I don't know if there's going to be much material here to work with... but I'm sure someone will have a story or two to relate on the subject. It's 2:30 am right now in Vietnam. I just came back from a pretty wild adventure... At around 11:30 I left the bar where I was having a casual beer. I was alone, because my friend was tired and had already gone back to our guesthouse. As I was walking, a man came up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy some pot. This is not uncommon in Indochina, and I refused, as I usually do, because I was really high already and if you accept all the offers you get then you'll just end up with way more weed than you can possibly smoke. Anyways the guy convinced me to give him 6 dollars or so for about a quarter, which is an ok deal in this area, but pretty decent for Vietnam as it's a little bit more expensive here than in Laos or Cambodia. After haggling for a little while I took the weed, put it quickly in my bag, and handed him the 6 dollars or so (I'm too lazy right now to work out the currency and figure out exactly how much it was). I shook hands with him because he seemed to be a nice guy and I returned directly to my guesthouse. As soon as I opened it 5 minutes later, I knew it wasn't the same plant that I've been smoking for the last 6 years of my life, and even tried smoking just a little bit to see if it was just some strange strain of the stuff that I've never seen. It wasn't; I didn't get high. I got angry and figured that this cyclo driver shouldn't be getting away with this sort of thing, so at around 12:00 am I went back out to look for the guy and make him give me my money back. I really just wanted to go on a stoner's adventure, as I'm well off enough and 6 dollars comes and goes without too much anxiety on my behalf. Since I was pretty stoned when I bought the weed, and still was when I went looking, I really couldn't remember for the life of me what this guy looked like. However, I am pretty sure that I somehow struck gold with the first one who came up to me. He hailed me from afar, as they do, and as he came closer and realized who I was, seemed to lose interest. I immediately aproached him and demanded that he refund my money. He must get this a fair bit, because he did a star-hollywood act in pretending that it wasn't him who sold it to me. His english-speaking abilities immediately ceased to exist, and with an innocent look he pointed me in the direction of a couple other cyclo drivers just down the street. As soon as I made the mistake of listening to him and walking towards the other cyclos to see if the man was actually one of them, the first guy pedaled slowly down the street in the opposite direction. When I got nothing out of the other two, and didn't recognize their faces, I began to angrily chase after the first guy. Well he saw me coming, though didn't want to pretend to be running away. He basically pedalled at a speed just slightly faster than that of my brisk walk, and I soon lost him. I returned to the first intersection, a T-intersection leading in one direction to my guesthouse, in one direction to the bar, and thirdly in the direction of the scam-dealer's escape. I decided to stand and wait at this intersection until I saw the man again, as it was a fairly touristy road and I'm sure he would be back in a short while to try and make some more money. Well I waited for about ten minutes before the other two guys meandered slowly towards me in attempt to sell me more fake drugs, and after I told them my story they had a good chuckle to themselves. I kind of hung out on the corner with them for a little while, spending the time turning down "boomboom" proposals (hookers), telling them that I didn't want to buy their bagged parsely, and even having a go by myself with the cycloist in the passenger seat. After about another ten minutes they finally were able to strike up a deal sweet to my ears. One guy said that he would drive me around, try to find this run-away bandit, and bring me back to the same spot after. The deal was that I would only pay if one, we found the right guy, and two, if I got my money back. I figured if anyone knew where to find this guy, it would be another one of his kind. So off we went... Needless to say it was a beautiful ride. The moon was full and the stars bright, though the streets were dark and populated with rats and whores. Sorry, "boomboom". After about 5 minutes of riding through crooked and narrow streets, I lost track of where we were. We came eventually upon a big group of cycloists. Here is where I began to get really scared, it was 1:30 or so in the morning, and I was on a deserted street with about a dozen shirtless cyclo drivers. The rich man coming to get his money back from the homeless pumpkin leaf dealers. I don't know which emotion was stronger: guilt, or fear of telling them exactly why I had been asked to come here. Luckily, the guy I was looking for wasn't there, so I decided to spill my story. They all had a good laugh at my expense, some Vietnamese was spoken about me, and before I knew it we were off again, in the same nowhere-direction, with only the moon as a familiar sight. Well after some more prostitutes trying to shag me and simultaneously steal my wallet, we actually found the guy, bothering some middle-upper class looking guys who were walking down the street for whatever reason. Well it didn't go well, and after about 5 minutes I started to realize that these guys were obviously on the same team. Of course they stick together. Why would one of them side up with a tourist against one of his friends. Their english having diminished nearly entirely, they managed to convey that he was the wrong guy, and that I should simply get back into the cyclo. I got in. We rode off. The guy took what seemed to be a shortcut and brought me back to where he picked me up. When I got out, he asked me for two dollars. Fuck you buddy. Since he not longer spoke english, he was oblivious to the fact that we had had a deal before, and that I had not actually gotten my money back. Truth was, I wasn't planning to get my money back, because getting money back in asia doesn't exist, and I was planning on giving him a tip for his services. On the other hand, two dollars is a fucking rip off, and he can go to hell. As we were arguing, the guy who ripped me off rode up on his bike. I went up to him and got in his face. I told him that he was better off to give me my fucking money back or else I was going to the police. I didn't get my money back, but I did get some more (now not so convincing) pitied looks. I guess they're meant to work the first time. Well he wouldn't give me my money, so I wouldn't pay his friend. I started walking off and they both jumped out and came and blocked my path. Now I was scared again, as it was nearing 2:00am and the streets were deserted. Also, I'm not much of a fighter, expecially with two at once when I'm stoned and half drunk. It nearly came to blows, and they were in my face swearing at me, so I stuffed a 20000 dong bill in the guys hand and left. He wasn't happy. They chased me down the street to my guesthouse, and here I am. Poorer, with dill or oregano or something worthless of the like, but alive I should go to bed... Anyone else got a story to share?
Damn, that was a sweet story. You should post more. How did you end up in Vietnamm, I've always been interested in traveling Asia, but don't now anything about how you would start out.
haha that sucks man, i don't trust those sneaky little fuckers. Lucky it didn't get into anything serious tho......can't imagine vietnamese jail is worth fighting over $6...granted you probably wouldn't be arrested as you said, it was late and the streets were empty. But just incase ya know?
I know haha, it's really scary stuff. Before Vietnam I was in Laos and Cambodia, where you could smoke in bars and walking down the street. Here is a little bit more sketchy, I usually dont buy unless I'm sure that it's completely safe, but even then, who knows? Who knows about the police either. I was really just threatening the guy, I had no intention of actually going to the police with the bag of whatever it was. First off they wouldn't have spoken english, and I would proboble have been more likely to end up in jail than to see justice done to the guy who is probobly on the payrole of the same industry. To Fallout- travelling in southeast asia is really easy(apart from china/japan/korea) Your best bet is Thailand or Laos or Cambodia, not Malaysia if you like to smoke often, because aparently you can get the death sentence there. (I didn't smoke while there). It's simple too, you don't even need to plan. Just save a budget for 15-20 dollars a day (that isn't roughing it at all), and hop on a plane... that's basically what I did. Takes some getting used to but it's all an adventure.
I got a story! I lived in Berlin Germany the past year, and I had a mugging experience buying weed. I went to the park that I usually went to to buy weed, but there were no dealers hanging around, so I went to leave. As I was going out the exit, 4 Turkish guys walked by and asked me if I needed anything. I said I wanted weed, and they told me to follow them. Thats when I became stupid. I FOLLOWED 4 Turkish around for about 20 minutes, and eventually to the back of the park where it was empty with no one there. Then they told me to take my money out and give it to them ,and I misunderstood and they came and took it outta my pockets (30 euros) and they took my monthly ticket for the subway. They went to run, but one of them realized I had a backpack, and they all came back, and I refused to let them take my backpack, and they punched me int he face, so I gave it to them and they stole my digital camera and my cell phone. It suuuucked. I never went ot the police, because of the sitaution it was: I was on an exhcange trip, and if my exchange trip organization had found out about what Id done, I woulda been kicked out of the program and sent back to the US. So ikept quiet about it, though it sucked. and in the coming few weeks, I saw the four guys who had mugged me twice: the one time they completely avoidede eye contact, and the second time, I walked right past them and waved and winked at them with a smile, and they all went running!
I'm sure if you had just told the police that you were simply "going for a walk" they wouldn't have asked twice. Tourists are usually given the benefit of the doubt, especially when it comes to street-gang-wannabes. And I seriously doubt that the four guys would say that they were going to sell you drugs, as they probobly DO sell drugs.. and that could lead to problems....
