Nha Trang Travel Tips: Avoiding Jewelry Shopping Scams & Getting Help

I embarked on a seven-day, five-night adventure to Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang in Vietnam. Traveling solo, the travel agency arranged for me to share a room with the tour guide, while the other 10 travelers were all older uncles and aunts. We set off from Shanghai. Before our departure, the tour guide asked me to bring some items through customs for her, but I politely declined.

She then turned to the uncles and aunts, which I found quite unreasonable, but I didn’t dwell on it at the time. Little did I know, the events that followed would be truly outrageous.

I had assumed the tour guide was there to ensure the safety of the tourists, and based on my previous positive experiences with guides in Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, I felt quite reassured. However, every time we gathered at the hotel, the guide would ask me to go to the room first, isolating me from the other guests, and tell me that the uncles and aunts were very annoying.

During our meals, though, I found them to be incredibly friendly and warm. As we chatted and got to know each other, I began to doubt the guide’s intentions. Sharing a room with her, I noticed she would sort things out of her suitcase at night and take them away in black bags. She also warned me that Vietnam was chaotic and advised against eating street food, suggesting instead that I trust her recommendations for food and shops.

By the fourth day, the shopping excursions began. All the guide’s previous words were setting the stage for these trips. He told us that the Vietnamese government does not allow the sale of fake goods, and that they were a legitimate local travel agency. To support the future development of tourism in Nha Trang, they would never deceive tourists.

Buying rare products from Vietnam was also for our benefit. He shared his life story and philosophy, emphasizing that life is about enjoyment and contributing to Vietnamese tourism helps both the locals and the Chinese. I was initially moved by his speech. First, he took us to stores selling gold pearls, conch shells, and agarwood, which are rare or not allowed to be sold in China.

Then, we were ushered into a dark room for a presentation, followed by a swarm of salespeople. I noticed that the Vietnamese assistant and the guide both wore pearl necklaces and acted as persuaders during the shopping. I wandered around, and the assistant approached me in broken Mandarin, saying these were good items and worth buying.

I declined, citing the high prices, and she immediately left with a sullen face. No one bought anything, so we were kept in the store. The guide wouldn’t leave until a kind couple bought conch shell and agarwood bracelets, and another aunt purchased a 9,000 RMB can of Dendrobium. Only then were we allowed to leave.

After a satisfying lunch, we made our way to a latex shop. Unfortunately, I found myself stepping on the guide’s toes there, as most of the uncles and aunts in our group had already purchased latex products during their previous trips to Thailand, leaving them with little interest in buying more. The staff, however, seemed determined to keep us in the store, and one of the female employees discreetly confided in me that they needed to make at least 3,000 RMB in sales, or they would face penalties.

Eventually, two of the aunts decided to buy some latex pillows, and the guide finally allowed us to leave. As we were exiting the store, a few of the uncles and aunts asked if I had bought anything. I shared a cautionary tale about a relative who had been scammed in Thailand; they had purchased what they believed to be a high-quality latex mattress, only to receive a subpar product when it was shipped back to China.

Just as I was recounting this story, I noticed the guide hovering nearby, and she quickly approached to offer her side of the story.