trip to Asia

At the Temple of Literature in Hanoi. These are the Turtles that carry on back the tablets listing the Mandarins. They are the scholars of the time, having studied and completed very difficult tests to prove knowledge of history , Chinese character writing, and the teachings of Confucius.
There are several areas these records are kept this way, it is a great honor to be included on one.

This is located right in town, there is heavy traffic flowing all around the block. When you cross the street, you look ahead and just walk, the traffic ( mostly small cycles and bicycles) flows around you. Barely.

There are a ton of Vespas in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Some Beautiful chromed out and custom paint, some thrashed within inches of life. Most sans working tail light.

The woman approaching has a small business.
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The fellow in the nice suit is our guide. He was a great guy, he tells us how much to pay. Some of the people are a little persistent, but not like a panhandler. They have a little cottage business, and sell postcards, or food, hats...... I bought a lot of small gifts, and there was good quality for very low price. One place near a small village had young children selling. They all knew how to say, "Please buy a postcard so I can get a book and go to school" then they count out how many you get for a dollar. The fast selling items are of good quality, you get several young opportunists at once when they sense a buyer. Many young are speaking several languages, from meeting so many visitors. One kid we talked to, 7-8 years old, spoke 5. And I do not think he was much different than the other kids.

1$ for a new hat like yours? sure!

Like these? You are in heaven.

This is a typical repair garage, and here are a lot of them. A small compressor, and a small box of tools. The quality of the maintenance seemed excellent.