Getting Scammed in Nam

The world’s most expensive coconut: We were walking down the side walk (because the boys are too cheap to pay 30 cents for a taxi) when we found ourselves walking side by side with a man selling coconut drinks. He asked us where we were from and made conversation with Brandon about how beautiful Canada is. He commented about the heat and handed Brandon a coconut. Brandon politely gave it back because neither of us like them but the man strongly insisted and walked away from us. Even though coconuts are GROSS we thanked over and over again. A second later he retreated back to us and took back the coconut and broke it open with a knife and handed it back to Brandon. Brandon pretended to drink some and thanked him again. Of course he then demands 50,000 dong which is $2.80!! Great. Not that we would, but if we were to buy a coconut drink in a nice restaurant, it would cost us 10,000. Nice

On my own, I went to lunch at an Indian restaurant and ordered take-out that cost 15,000 dong. When I got my food and the bill there was a 15,000 fee for “plastic items.” They charged me for the container and spoon!!!
Charges for napkins: If you want free napkins in a restaurant, bring your own!! The first time we ate in Vietnam, we got charged 10,000 dong because Nelly and Josh used one napkin each.
Taxies: We were warned that we should only use the metered taxies in Vietnam to avoid scams but one metered driver still managed to get us! Even though a normal trip into the city costs 15,000 dong, one driver’s meter moved so fast that we had to pay over 40,000 for a five minute drive!!!!

Like everywhere in Asia, the people selling clothes to tourists are SUPER, SUPER aggressive. One girl literally forced me to try on a shirt even though I wasn’t interested. She just pulled it over my head! When I immediately took it off, she FREAKED OUT and said that I got it dirty from my make up and tried to force me to buy it. Luckily, Nelly yelled at her and pulled me away.

Ticket office?
When we went to the War Museum there was a little both at the entrance that had a very official sign saying “Ticket Office.” We each paid the 10,000 dong but weren’t given any tickets. Why? Because as soon as we got inside we were told that the museum is free and that the both is a tourist scam. Sweet.

Pho!!