Hanoi cyclo driver cleared from votive money accusation
>> Hanoi cyclo driver denies votive money cheat accusations
>> Tourists given votive money in Hanoi cyclo rip-off
Two foreign tourists that visited Hanoi have confirmed that they did not receive the votive money from a cyclo driver and cannot remember how they got the notes.
The tourist and the votive money they received as change in Hanoi
In a meeting with the Hanoi Department of Tourism and the Hoan Kiem District's Public Security Department on July 19, the two Spanish tourists said they did not get the votive money as change from the cyclo driver as said in a video clip posted on the internet.
Head of the inspection team at the Hanoi Department of Tourism, Vu Cong Huy told the Vietnamnet Newspaper that one of the tourists, Miguel Angel Fernandez Lamelas reported that the cyclo driver took three VND500,000 notes from their wallet after a 10-minute trip from Hang Da Street to Hoan Kiem Lake.
"The tourist said that the cyclo driver was about to take one more VND500,000 note from their wallet but they did not agree so he went off with VND1.5 million (USD66)," Huy said.
According to a report from the department after the meeting, the two tourists were staying at a homestay facility in Gia Lam District and took a taxi to Hang Dieu Street to visit the Old Quarter on July 16.
They then got on the cylo from Hang Da Street and stopped at Hang Bong Street to buy a conical hat at VND 60,000. They gave a VND 500,000 note to the hat seller and received VND 440,000 as change. They gave a VND 100,000 as bonus to the hat seller then continued the cyclo tour.
They stopped the tour at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square and paid the cyclo driver before going to a nearby fastfood restaurant for dinner.
At 7pm, they caught a taxi at the restaurant door to their homestay and also used a VND500,000 note to pay the driver but did not remember how much and what notes they got from the driver as change.
The two tourists only realised the votive money when paying for another taxi ride the next morning. The incident was recorded and posted on the internet by some witnesses.
"The tourists did not get the votive money from the cyclo driver but somewhere else while in Hanoi," Huy said. "We have urged the police to find out who did that."
Lamelas said at the meeting that they did not inform local authorities seeing that was a minor case," the Hanoi official added. "But he was surprised and happy when seeing prompt action from local authorities."
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