Pick-pocketed!

Waaaaaaaahhhhhh! 

A rat stole my Flip video camera! 😦

Jet lag again, it’s 12:09p.m…at home! 3:09a.m. here & I’m wide awake. So I’m drafting my thoughts on the incident, to post later (sorry, it’s a little long entry this time, but I’ve gotta get the steam out!):

It’s not the camera itself I’m so bummed about, and of course, considering a Junk Boat in Halong Bay we down a couple days ago where some tourists died, this is a small thing compared to what some people are going through right now.

But it’s the content that was on the video I’m mad about, also that I actually got duped! We had almost 2 hour’s worth, 13 miles of walking & 2 days worth of interesting video snippets. The battery was about to die and we were almost back to the from a day of exploring, just after dinner. I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and charge her up and download the videos to review & post.

Saturday night & already dark, we walked by the Hanoi Kiem Lake; full of lights and wonderful activity–families, couples, teenagers, elder people, all coming out to tool around, eat, socialize and enjoy the night.

We neared the end of the lake & I pulled out my handy Flip to take a quick snippet showing the vibrant colors and the life, then put it back in my left pocket as habit (I keep my camera in the right pocket). Unless I’m using them, they are stored in my pockets–both zippers are USUALLY zipped (we have been cautioned of these “very good pick-pockets”).

Then 2 young teenage rats came, trying to sell us their postcards. They were both full of talk and action, and got very close to us. “Buy my postcard, one dollar. Please! Please, buy my postcard. One dollar!” They kept repeating more often than what we have experience here (usually a few people here & there will ask us to buy their books/postcards/maps…but they usually go away after saying no once or twice). Well this time, these 2 kept on and kept walking along with us as we refused.

Finally they left after about a minute, we continued walking towards our hotel. We were very tired after our day, and just wanted to get back. I was going to video the end of our walk, went to pull out the Flip and wha? Where’s the Flip???!!!!

I was so mad, I walk right back there and looked around for those 2. We couldn’t remember what they looked like, went up to some 2 young  suspicious-looking rats sitting on a bench with a girl. Having taught middle school for 6 years, I can usually tell when something is up and who the guilty party is even if they deny it.

Well this one rat, he looked me in the eye and said “What?”…he sounded the same…and that he responded in English was also another indicator that it was likely him. I asked him where is my camera? I was pretty sure it was him, though he didn’t have any postcards on him. Suspiciously, there was an older man and woman nearby them with big cameras, big “camera” bags and large print photos which could have been what they were using as postcards. We went in circles; I asked the kids to show me what’s in their pockets, there was nothing.

Jim went back to the restaurant to make sure I didn’t leave it behind while I sat & stalked this kid and his 2 friends (one was a girl)–I was just scoping it out and trying to see if they would try to approach some other tourists. When Jim came back and confirmed the restaurant didn’t have the Flip, I know I’d never see the camera again. Jim even tried to give them money to get the camera back that they “found on the ground.” He’s a good hubby! 🙂

Using my PI skills, here’s my assessment: I think maybe the 2 guys were assigned to us and keep us annoyingly-occupied while the girl came and got in my pocket. The man and woman are the wing-men to store the goods. Just my hunch! And whether or not it’s true, it will be my conclusion. 😦 RIP little camera with lots of cool stuff on it.

We will get a new Flip today and start again! And at least we still have some photos from my camera, I’ll post them later for you.

Any rats come round my pockets again will be in BIG TROUBLE!