Days 9, 10 & 11: Da Nang and Getting Scammed in HCM City by Taxi Drivers

Oh Ho Chi Minh City. There's no other place quite like you (except for maybe Gotham City pre-Batman). Where else would we go to get scammed by taxi drivers or mugged by shady-looking men in the streets? The former happened to us the minute we got off our plane from Da Nang and as for the latter, we were lucky enough not to be the victims but we did see the aftermath. We've also had family friends tell us reports of people getting their arms amputated by thieves in order for them to steal bracelets and rings. Apparently, this is not as rare as it might sound as we've heard the same thing from various sources. It wasn't this bad when I came here 5 years ago but apparently crimes rates have skyrocketed like crazy in this city. You don't know the meaning of paranoid until you've taken a stroll down a street in Ho Chi Minh City.

We arrived back in HCM City just last night and yes, we did get scammed by a taxi driver. He was supposed to drive us from the airport straight to our hotel in District 5 (which is even slummier than the other districts) but thinking that this was our first time in the city, he took a massive detour in the form of a giant circle around our hotel. The taxi fee was crazy. Realizing what was happening, our group talked (in Chinese) about memorizing his taxi number and license plate so we could report him afterwards but my Dad, being the biggest, bloodiest, loud-mouthed idiot the world has ever seen ruined the plan. He actually told the taxi driver directly that he was going to report him before we even got off from the taxi. Therefore if we did end up going through with it, the taxi driver would know it was us who blew the whistle. It probably doesn't seem like a big deal but in a city like this, you can't be too careful. The driver knows where our hotel is and he actually did seem very shady (he "accidentally" wrote his number plate wrong when my dad asked for a receipt) so now my Mum thinks something might happen if we did report him. Good going Dad. You were about as indiscreet as an elephant on steroids.

As for the thievery incident, we'd barely gotten our suitcases into the hotel when three ladies from Hong Kong rushed into the lobby in a state of near-hysterics. They were screaming about having just had a necklace grabbed from one of their necks right outside the hotel by someone who had followed them down the street. The thieves also made an attempt to grab one of their purses but the lady put up a struggle and he fled. I felt bad for them but even worse was finding out that no one had warned them not to wear any jewellery or bring any bags when walking in the city.

We've recently relocated to a new hotel in District 1 (the Saigon tourist area) so there's a chance that security and safety might actually be tighter here. I'm hoping that it is. Getting holed up in hotel rooms is getting old fast. But while I'm at it, you guys might as well have some photos from days 9, 10 and 11 in Vietnam. Most of these are from Da Nang because once you get to HCM, there isn't really that much to see or do unless you're into that whole post-apocolyptic, third-world, rubbish-up-to-your-ears scene.

Believe it or not, the house above is 300 years old.

We took an extremely looooooooooooooooong cable car ride up the mountain to visit a shrine first and then afterwards, an indoor theme park. Yes, that's right. A theme park in the mountains.

Of course, all that fog meant that after making the lengthy trip to the top of the mountains at about 7:30 in the morning, we were treated to the glorious and spectacular view of.... nothing. Nothing, except even more fog. Awesome.

Yay! Even more mountains! And even more steps!

Once again, my camera panicked at the sight of dark, inclosed spaces so I didn't take any pictures of the shrine inside the mountain. Here, have a picture from google images instead:

(Source)

And lastly, here's a picture from our new hotel room in Saigon.

P.S. Tian, before you leave for Queensland, can you please give Guild Wars 2 to your Dad so he can give it to me when I come back? I don't want to go digging through your house for it LOL. Thanks :)