted out.
Sapa was a great place for walking, Hanoi was a city with great character, it had one of the top 5 hostels I had ever been to where I met some great people. I also drank some of the worlds cheapest beer but despite this I hope never to set foot in Vietnam ever again........the good side of this was that China was a great place to visit.
A final note on the subjectOver time I developed what one backpacker described as "hard but fair" ways of dealing with them. I was determined not to let these people get me down on this trip and with the exception of Kuta beach in Bali I thought I had done well. By the time I arrived in Vietnam I had clocked up over 6 months backpacking in Asia and thought I could deal with nearly anything...............
Now to be fair the hassle factor was a lot less in Hanoi than in some parts of Bangkok but it was not the volume of it that was the problem but the nature of it. Walk for 10 minutes down Silom road in Bangkok and you will be pestered by about a dozen people trying to sell pirated DVDs. Now as annoying as they are the easy way to deal with them is not to speak to them or make eye contact but to just keep walking as if they are not there and within 10-15 seconds they pester someone else.
In Hanoi the number of people pestering you is far less but unlike their counterparts elsewhere these people will follow you for ages often pulling at your shirt of even physically grabbing you which I hate. The one that got me the most was a shoe shiner who despite the fact I was wearing white trainers just latched onto me everytime he seen me.
The money grabbing attitude of the people towards the tourists was obvious from day one. I watched a couple buying a few T-shirts off a woman who was still nasty, aggressive and trying to sell them more after they had handed their money over. She wouldn't have been happy if the couple had 30 T-shirts.
Overcharging tourists is standard in most of Asia but most of it is avoidable. The way I deal with this is not to do any business with the likes of Travel agents, Touts or Taxi drivers. There are people of course who have never attempted to overcharge me such as the noodle vendors in Thailand.
In Hanoi almost any business will attempt to overcharge such as normal supermarkets. A smoker I met went into the same place for a pack of 20 and was asked for double of what he had paid in the same place a couple of days earlier. Several times I asked for the price of something such as a meal then was asked for loads extra when it come to paying. They would often correct their mistake when asked but it was obvious what they were trying to do. Shortchanging happened in a lot of places as well, again the people corrected their mistake when pointed out but it soon felt like every transaction could result in some kind of confrontation.
My South East Asia guide book even advised against using the post office as they soak off the stamps to resell !!!!!!!!!
All these people achieved by doing this is that as soon as someone found an eating place that didn't do this is that everyone would eat there or back in the hostel. This horrible attitude of the people towards the tourists was one of the main reasons why I (and lots of others) spent a lot of time hanging around the hostel instead of being out in the city. One person who took a few days out to visit another city described it as "good but I got sick to death of people trying to rip me off all the time"..............I heard this phrase so many times it was unreal!!!!
What got to me the most was during my trip to Sapa. I had been to many rural areas in Asia and was always greeted by lots of friendly people and smiling waving children.
With the exception of one little girl there were no waves, no hellos and most of all no smiles. All I got was blank faces and emotionless expressions. Even the children were just completely blank apart from a few who gave us the typical greeting "GIVE ME MONEY".....Some have argued that they see tourists every day and would have been a bit jaded. I would argue that so does Lang Prabang across the border in Laos but the people are the exact opposite.
While on this trek 2 women started walking alongside us. Unlike everyone else they were friendly, polite and asking us all the usual questions....where are you from? are you married ? etc...... This continued for well over an hour. About 5 minutes before we stopped for a dinner break with our guide they dropped back. I remember eating and saying to the others that it was such a refreshing change to meet such polite and friendly people.
When we came out however it was completely different. These women were on the hard sell and were horrible, nasty and very agressive. I couldn't believe it was the same 2 women who we were talking to half an hour earlier. I can't remember what they were selling but anyone like that gets nothing from me even if they are selling something I want. I was followed, grabbed and the woman even kept walking in front of me for several minutes.
Seconds before I was about to explode in a fit of rage the woman finally gave up, cursed at me in her native language and stormed off. On arrival back in Hanoi the number one complaint by other people about Sapa was these women. One told me how he didn't want to buy anything but offered to make a donation instead. The woman complained that it wasn't enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought it was ironic that in the village there was a big sign telling the tourists how to "respect" the local culture!!!!!!!
In short Vietnam was the most unfriendly and unwelcoming country I had ever been to. (Egypt which I went to much later on in the trip was a very close second). I had the time and money to do the whole country but within 48 hours of getting back from Sapa I was getting my China visa sorted out.
Sapa was a great place for walking, Hanoi was a city with great character, it had one of the top 5 hostels I had ever been to where I met some great people. I also drank some of the worlds cheapest beer but despite this I hope never to set foot in Vietnam ever again........the good side of this was that China was a great place to visit.
Since arriving home I have posted parts of the above on various travel websites and get amazed by people who try to defend the acitions of these people or somehow try to make out that I was to somehow to blame.
I was always a strong believer that people who use dishonest practices to get money out of tourists will lose out in the long run due to their actions being spread on the travel grapevine via guidebooks and the internet.
The ultimate example of this was Hanoi backpackers where I spent most of the time. It was not the cheapest place to stay but the number of people checking in to that place every day was unreal. The secret to it's success was that unlike most places you knew what you were getting. The tours they sold had clearly printed prices and a long list of happy customers. You never had to argue over a bill or had hidden charges added to it. They were obviously taking vast amounts of business away from the other places thanks to the reviews on the internet.
Hanoi backpackers was owned by an Australian and a lot of the people who he employed were backpackers. In other words a large proportion of the money flowing into that place was not ending up in the pockets of the local people........
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