Trust your instincts – they’ll rarely let you down. Tripadvisor reviews enthused about the hospitality of the owner, but I felt nervous. The way she’d jabbed towards each item saying “new, new, new” and, when I looked properly after dinner, nothing in the room was new. Far from it. And the water damage she’d pointed out had obviously been there quite some time. And the balcony doors didn’t shut. And the door to the room opened outwards, so I couldn’t put my door wedge under it. And the bathroom was outside said door. And there were exposed electrics in the wetroom (not the first time). So I checked out, and instantly felt better.
But I couldn’t book another hotel until I knew when I was going to Ha Long Bay and Sapa (my next two destinations, both from Hanoi but in opposite directions). I’d enquired at an travel agent the evening before. Previously there have been maybe three tour operators – you might buy your ticket from different places at difference prices, but you all end up on one of three buses. However, 200 different boats operate in Ha Long Bay. And you get what you pay for. Except sometimes you don’t. Scams are rife – tourists being sold one cruise (and paying for it) but ending up on another boat. General consensus was to avoid the budget options which involved cramped sleeping on wooden floors. I decided to give myself the day to plan the rest of my time in Vietnam. It didn’t take me long to discover that I’d heard right – one agent even offered me a cruise at a price that I discovered was less than he would have had to pay. Goodness knows where I would have ended up. Operators run different quality boats on different routes with different activities. I worked out what I wanted (to see as much of the place as possible and enjoy it) and returned to the one person who had told me the truth (did the others think I’d not work out they were lying? And there was one who just kept telling me how beautiful I was and that he’d do a special deal. I made a swift exit). And I told her that’s why I’d gone back: I understand that things cost money and I can’t expect to pay bottom-dollar and get a top-dollar cruise. I just wanted the truth. Unfortunately, the truth was that the cruise I preferred was seriously out of my budget. Over double my budget, in fact. But I knew that, scams aside, the more I paid, the better experience I’d get. My frustration recently has been the difficulty getting off the tourist trail. The more I paid, the quieter it would be (200 boats in Ha Long Bay wasn’t going to be relaxing), and the more I’d see.
“In five years’ time, what would I have wanted to have chosen?” is a question I often ask myself. It helps me transcend the immediate concerns and think longer-term. I knew that I’d remember how good/awful it was and not the extra £100. So I bit the bullet, signed on the line for a three-star trip, handed over the cash and went to the loo. “Stop, stop” was what greeted my return. Turns out they couldn’t book me on the boat on that day (I forget why). Another brochure promptly appeared in front of me. Oh goodness, do I have to start all over again? “Similar route” was the explanation. So why wasn’t it an option before? Because it is four-star. OK, how much? “We do at same price for you”. Suspicious. “I give up my commission.” Oh my, what service. You’re getting a good TripAdvisor review (and I told her that). She phoned the tour company. Problem – that boat was full, too. Their mistake. But they also own a five-star cruise ship… so I was promptly offered another upgrade. Two upgrades in less than 2 minutes. So, I’m paying three-star price for five-star service. And I trusted her – she’d book me on what she says she’ll book me on. Result 🙂
I was going to say that I’d be out of my league. But I can do five-star when I choose to, it’s just that I prefer the earthy reality of two-star. But, in this case, more stars mean a better experience. Really, really looking forward to it 🙂
And then I booked a really nice hotel online – at the same price as the one I’d just left. Bingo 🙂
No interesting photos on a planning day, so here’s what I had for dinner – it tasted as good as it looked:
