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Backpacking Vietnam Part 1: Shocked and Scammed in Hanoi
Full. On. Culture Shock. Our journey through Vietnam started in the 1000 year old capital city of Hanoi, and it was an assault on all our senses and nowhere was this more apparent than in the Old Quarter. It was crazy to see a flower street, a fruit street an even a tombstone street! Before coming to Vietnam, we read up on some of the most common scams that can happen as well as how to avoid them but as you will see, it still caught us in the end. Straight jacked by the fruit mafia. The more we walked around, the more we realized this place is like a drug – from turtle abuse to chanting temples we met shady and wonderful people all within minutes of each other. Vietnam was like that for us, shock, amazing, horror, beauty… we're forever addicted.
Cuộc sống ở Viêt Nam
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MUSIC ♪
'Sneaky Snitch' by Kevin MacLeod
Soundcloud –
'Slits' and 'Can't Stop Me' by ProletR
Soundcloud –
Intro Sequence from 'Paris By Night 110'
YouTube – www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nvvIjdW-HM
Fruit scam stock footage by stekmer –
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Shot on GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition
Script in the movie:
Full. On. Culture Shock. Our journey through Vietnam started in the 1000 year old capital city of Hanoi. Hanoi was an assault on all our senses and nowhere was this more apparent than in the Old Quarter.
The old quarter is a time warp into Hanoi’s past comprised of 36 narrow streets, it’s packed with french colonial architecture, Buddhist temples and pagodas.
Today it still functions as a major commercial district, and everything ranging from kids toys, to tombstones can be found
there.
A bit overwhelming at first, the Old Quarter is bursting at the seams with activity and proved to be an excellent place to start
exploring.
The Hard Sell Sequence:
However, when traversing the city on foot, you become a moving target for many people who are more than willing to sell you a good or service.
Before coming to Vietnam, we read up on some of the most common scams that can happen as well as how to avoid them.
This is one of those scams.
It starts when a fruit vendor tries to physically place their baskets and conical hats on you for a seemingly innocent photo op. It’s all fun and games until the photo is actually taken, at which point they demand you pay them a “photo posing fee”. I was feeling pretty confident after avoiding the scam in this instance and I felt ready for anything… or so I thought.
Closing thought:
Oh Vietnam, you've certainly threw us for a loop.
What began as the weirdest day ever, ended on a high note. If day 1 was any indication of what was yet to come, then we knew we
were in for an unforgettable month. Bring. It.
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Watch: "Exploring an abandoned part of Zhangjiajie National Park in China"
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Looks like you have many adventures ahead of you, love the old building and temples.
Thanks so much for watching Megan! Agreed, the architecture in Hanoi is so cool looking 8)
If your from vietnam click a like or comment
I am loving the opening of this video!
Love the segue, Full On Culture Shock!
+Sarah Wheelee Thank you! It was the last bit of editing we did for the series and it took forever… and it was most definitely full blown culture shock for a couple of days haha.
thanks so much for the video. give me and my friend some overview on what we will get in vietnam. me and my homies are planning to go to vietnam on september. currently gathering as much info as we can 🙂
+Muhammad Syazwan Norhalik Thanks for watching and sharing! I’m glad you were able to get something useful out of it. You and your buddies should have an awesome time in Vietnam, it’s an amazing place. Let us know if you have any questions and good luck!!
I’m so sorry you got rip off :(. I feel so ashamed for our own people. We’re not all like that, that’s shameful how they said 20k and 30k total of 50k for two and turned around ripping y’all off. It’s not about the money since it’s a small change, but it’s about moral and how it reflects on the country.
Once again, I’m so sorry.
Hi +Joline Truong, thanks for watching and commenting! I totally agree with you that it’s not about money but rather basic respect. Anyway, no need to apologize for your country, aside from this one incident, we had an amazing time in Vietnam and made some friends that we’re still in contact with to this day 🙂
Anh Truong .. don’t be ashamed. Westerners rip people off every day too, for a lot more money. It can also involve aggression and violence. What makes it worse is that when it happens in our countries it is not a necessity such as for example a means of feeding your family. It is a shame that Westerners don’t show videos of their home countries in this sort of light.. Look up on the internet: random violence, muggings, burglaries shoplifting and robberies, mass shootings, crimes against the elderly and the vulnerable, road rage, spree killings, mass murder.. these crimes are rarely committed by your people in your country try. These crimes are more common in Westernised societies. Anyone care to make videos of these?
Going to Hanoi next week on a bit of a trip. Liked this video and also the ones you made in Tokyo. — Can’t imagine wearing that beard in a hot place like SE Asia. — points to you. 🙂
+TVShinjuku Hanoi is a crazy, awesome, crazy place! Let us know what you think of it! Thanks so much for liking and watching them – we’ll check out your Japan vids since we want to go back and missed sooooooo much! Yes, the beard is both a blessing in a curse here in Asia. Thanks again, have a great trip!
Handing your phone over to a stranger… you must be fast runners if you did that with confidence
+Kanal Rockford They were in heels. 😉 But yes, sometimes you just gotta trust your instincts. Thanks for watching!
btw you guys are great, i get ripped off too but i never made it into a big scene because i always thought that they do it because of hardship. i just learned from it and avoid it the next time.
+tony doe Thank you so much for watching and commenting! And yes, we learned from it as well! 🙂
tony doe true I’m happy for the ladies
shame on us, Vietnamese. I am vietnamese. I traveled in hanoi in Oct, 2015. when I parked my bike near Hoan Kiem, they charge me 20000 vnd. the rest of the country is between 2000-5000 vnd. that costs an arm and a leg. hix
i paid 70 thousand for PHO at a restaurant and i got packet noodles =(
+longzsta sorry. 🙁 It happens.
ok i dont wanna travel when i saw this
If you go anywhere beyond this ONE video or comment stream in the hundreds we’ve created about us “making it” within the real world and filming it for over 2+ years of non-stop travel, you’ll see that we don’t take ourselves seriously at all. We’re just responding to someone that is trying to tell us “how it is” when they themselves clearly have NEVER even been to that place. You’ve injected yourself into that response and here we are… besides, no woman willingly throws her lipstick out of her purse. Do you know how expensive it is!!????!!! 😉
+Because We Camp
I’ve absolutely no-doubt you are both cool people who live and enjoy life . I believe that sadly the expression of a comment get’s lost when posted .
Looking at Noah ( I think that was what you called him ) has he been on any other channels , programmes or video’s , he looks familiar ?
I have not yet watched any more of the vids on your channel , I am currently stuck on watching street food vendors in Thailand , ohhhh street food slurp .
I hope to travel to Thailand this year and I want to visit the Goldern Triangle ( I think that’s correct ) Thailand , Vietnam and Cambodia .
Anyway , have a great evening bolly knickers …….Peace Out .
Agreed. There was definitely a misunderstanding there and it wasn’t our intention to come off so harshly to you. Noah is only on this channel but we’ve been told he looks familiar to lots of people. Maybe it’s the beard? Thailand is our favorite place and yes, we could use some street food in our lives right now. Currently, we’re saving up again to get back out there and we wish you the best on our SE Asia adventures. Take care! 🙂
+Because We Camp
Excellent . . . . . . Have a Super Duper Life and I wish you all the best on your next mission . 🙂
Same same!
loved this. what a great look into travel rather than just a montage of nice places. you guys are so genuine! cant wait the rest of your videos!! 😀
+Anand Mohammed Thank you so much! We’re glad you’re enjoying the vids… please stay tuned 🙂
I experienced the shoe shining scam. lost 200,000
+Bartok So sorry! Ugh, people can be real assholes sometimes. But I’m sure you’ve learned from it so that’s a positive! Thanks for your view! 🙂 – Lynn
+Because We Camp yes but as you said one bad experience can’t ruins the trip, Vietnamese are very good people in if you get close to them ! 🙂
+Bartok Exactly! So many amazing people in Vietnam and all over the world! 🙂
Honestly, I’m Vietnamese and I hate going back to Vietnam for this reason. It’s a beautiful country but the people are so fraudulent. Even to an American Vietnamese, they’re willing to scam.
+trang nguyen Yeah, we had mostly good interactions but yes… we always had our guard up! – Lynn
I’m so glad you replied. I just talked to my aunt today in Vietnam about your video. I’m glad you guys had A lot of good interactions! I love your videos!!
We’re so glad you found us! Yes, we’re hoping to go back and explore more of Vietnam in 2017. Such a great place! – Lynn
Can’t believe the amount of people that have totally missed the point of the video. It was made to educate and helpfully inform other potential travellers about some of the unpleasant scenarios they might come across on their travels. Do you seriously think it’s about the $2 dollars or whatever it is?! No. It’s about having a little bit of basic respect for others, which clearly these women did not show. Sure, maybe they have mouths to feed and are desperate, but their scamming (and this is a scam – a scam involves deceit and dishonesty, it doesn’t have a threshold whether that be $1 or $1000) along with others that form a small minority creates a bad image on what is actually a wonderful country.
+susieq1995 After months of shitty comments from the hordes of self proclaimed travel experts and mindless trolls… someone finally leaves a comment that makes sense!
Anyway, you’re absolutely right, the whole point of this video is to show some of the things that can happen during international travel… but it’s amazing how quickly people get bent out of shape when you share even an once of honesty about an experience. Anyway, thank you for watching and for being a voice of reason in what has mostly devolved into an echo chamber of idiocy.
I’m really sorry for your bad experience in Vietnam. Not every part of Vietnam behaves like that. Try going to the Central or the South. Find a good popular place for backpacker and enjoy. I recommend Nha Trang, Da Nang, Con Dao island and Phu Quoc island.
Well aside from this specific experience, we had an excellent time in the country and walked away with true friend in Uyen (Part 8). Anyway, we just wanted to highlight this experience in the hopes that others could avoid the same mistake, but other than that we had a great time and we can wait to visit again at some point. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Why am i even Vietnamese… wait… why was i born at Vietnam anyways??
whats the song name and artist for the intro song
All links to the music are in the video description, but the intro track was taken from a Vietnamese variety show called “Paris by Night”.
I just hate these kinds of scams. They make quick changes with your money knowing you are confused with how much the bills are worth. Before you know it, it’s too late and they change what they said, just like what happened to you.
It’s nice to hear from someone who understands things 🙂
“Do you have change?” Yea, lets change your money from your hand to mine. Have a nice day. Sorry, but that place is a dump.
Because We Camp You’re correct. I think that “banana” transaction pissed me off royally. But, watching it again, it’s got it’s unique charm, I reckon. But watching that banana transaction again, pisssed me off again. haha….ignore me.
No worries, it pissed me off royally as well. I think it’s a very interesting place for sure. There’s quite a bit of character to the city. But it can be a culture shock for less seasoned backpackers (which is what we were at the time) for sure. But I can definitely see why it would rub some people the wrong way… very much like China
That place is a dump? Have you actually been there to come to that conclusion yourself, or do you just spout bullshit on the internet about places you’ve never been?
Brandon Lovett awww … did I hit a nerve? Poor pitiful pearll.
Brandon Lovett you so funny