Crafty xe om drivers

The crafty xe om drivers have banded together in a guild to bilk us out of our money. For the first few weeks that we were here they were perfectly willing to drive us the kilometer to the university where we have class for 5000 VND (about 30 cents). Now, after they've figured out that we are in a hurry when we hire them, they've upped their prices - in some cases demanding twice what they did formerly. Sean thinks it has something to do with the increase in the cost of crude oil and gasoline at the pumps here. I doubt it: first, any refining shocks because of Katrina can't have worked their way through the system this quickly; second, the government is smart enough to know that the Vietnamese people are going to get uppity if gasoline, which is driving Vietnam's economic boom, doubles in price - I don't think they would pass the increase in cost on to the people that quickly; third, the price of fuel has been rising over the past few years so why would they double their fee to us in just a few weeks. I'm on to those crafty xe om drivers. They won't cheat me. I'm just not going to ride with them.