During the past few days, we’ve witnessed the best and worst of Hanoi. Vietnam, more than any other country in Southeast Asia, is notorious for scamming tourists. While the city is generally safe, the biggest danger to tourists is usually getting ripped off, and more rarely, losing money through petty theft or pick-pocketing. Luckily, we haven’t faced any real scams yet (knock on wood). The biggest rip-off we’ve encountered was getting overcharged about 50 000 dong (just over $2) for an entrance ticket to a temple. We’ve made a habit of counting our change as soon as we get it, and have avoided making the same mistake twice. Touts sometimes approach us selling fruit, donuts, or photo-copied Lonely Planet guidebooks, but happily walk away when we decline. We also get approached every few blocks we walk by someone offering us a moto ride - everyone just wants to make a buck. When checking out some art galleries in the French Quarter, we also got the hard-sell for some (very expensive) pieces of Vietnamese art. A “student” tried to guide us while walking to the Temple of Literature, a common scam noted in most guidebooks. This is the side to Hanoi that most travelers to the city are aware of before arriving, and most make peace with the fact that at the very least, they’ll be over-charged for bottled water. And, on some level, it is difficult to feel hard done by when being over-charged less than a dollar often supplements the meager income of most Vietnamese. Overall, we’ve felt extremely safe in Hanoi in all of the areas we’ve visited, and at all hours of the night because the streets are always packed with young people on motos, grandmothers selling fruit, and children playing outside their parents’ storefronts.
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| Fruit Stall in the Old Quarter |
Another side to Vietnam, however, is the extensive philanthropy network that operates throughout the city and in other parts of the country. There are various social enterprises that work throughout the city to combat poverty through allowing locals to develop vital skills to gain employment. We had the opportunity to eat lunch at an excellent restaurant called KOTO (Know One, Teach One), conveniently located across from the Temple of Literature. This enterprise seeks to employ disadvantaged youth, and allows them to attain customer service and English language skills necessary for work in the hospitality and tourism industry. Youth have a 100% success rate of finding employment after working at KOTO, and the establishment is run well and provides great customer service. While the prices are slightly higher than other establishments in Hanoi, the food is great, and the profits are recycled to provide more opportunity to street youth. Our server was obviously new to the restaurant, since she spoke very little English and was supervised by a senior staff member, but still provided good service after she understood our orders. There are other restaurants that have similar programs, most notably Café Smile down the street from KOTO. There are also opportunities to sponsor trainees or make donations. Click here to visit the KOTO website.
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| KOTO: Spring Rolls |
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| KOTO: Bun Bo Nam Bo |
The real Vietnam seems to be somewhere between these two extremes. Most people are just trying to make money, and some are willing to scam travellers (like most other large cities). Conversely, there are social entrepreneurs that use the profitable tourist industry to alleviate poverty. Our experience in Hanoi with these two extremes has been overwhelmingly positive, and has allowed us to gain respect for social enterprises like KOTO that allow disadvantaged youth to attain skills in what seems to be the most profitable industry in Vietnam.
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