Hanoi and a fight with a taxi driver

(written on 27/07/09, posted on 22/09/09)



It's a fag getting through the border overland, which involves getting off the train with bags at 11pm and farting around at Chinese customs for an hour. Back on the train and another half an hour or so later back off for the Vietnam border. By 2am, I can go to sleep in my bunk for a total of 4 hours. I can't actually sleep as I'm too excitied.



I must nod off as the train guard wakes me and asks for my plastic card (they give you this in exchange for your ticket, presumably so they can keep tabs on who is n and off their trains). They usually wake you thirty minutes before you are due to get off. I've been given five minutes to stick my contacts in and brush my teeth. No time to be excited still, I get off the train in Hanoi disorientated and bleary-eyed.

The taxi drivers surround the alighting passengers like dogs hungry to get to their win-a-lot so I escape the pack and go to hunt for a bank. The only bank I can see doesn't accept my card. I had the foresight to think about getting dollars, I just couldn't be bothered. This is something that I regret now. The one taxi driver that I spoke to and who tried to charge me $15 to get me 6km into the centre of Hanoi pulls up with two people in his taxi. I try to explain to them I have no dollars and they happily wave me in. Lucky for me. I try to ask what they have agreed with the driver. They say $4 each. Cheeky barstard! They get dropped outside their hotel and try to pay him $8. He wants another $6 to take me round the corner so I hastily spot another ATM, it works. Whilst he argues with the other two about the now increased price as there were 3 of us, I nip inside a shop with my Vietnamese Dong to get some change.

By the time I get back to them the tai driver is threatening to lamp the Austrian and the younger French guy looks petrified. I step in, calming female to the rescue. No such luck, I try to pay and the driver locks my luggage in the car. It's at this point the Austrian storms off fuming and I lose it. After banging on his car window is an assertive/perhaps slightly agressive way to get my point across that just because I'm a woman doesn't mean he can behave this way. He calls up someone saying they are from customer services. I agree $4 with them after haggling.

I get to my hostel, he tries to give me change for $5 until I point out his lousy exchange rate, then he strangely blames the Austrian for everything. I walk away in disbelief at this point, it's not a good start to Hanoi.