I AM VIETNAMESE

So after months of planning… the epic “Diving with the Fat Ones” trip got under way…. Let me preface by explaining what that means.  The dodgeball team in Hong Kong that I am apart of is “Goin for the Fat Ones” and since many of them were interested in getting their scuba diving lessons… you get the rest. So with that? Nha Trang would be the perfect location for a dive trip with friends, good food and activities!

Here my friend Joe Vu is being questioned at customs…. once getting your luggage, EVERYTHING has to go through another xray machine. Apparently poker chips are frowned upon as it motivates you to gamble…. (really Vietnam?!!?) so there goes the chips.. CONFISCATED. (My group and I don’t believe that though… we blame it on his HAT!!)

So first tip for new travelers…. even the experienced ones will get ripped off… not the ideal way to start a trip yelling and cursing the taxi driver off but…. c’est la vie. When departing the airport, the FIRST thing you should know about Vietnam? It’s DAMN HARD TO FIND AN HONEST TAXI DRIVER.  The queue of taxis is a mixture of the good and bad.  If you don’t have all day to wait and are anxious to leave… like we were then you’ll have to take the first taxi available.  If you want to wait? well Mai Linh Taxi and Vinasun Taxis are the one to be trusted but it could come or it could not so pretty much good luck. Make sure the first thing you do is tell them or remind them to run the meter.  Often times they “forget” and will charge their own made up prices. In my case.. meter was on… started at 9.5 which means 9,500 dong. However in ten minutes it jumped to 140!!!! Our ending price was 205,000 dongs….. I mean that is only $10 USD but still.. the average cost from airport to the center of town should be 100,000 - 120,000 dongs. With traffic maybe slightly more. After cursing the bastard out, I just gave up and threw him a 200k bill and was ready to start the night. (the other taxi with my other friends… 134k bill) FAIL

So… just a note to the wise… the airport will be the first place you will get ripped off :) Welcome to Vietnam! Reason to go drink it off!  Next up… Club Velvet review and pics!! Now.. its time to go eat Pho first… Priorities man..priorities :)