Steep learning curve

Totally spoiled by the honesty of Malaysia we were initially caught unawares.  Hanoi is a busy, crowded, hungry city and as a white foreigner you are a walking $ sign, an easy mark.  Capitalism is very new here and everyone is struggling to survive. We have been scammed by the fruit guy, by the jelly dessert woman–overcharging us by 500%, not giving us change back.  The bicycle vendors,  often overcharge by ten times.  This being day two, we are on our game now.  Having read online what scams go on here, we have gotten off lucky.  The denominations of Dong are so large, it is confusing.  Since we do not know the price of things and cannot speak Vietnamese, we are vulnerable.  And once someone has your money, it is very hard to get it back.  However, we are having great experiences as well and most of our interactions are positive. It just makes us weary and tired to be on guard.  We just have to be more careful here.

There is a particular scam that keeps targeting Cork.  A guy tries to “fix” your shoes, applies “glue” to your shoes (which is really solvent) and then offers to repair your shoes, afterwards asking for money.  These men are persistent and are attracted to Cork’s Keens.  His Keens now have a small area where the glue dissolved due to this scam.  Cork actually intervened on another tourist’s behalf and we were followed three blocks with a guy yelling “F…Y.. Sir.”  At least he was being polite.