Last night we paid three times the listed price for our hotel. Why? Because yesterday marked the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war and beginning of a 36 year stretch of peace. I'm not certain but this might be the longest stretch of peace that Vietnam has ever had. We were told that things were going to get crazy. It sounded like something worth sticking around for..so we did.
Lots of people did show up for this 'festival', but other than a stage with several performances involving props like baskets and sticks, we could not, for the life of us find any other festivities. It appears that during HUGE festivals the Vietnamese people just mill around. Our confusion was so great that we had to take extreme measures to investigate. We started tailing people. What better way to figure put what draws locals to the streets than to pick up a mark at the parking garage and follow them around? This proved unsuccessful for two reasons. 1. I am the worst detective in history. I keep getting too close, making eye contact, bumping into my target. Not to mention I do not even remotely 'blend in'. 2. We got bored because all our mark was doing was milling.
Things did not get crazy. The streets emptied out by 1030. On our walk back to the hotel we started thinking about the brilliant scam in Bangkok that opperates by taking advantage of tourist ignorance by telling them it's a special day, a holiday worth sticking around for...every day. It is possible that the festival was a typical Saturday night. We may never know. That's the real art in scamming. Trick people so masterfully that they are left to marvel at your skill instead of grumbling at the slight.
No comments:
Post a Comment