Hanoi Warnings Or Dangers

I would like to warn Hanoi travellers about SINH CAFE located at 100 Ma May Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. This tour agency is managed by Hang or Nang and Oanh, two very cunning and scheming vietnamese women who will con you and make all kinds of promises which they cannot deliver! I booked a 2-nite hotel stay with them at HUE SPORTS HOTEL in Hue and paid US$38 up front. I was promised and continuously reassured that I will have a room available at 8:00 in the morning, upon arrival in Hue Airport. When I tried to check into the hotel, I was told by the hotel staff that check in time is 2 PM. I was so tired from the trip since I took the 6 AM flight from Hanoi to Hue and went to the airport at 6 AM, to arrive in Hue at 7 AM. When I insisted with the HUE SPORTS HOTEL staff that I was assured of the room, they told me NO, i have to wait till 2 PM. THey told me to join their city tour first which they wanted me to pay US$10 for when the same actually costs only US$8. I told them I wanted to rest first and demanded a room. WHen they didnt want to give me a room, I told them I want to cancel the booking and asked for a refund. THey REFUSED to give me a refund and I ended up staying at a guesthouse which had a room for US$8. When i got back to Hanoi, I went back to SInh Cafe, told them what happened and asked for a refund. THEY REFUSED! I had to go to the Hanoi Police to report the crime and the police were of no help. THey said it was not their duty to help. I was assisted by a Vietnamese friend in reporting to the police.

SO, PLEASE BEWARE of this SINH CAFE travel agency. They are no good and make travelling in Hanoi a truly terrible experience!

APT Travel of Hanoi.

I read with interest the unhappy experience Stuart & Robin had with APT Travel of Hanoi. I had a very bad experience with them 6 months ago. The delapidated minibus (A FAR CRY FROM THE FOTO IN THEIR OFFICE!!) broke down en route to Tam Coc. After an hour in the heat, the guide, whose English was limited at best, flagged down another company's bus, and we were made to pay a few dollars more to get there. Some of us had to stand, and there was no a/c and few windows that would open. We continued the tour in some discomfort. Because of our delay, we got no lunch and had to buy our own. When we returned to Hanoi, we not only got no apology but no refund. Some of us had also booked for the PERFUME PAGODA and Halong Bay Tours, and we attempted to cancel in protest, we were told we could get back only 50%.

Avoid APT. Be certain to tell whomever you buy your tours from that you wish to have no dealings with APT.

Henrietta

We booked through this company for one day City tour (at Old Quarters) just to avoid all the hassles of doing it by ourselves and paid $20 for it (with lunch, transport, entrance fee) and tour should last from 8AM - 5PM. What we got instead was a guide going to our hotel with no transportation and telling us that we need to take taxi around city for the tour (eventhough the agency said day before they have van for tour). So we took taxi to the 2nd hotel to pick up another customer then went to another hotel via another taxi to pick up two more guests. At that point there were already 6 of us total and guide wanted to conserve taxi fare by always waiting for taxi van to arrive at our area. It was pointless to join tour if you will just take taxi around as can do that ourselves! What's more, the guide speaks very little English so really hard to understand him and gave very little information about the sites we visited. Funny thing was that it started raining and he had us put the guest comment sheets in my girlfriend's bag as it will just get wet! He even borrowed cellphone of one of the guys who joined tour just to try and call taxi company! What a waste of time! Ended at 1Pm and didn't even follow the itenery anymore so missed a couple of places therein because at that point I would assume guide doesn't want to spend anymore for taxi fares!

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Imagine a couple hundred of motorcycles trying to cross a T-junction at from 4 different directions at 1 time. That's the daily life in Hanoi. The traffic jam here is horrible and you really have to be a dare devil to even road the streets. Look left, right and then left again before you cross...

Be careful when you cross the street in Hanoi. There are lots of motorbikes and they seem to be continually coming at you. The trick is the go for it. Cross the street at a constant pace and the motorbike will drive around you. Don't stop walking.

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The danger in Hanoi is not to make bad photographs like the one above; it has been taken just when a guy tried to open my back pack and I turned back. . . . .
I was walking in the market area and noticed a young lady two or three times not far from me when turning left, right, stopping, going in shops. . . I knew something would happen, and when I was concentrated making a photograph, all senses alert, I felt somebody opening the pack on my back; the guy was on ground few milliseconds later, gesturing (Like hands up!) “I did nothing.!” My foot on his chest, I checked my back pack, he had no time to open it in fact, and looked around and glimpsed the girl disappearing in the crowd. . . .I let the guy go.
Well, happy end, but I am rather tall, the guy was quite short and had a very stupid idea trying to open my pack which I wear high on my back, very high for him.
No real danger, I had this experience only on my first day here, and there are very few pick pockets apparently in Hanoi, but do not facilitate their “job”. Wear your belongings under the shirt or inside pants , and if you wear a back pack, I may suggest to do following: tie the zippers together with a metallic wire, tightly turned; I did this after, when going in crowded places, it may be a bit unpractical if you need to open it every 5 mn, but . . . . well, look where your priorities are! And as usual, no “provocation”! Wearing watches or jewellery worth a year local individual income can easily attract the swift hands of the pick pockets.

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Yes, traffic can be dangerous in Hanoi, you may see lots of cars and bicycles in the pictures of this page; drivers are usually very careful, but they act as if you were a local, knowing the (unknown to Western people) hidden and not written rules of traffic here; even in small streets were you do not expect any vehicle, there may suddenly appear a crowd of bicycles, and best is to give way; like in many places the foot goer is the one who is the least considered! Best thing to do is to try to apply western rules very carefully (ah, right hand driving here, so look left first when crossing a street), and be wise; a good thing is to follow closely a local who knows the tricks to get across a traffic jam. Another way to avoid lots of traffic dangers is to go from one place to another by motorbike-taxi or regular taxi, but you will miss a lot of the hectic city life!

There's A LOT OF traffic in Hanoi! Try to find some locals and cross with them. The motorbikes will try to avoid you, even though they look like they're coming right at you. There's no other way to do it -- be nimble and watch out!