We wandered the old quarter this morning. In Hanoi everything you see is a tourist attraction so we decided just to wander the streets and get a feel for the place. We wandered down to Hoan Kiem Lake which is a beautiful lake not far from our hotel. It serves as central point for the old quarter and is very popular with the tourists. Every few seconds some one would approach us selling post cards or cigarette lighters or wallets or hammocks.. You just keep saying NO Thanks. One young woman in a conical hat came up and said the magic word "Map??" Gullible Australian Tourists that we are said "map... oh yes we'd love a map.." She ran as fast as her little Vietnamese legs could carry her and got us a map. Not one map ..but TWO maps. One of Hanoi and one of Vietnam. She gives them to us and then pushes us away and says "GO GO GO..." At first we didn't understand but then we noticed the policeman nearby. I don't think they are supposed to sell things to gullible Australian tourists. About 30 seconds later she comes back. Policeman is gone. "How much ??" we said.... "12 thousand dong".. she said.. (12 thousand dong is about 65 cents...but we hadn't worked that out at the time) Of course gullible Australian tourists hadn't yet been to the bank so we only had US dollars.
"No dong... How much US dollars??" we ask...
"12 US dollars" she says.
"NO WAY" I say. That's too much"...I think to myself.. I'm not getting ripped off on my first day..how dumb do I look. Then I say "$5" and she gives me this look like I have just said horrible things about her mother.... "NO NO" she says "10 US dollars" Before I knew what I was doing I said "Ok". For some unknown reason we gave her $10 US dollars for 2 maps that were probably worth 10 cents. In the distance 4 American tourists were laughing their arses off at us. We went up to them and had a chat. They told us as we walked away the woman was punching the air and jumping for joy. They also told us stories about their first day in Hanoi and how they got ripped off too. Oh well at least we're helping the local economy.
