Mantis vs. Roach. The Mantis won!!

It seems all of the paper work is done and from what I understand, here is the result of all the action. The police had a meeting with our receptionist and the owner of the motorcycle. It seems that the bike owner has a criminal record and was told by the police that it was entirely his fault and not the fault of the hotel. He should have verified the renter himself and not assume we had his information. After the fact, the police also mentioned that The bike owner may have been in on the theft. It is possible I guess, but it looks like everything worked out OK in the end. This episode has convinced me that camera security is needed, and I will be installing them soon.

My grand niece Su Su has been spending time with me in order to learn English. Not being an experienced teacher, I was struggling to come up with lessons to help her improve. I decided one day to take her for a ride with me into the country and it was fun! We practiced English together, and it forces her to try to get ideas across to me as there is nobody with us that can translate for her. The following pictures have been taken from our road trips.

Supposed to ba a happy day

Tonight we are dealing with a crisis .  We had a man check in and book a room for 5 days. Nothing unusual… He did not want the semi automatic bikes we had for rent and had us phone a company to supply him with an automatic motorcycle. The motorcycle was delivered and the fellow after having a shower headed out for a day around town.

We had reason to enter his room in the late afternoon for reasons of maintenance, and discovered that there was no clothing, or any other evidence that the man planned on spending the night. Our day receptionist expressed a concern that it was odd but we thought that perhaps he was going to deliver his luggage later as he had claimed that he was until now staying at friends but needed to get away to his own room. (I thought different)

He left is Id with and we registered the Id with the police at 9 pm which is normal procedure. About 11 pm we began to grow suspicious that he had not returned and had a closer look at his Id. Oh my god!!! It is fake!!  Vietnam still has a long way to go for tamper

To many more years

 proof ID and this was a classic case of a cut and past photo on somebody else’s ID. It is a bit hard to tell, but after close examination, a person can see the signs. The photo has slight imperfections around the edges and it looks newly laminated. I pointed this out earlier in the day to my receptionist always being on guard for some of the low lives that try to prey on others, but she thought I was being paranoid and that everything would be OK. NOT!! I know the type and seem to be able to read them much better than they can. I have been accused about being too quick to jump to conclusions in the past, but I have been proven correct. I think those around me are now beginning to understand. This time the nail has been driven home. 10 hours ago I expressed my concern about his ID looking to new…. Now we might be in a world of hurt.

An English lesson in the country

All it cost me so far for this situation is a free shower and a cup of coffee. But what about the motorcycle? Will the hotel be responsible for arranging the rental? Is this perhaps a planned retaliation of what happened in my last post by some petty assHo*es to get even in some way? I will not lose any sleep over it; however, I am sure my staff will not sleep. It may be their jobs on the line if this ends up the responsibility of the hotel. I have always limited myself to how much I was willing to invest and have always been prepared to walk away. I have never forgotten where I am and what can happen, and the episode today has just re-enforced that thinking. As a matter of fact, there could be a silver lining in that all of the rules and procedures I have been trying to drill into my staff for so long will finally not be ignored.

So what will tomorrow bring? Was I set up by the people that I confronted in

Su Su in the country

 the past few days and has this become a contest of whose penis is bigger? Or was it a random event and we are the unfortunate victims of a professional thief?

HaHa…. This is what I love about Vietnam…. I am ALIVE!! For better or worse, tomorrow will come and I will survive. There are powers that really want us to succeed and bring tourist dollars into this area. They are behind me, and part of my new stronger backbone. I cannot imagine that they would be willing to take the risk of losing the friendly and curious foreigners that I bring to this area….. as a matter of fact, I think they are thrilled and want more. Tourists in this area are loved and protected by the locals. It is only the Vietnamese it seems (me being one of them in their mind) that can be exploited.

Today is our wedding  Anniversery ……… What a unusual gift. Yea I know the spelling is wrong on the cake.

Ahhhhh I feel alive!

Egad!! I have been cloned

It is 11pm and my wife is being picked up by a provincial police officer to go to a local station to sort things out. I am a little concerned because I like to be there whenever officials are involved to make sure I am watching. Tonight it is her show. Here is how it came all about……..

After the raids by the police and the tax people in the past, we have been doing our best to comply with all the laws and make sure that there is nothing we can be caught for. We had the police show up tonight and try to find something wrong with our running of the business. The only thing they were able to find is that the sign for our room prices was on the floor leaning against the wall instead of hung on a nail, and because of it we were written up!! We have a new police friend that is looking out for us and when he heard about it, he contacted the police station to give them trouble. Mai just left on a motorcycle with that same policeman to meet with the city police and

Sweet Sue

 straighten things out. An 11 pm meeting??? I am sure Mai will be buying the drinks….. This is a small thing but I am now very concerned that we have become involved in the protection business. I will have none of it!  If I have to walk away from my dream, I will. So far this has been a pleasure looking after a hotel and enjoying nice people. I have been living the dream. I hope to god that my wife has not fallen into the trap and is feeding corruption. She left with a smile on her face, but I was left with a scowl. At this moment I fear more than I ever have since coming to Vietnam. Are we falling into the do a favor, or feed a few bucks world? I sincerely hope not.  I told Mai that if this is the case to make very clear to these officers that we are prepared to just walk away and all of the tourist dollars we are bringing into this area will disappear.

Long Son Pagoda

I hope the government is monitoring my blogs…… as a matter of fat, I am sure they are!! Take note!! I know you have been trying to clean thing up. I have had your corruption police stay in my hotel, and they are welcome as are any other nice people. But you need to work a lot harder!! It will take you a long time to stamp out all the petty corruption, but it has to be done. How can you ever provide good and honest services to people and more importantly, tourists if every minor civic official is trying to illegally gain some kind of profit! It has to stop. If you want people like us that are trying to promote and help your country by bringing tourists…. The petty problems have to stop. I promise you that I will do my best to comply with the law and attract tourists to a wonderful part of Vietnam that I wish all could see, but in turn I need you to keep all the nit picking little assholes out of my hair. It is now 11:15…

Damn!! I have not been angry in a very long time. I do not like the sensation. For the past couple of months I have been busy will a full hotel, hassle free, and with great guests that I could become friends with. As of last week, we went from 100% booked to only a few rooms as have everyone else. (Except for the 1 hour hotels) I have decided that I will need another motorcycle. During the busy days, both were rented so I was only left my bicycle to go shopping for supplies needed for the hotel. Normally that would be fine, but when a person needs to go longer distances, or pick up supplies…….

Damnit!!! It is 11:30! Ahhhhh, here she is!! I will have a very serious talk with her tomorrow. If I am in any part feeding corruption, it will stop…. For better or worse! I do not want to be part of the exploitation of these or any other people in any way!

It is the next day and everything seems to have come to an end. As I suspected, Mai ended up picking up the tab for the young policemen that raided us and the higher level police man that we have befriended though everything was being smoothed over Vietnam style. ( a few buck here and there) When I discovered this I was even angrier. The total cost for this affair was only 15 USD, but after it was all over, I indeed surmised that I had been the victim of some profiteering. Mai delivered my message that I would shut down and just retire here and let the hotel go back to what it was before we came. The police were dumbfounded and could not believe that we would take this so seriously.

It is now the next day

 I talked with Mai and through her delivered the message to out police friend and the others that If this ever happens again, we ill definitely close and just enjoy a simple retirement. In turn, we were provided with the phone numbers of the same people who caused us the trouble with the guarantee that such as thing will never happen again, and if any policeman comes to try to shake us down, we only need to call any of the 3 numbers provided and they will make it all go away.

That is all fine and good…. I have developed connections everywhere here and might even now have the same clout as a high ranking CEO or the likes, but I should not have to rely on them just to stop a petty ASSHOLE! Trying to get few bucks out of me.

Ahhhhhh the adventure continues

Rice fields

A beautiful country

Fishing in a flooded rice paddi

More rice fields

Water lillies

Carpet weavers

A husband and wife that could not conceive.. He asked me if I could sleep with his wife so that maybe they could have a child.... I politely declined

A view of the prison from above

A guard tower.

A deserted prison or???

A farm on the side of a mountain

My bike path through the jungle

All photo’s from a typical day in my world…. more to come

Arriving at Tan Son Nhat Airport

When exiting the arrivals hall at the airport, you will be greeted by a huge crowd of people waiting for arriving friends & relatives. You will also be hassled by numerous taxi touts. Even if you ignore them and push past them to the taxi rank, things don’t improve, as there IS no taxi rank – just a mass of rival taxis jockeying for space and customers. In short, it is absolute chaos, especially when compared to the orderly system at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport. So what do you do? Well, until the airport authorities take steps to install some sense of order, you have 4 choices:

1. Pre-book an airport transfer through your hotel or tour company. A more expensive option, but one that gives you peace of mind and eliminates hassle at the end of a long flight.

2. Book a taxi at the official taxi counter, which costs around $12 – again, more expensive than a metered taxi, but you get to avoid the chaos outside!

3. Fight your way past the taxi touts to the ‘taxi rank’, and flag down one of the reputable companies above. Have your hotel address written on a piece of paper to show the driver. Make sure he puts the meter on – if he refuses (he may try & offer you a “deal” or claim his meter is broken) get out and take another taxi. If he accepts, the fare into district 1 should be around 90,000-100,000VND. If it is substantially more, refuse to pay and get the porter at your hotel to sort it out for you. Also, if the driver asks you to pay any tolls en route, refuse – they are included in the fare.

4. A more crafty ‘insider’ option this one. On exiting the arrivals hall, turn right and take the stairs or lift up the departures area. It is much quieter there and you will be able to catch a taxi dropping off people at the airport, following the advice in point 3 of course!

5. Take the number 152 bus that stops in front of both the domestic and international terminal. Just take a few minutes to deal with the chaos and you should be able to figure out where the stop is.

Getting Around

Once you are settled into your hotel you’ll want to go out sightseeing or on business, and you may want to take taxis. Again, use the aforementioned companies, have your destinations written down, and make sure the driver uses the meter.  Remember, if you ask his advice, he will take you wherever he can get a commission)

Aircon

After recent petrol price hikes, many drivers are turning off their aircon to save fuel. Not a good idea in a city where temperatures constantly hover around the 30C mark. If your driver refuses to turn his aircon on, get out and take another taxi.

Personal Hygiene

To many of the city’s taxi drivers, soap and deodorant seem to be alien concepts. If I get into a particularly malodorous taxi, I have no qualms about saying “Hoi qua!” (”It stinks!”) And getting out again, in the hope that the message gets through!

Tipping

Tipping is at your discretion and is not expected. If the driver has been polite, helpful or gone above & beyond what you would normally expect, feel free to offer a tip.

Beware of drivers “assuming” that you will tip them – e.g. the fare is 25,000VND, you give him 30,000VND, and he says “thank you” and pockets your money without giving you change. Or alternatively, he may claim he has no change. In this instance, insist on getting your change back and stay put in the taxi, or take your money back and get out. He will then miraculously find some change in his pocket.

Precaution

All taxis have the driver’s number in the window. It’s worth noting this down. If he gives you bad service or tries to cheat you, you can ring the company to complain and give them the number; and if you leave your bag or camera in the back of the taxi by mistake, you’re more likely to get it back!

There you have it. Everything 2 expats can tell you about how to get around without being cheated. Hopefully this will help you in your travels.

A frequent complaint from foreign visitors is of being overcharged, ripped off and generally mistreated by the city’s taxi drivers, particularly those operating at Tan Son Nhat Airport. (Saigon) Indeed, a 2007 survey discovered that the number one reason cited by tourists as to why they would not return to Vietnam was being overcharged by taxi drivers.

Taxis are a concern in many countries, and Vietnam is no exception. As a matter of fact, I personally consider them one of the worst things about this country. They can be aggressive, manipulative, and most cannot be trusted. Even individuals working for reputable companies will try to take advantage of a tourist at every opportunity.

Taxis are highly commission driven and they will take you to the furthest spot they can that will give them the highest commission. Do not ask the driver to recommend and drive you to a nice restaurant. You may or may not end up where you want, but where he wants. The friendly fellow will even wait for you to take you back.

Another very common practice, and one that annoys me immensely is the practice to try to scoop a hotel guest by lying, or trying to trick them into thinking there is a good reason for you not to show up at your reserved hotel. You will probably end up at some budget hotel and getting bullied into pre paying for your nights so you do not leave after your sleepless night. The taxi driver does not care…. He has made his 20000 commission for scooping you. That is all he cares about.

When you arrive at Cam Ranh airport to go to Nha Trang, there are a few things to watch for in order not to be scammed. You can elect to buy a shuttle ticked at a desk as you leave the airport for 40000 dong that will take you to the old Nha Trang city airport. From there you can catch a taxi, bus, or motorcycly cowboy. You also have the option to purchase a taxi voucher for 280000 dong that will take you wherever your hotel is. (Ignore excuses or other things he says and do not pay extra unless you wish to tip) The cheapest option is to walk out to the parking lot and grab a car of taxi that is waiting a short distance off. A car should cost 150-170000 dong, and a Van 200000. They will run the meter to keep track of miles. Beware the common scam of them saying the price was for one way and you are required to pay the return fare or what the meter says!!

Important!!  If your taxi pulls ahead or behind the entrance to your hotel, you are most likely being cheated. The taxi driver is trying to avoid the possibility of the receptionist coming to your aid.

Lastly…. Always take note of the taxi number when you enter. If there is any problem during or after the trip, you will at least have some chance of making it right. If you forget something, it may be returned, and if you were scammed, at least it can be reported to a company that cares.

So how can you ensure that your visit to Saigon isn’t blighted by taxi cheats? Here’s my guide, based on 7 ½ years as an expat in the city!

Which Taxi?

In my 7 years in the city, only one company has an unblemished record with regards to overcharging – Mai Linh. Their taxis are white & green. Be careful – there are several fake Mai Linh taxis around using very similar livery and logo. In recent months they have become outnumbered by the ubiquitous Vinasun taxis – they’re mostly OK but are less fussy about who they employ as drivers, and tend to employ country bumpkins with no knowledge of Saigon and with zero customer service skills. I mostly agree except I myself have been taken the long way by Mai Linh taxis and have had them also try to cheat me. It all depends on the individual driver I guess. You can also spot fakes by the driver not wearing a tie which must be worn at all times by a Mai Linh or Vinasun driver.

All other taxi firms should be treated with extreme caution!

To be continued……..

Smile Ben

In my opinion Khuyen was one of the most important people any hotel could have. Sure she made mistakes and such, but still a hard worker. After 2 weeks of training her replacement, we found that not had our new cleaning gal cut corners and forgotten simple important things, but she was caught stealing things from the customer’s rooms. She is a simple minded person that we were helping out by giving a good paying job. The job was only for one month but still….. I cannot believe that she thought she could get away with it. The first instance was a customer who was ill and confined to the hotel for a few days. He was in and out of his room a number of times in the day, and after the cleaning gal was in, he came down right away all angry because the only American he was saving for coffee in the airport when flying home went missing, along with a 200000 note. We confronted her right away on it and she denied everything not showing any shock or dismay at being challenged.

A cutie

 There was still some small doubt in our mind as the money could have been misplaced, so we did not fire her and told her that if anything else went missing from customers rooms, she would be in trouble. In the 6 months of operation we had never had a complaint until now. Just a few days later, we were confronted by a missing toiletries bag, a bottle of shampoo that had gone from full to empty, missing ear rings, bracelet, and a necklace…. All from different rooms. That was it!! Out the door she went and we are now left without a cleaning lady for 2 weeks. Mai and Tram have spent the last couple of days cleaning, and now we have Mai’s twin sister.

Mai and I have learned a very valuable lesson. When it comes to very poor people, greed and lack of education over rides common sense. We will do our best never to have this happen again. It is extremely important to us to have our guests secure and safe. The last thin we want is for them not to be able to trust the very hotel in which they stay!!

Perhaps I should not even be posting this on the web for fears that a reader may choose not to stay because of the situation, but this blog is about Vietnam and what goes on here…..

I traveled to Doc Let beach with some friends to scout a location for a new tour. It has only been days, but The Texas Bar and Grill are putting their first tour together. It will consist of a group going to a nice beach under utilized by tourists and having an afternoon of fun and games, along with a great hamburger. I hope it all works out

Sissy

In the past I have referred to Sissy and Puffy, my two motorcycles that are the backbone of my freedom of movement here. Puffy is starting to huff and puff. I can see before too ling that I will have to spend a few bucks to rebuild the tired old engine. I had no idea that she was smoking, but a friend pointed it out.

Sissy on the other hand has surprised me. The other day I was cruising along when all of a sudden I lost power. As I coasted to a stop the starter engaged and smoke started pouting out from underneath the cowling as wires melted and fused. What a stinking mess. A person who thought they were being helpful ran over and dumped a pot of iced tea over my bike to try to quench the fire. Ah…. The poor girl had totally fried the electrical system. I was able to push the smoking carcass to a street mechanic that had a box of tools simply set up by the side of the road. He took charge and told me that there was no way I could have it today. Sissy required some major surgery and it would take until at least noon the following day. I trustingly told him to fix anything he found wrong and left. At noon I showed up to find a hard working guy wrapping wires and trying to completer the job on time. I told him not to worry and went for lunch. When I returned, I found his daughter putting food in his mouth as he worked. He did not even stop for a lunch break!!! Sissy was

Puffy

 his first priority. About 2 pm he was all finished and he reluctantly told me that the total cost was 200000 dong. (10 dollars) I can never get used to how cheap vehicle repairs and parts are here.

I am amazed. Sissy now runs and looks better than she ever did. She now proudly prances down the street in powerful smooth grace that is a pleasure. No rattles or clanks, just a good solid burst of power that makes poor little Puffy look sad.

A beauty at any age

I have still been very busy with the hotel and other matters. Since Khuyen has left, there has been a change in routine that makes it hard to have free time. The past short while, I have been entertaining some very nice people, and decided to join them on a 4 island boat tour. I had been approached by a woman who is the manager of a tour company and I decided to give the company a try. I liked her and if the tour was good, I would send customers here way. Well…… The trip was very much like I have described in other posts but there were a few things that did not work out. The bus was there to pick us up half an hour early only to deliver us to the port for wait for half an hour. The boat we were on was so confined in space that I came back with sore muscles. Lastly the food and entertainment was not too great. I like the

A smiling trio

 manager and will perhaps spend time having a coffee and conversation, but I am sorry…….. No business from me.

I posted a month or so ago about a woman named Sue that had come into my life like some kind of whirlwind, and then was gone. I had hopes that someday she would return, and yesterday her she is. She is a very pleasant woman with a bubbly personality and sees positive things in almost everything she looks at. I wish all people here would look at things that way.

A man at work

Always the host, I spent the afternoon with her in the back of the bike for a tour of the countryside. It was a beautiful ride and was only interrupted by a short afternoon rain that helped to cool things down. I had a good time as she also did, but I better be careful…. I do not want my loving wife to get the wrong idea.

Poor Mai has been overworked the last week or so. She had no idea how

Sue

 much work our ex cleaning person did and it is taking sometimes 3 people to keep up with it. It seems not fair sometimes that she is working so hard and directing things here while I am out and about just having fun with guests. But I guess we both have our jobs…. She is to run the internals, and me to take care of the guests, and do marketing and top end decisions. It has worked out so far, but I am thinking I have to get her away for a holiday or at least some time together.

I have just returned from another fantastic day. I was supposed to stay home and deal with business, but as it turned out, business was all about helping and being with some very nice people. It started with a guest (Andrew) and I making a kamikaze ride to try to catch a bus that we were not successful at. After an emotional goodbye, it was back to the hotel. Oops, no peace to be had. My nephew was here to help with the repairs I needed to do. In the afternoon while I was introducing a teacher to a venue that needed one, friends had dropped by and were in search of me. We found each other and ended up on bicycles going to my house for a look. After

Walk like an Egyptian

 returning home, I found that my guests had returned from a boat trip and went to a local Bia Hoi place for a bit of refreshment… I was told to attend, so after leading my friends to join my guests, I fulfilled my duties of taking my wife shopping before returning to join them for a spell. It was a lot of fun clinking glasses and the yells of Mot Hi Ba Yo!! The party broke up and we were off for seafood. We found a place that I have never been before, and for the first time in my neighborhood, had some very bad food. Even the beer was not cold!! Oh the horror!! It was sort of sad for the day to end, my friends headed south by foot, and I and my customer headed north. Ahhhhhhh….. just a another day in NhaTrang.

How was your day?

The west gate

After many attempts at escaping and ending up in jail, Mai became convinced that it was not possible without losing all of a person’s money or getting killed by pirates. There were just too many unscrupulous people trying to get money. I do not know why, but she came up with the idea of buying a ships compass and using that as the bribe to leave. She was able to find one and clutched it tightly not letting anybody talk her out of possessing it. The strategy was genius!! There were many boats attempting to leave and they had no way of knowing where they were going. This was the ticket out. Two larger boats were leaving for an attempt to make the Philippines and Mai had the device that could make it possible. In exchange for the compass, she was guaranteed a spot on the boat. In the mad dash to paddle out to get on board, she was aided by the Captain and secured a spot on the boat. Another boat was t follow and in the dark of night, Mai finally started to see her dream come true. 2 boats overcrowded with 225 people set out to sea for a better life. There was no food, and no room to lie down. People were jammed shoulder to shoulder and sleeping was on a persons feet, or on another body. I cannot imagine how one went to the bathroom. After a couple of days, a storm hit and the two boats had to endure almost typhoon like conditions. Sea sickness was rampant and the vomit coated the decks and bellies of the boats. It was Mai’s compass that saved the day. After being blown off course, the captain was able to find his position and set the course to continue to the Philippines. If it was not for the compass, many would have starved at sea. Mai had saved many lives and did not know it! Two very battered and almost un-seaworthy vessels were approaching the Philippines when another storm came. One of the two boats was smashed against the rocks and 225 people lost their lives. Mai’s boat was able to avoid any collisions and when the storm had passed, a military ship appeared to take control of the crippled ship with its desperate cargo. The surviving people were taken to a refugee camp in Palawan and processed. Mai and her cousin had made it!! The surviving members were processed and sent to a refugee camp where they were issued living quarters. For a number of years, Mai made a living by selling home grown bean sprouts, and being fortunate enough that she had some family that had escaped earlier that sent her some money to survive. A lot of time was spent volunteering to help children and youth that did not have family to care for them. Over almost 5 years, and numerous interviews, Mai had lost hope of realizing her dream of getting to America. She fell ill and basically given up the will to keep going. She was very close to death when she was told that she had been approved to continue to Canada where a sister resided. The news caused her to rapidly recover and in 1992, 8 years after her first attempts to leave, she set foot on Canadian soil.