HUE, VIETNAM

Our guide told us about himself.
When he was 44 years old his mother said, "It is time that you get married."  He said "I don't want to."  She slapped him and said he must.  He said OK.
She arranged a marriage for him.  He was very glad to find that his bride had light skin. 
For a girl to have a light face is very important here.  All the women wear face masks to keep them from getting sun tan.
If a woman has a dark face no one will marry her, we are told.
And respect for mother is also important.
We visited the Forbidden City where the king lived
(there was a king until 1945).  Every morning he walked to his mother's quarters, 1/2 mile to pay his respect to her.
"Mama how did you sleep??
"Mama, what can I do for you today?"     Bowing in respect
 

ADDTION TO LAST POSTING

An addition to the last entry:

After we "dined" on board,  Bob and I were ready for a nap.
(The boat was "powered" by a man and his wife (or I think it was his wife was,   they spoke no English.)

Oh good,  she is taking out a tatami mat for us to lay on the floor and nap .   Not my favorite mattress but when in Rome....
She is opening up a storage bin..... good it will be softer, she'll get a futon. 
No, she takes out kimonos to sell us!!! and lays THEM on the mat.  "No I don't want to buy"
Then out come book marks,  "No"
Note cards,  "No"     We are a captive potential customer.
Everything is quite nice but we do not want to buy.
Bob, being the softie that he is, chooses a few items.
When she sees that we will not buy anything else she tells the man to speed up the boat, time to get rid of us.
Now the money.......Vietnam dongs.....
$$25.00 = 500,000. dongs

Picture this:
  Bob begins to bargain with her.
He had just changed some money at the hotel so his pockets were full.  He has some $$ in 2 pockets and many dongs in 2 other pockets.  Neither speak the same language.  Both are trying to figure it out and make change.

We parted, new friends.....It was a fun trip...then the nap at the hotel.

Earlier when Bob got the money at the hotel I was asked by the receptionist to put clips on the many piles of dongs to
keep them straight.  Each pile contained 10 bills, each bill was worth 100,000 dongs.      To give you some idea, a coke costs 30,000. dongs
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We are now in Hanoi.  We have had 3 different guides in the different cities.  Each one has said to us, "Vietnam is very safe. But it is a good idea to keep your passport and money in the safe at the hotel.  Not a good idea to carry them around."