Vietnam

I've tried, I've really tried my best. But after nearly 2 weeks in the country I have to give Vietnam a thumbs down. While the views have been spectacular and the food good I am thorougly dissapointed with my interactions with the local population. It seems to me that everyone I speak to is only interested in me as a path to making money. The "hellos," "good days" and "welcomes" that are shouted at me on any street I walked down are immediately followed with a request to look at some shop, buy some product or hire a cyclo or motorcyle taxi if I acknowledge them with more than a headshake.

OR they are people wanting me to rent a motorcycle or bicycle.

Listen Vietnam, if I want to rent a motorcycle odds are I'll go over to your lot of five or six shitty looking vehicles and address you. If I am walking down the street in shorts and flip flops and trying to avoid the rain, yelling "Where are you from?" does not create a bond upon which I feel the need to purchase something from you.

Furthermore, people here are frequently trying to hustle you. A few of the more common schemes:
Incorrect change: Because the exchange rate between the Vietnamese Dong (16,000=1 USD) is difficult to get your head around at first people will often rely on you mistaking a 10,000 note for a 100,000 note.

This conversion problem also encourages people to try overcharge, particularly in points of entry to the country like Hanoi. I had many taxi drivers quote me prices in the hundreds of thousands for something that would imediately drop to 20,000 when I'd walk away. It's scummy and so I wouldn't take their services.

Service fees, I understand a commission. I get it! I pay more with you because you are at my hotel and speak english well enough that I feel I can get all the answers I am seeking, however, I've seen these commissions approaching forty to fifty percent. That's simply not sane! And when I did a boat cruise in Halong Bay due to 'higher costs' they were charging about 200% more for drinks on board the boat than off.

Also, I would like to whip the ass off whatever moron started purchasing tourist crap from people passing by the front of the cafe they are in. Now everyone who has any piece of rubbish handycraft must interupt my meals or conversations to enquire if I'd like to buy a newspaper, whistle, or ugly scarf. "No thanks I am good!"

Travel here is also very very frustrating, the infastructure is not exquisite so 12 hour bus rides to cover 400kms is sort of the expectation, no matter the hours the travel agent tells you. I am okay with this, I expect this. However, it's the honk to pass system that makes it fairly unbearable. All through the night, whenever someone wants to pass another they honk to let them know that they are coming up behind and going to pass. Usually a triple honk, because we are all very macho here. If the passee does not yield right away it is a longer and fuller blare on the horn, certain to wake most sleepers up. All of this would be pretty bearable, it's not an uncommon system, I've seen it work well in Central America and Cuba. However, the Vietnamese have added a twist, most all big vehicle owners have beefed up their horns so that it isn't the familiar toot to shrill blast we are all familiar with it. It is an air horn of such octaves that it hurts your ears and sets you on edge. This leads to a form of psuedo Chinese water torcher where you are on edge expecting the next blast at any moment but never know when it is coming. (As an aside I suppose America is now the leading country in water torcher, but I mean the old fashioned, rather civilized form of torturing someone by letting water drop at irregular intervals on their head, not the new fancy simulated drowning of water boarding.

Thanks for sharing your sights with me Vietnam, but I cannot wait to be out of here.

And for the record I do recognize that for some people this is how they need to make a living, however, that doesn't mean I need to spend more time here instead of a country not plagued by these problems. Oh I miss you China!