Highly Effective Low Technology.

We needed to get an extra set of keys to our house made, but how do you explain making a duplicate key in sign language? We finally thought we had managed to get the point across to a local shopkeeper who directed us to a street nearby. We know that everything in Hanoi seems to have its own street: there's the street of shoe stores, the street of bathroom fixtures, the street of electrical wiring, etc. Very convenient if you need just one thing, but a real pain if you have a whole shopping list. Anyway, we figured okay, street of key makers, but when we got there it was the street of sporting goods--golf clubs, tennis equipment, exercise machines in profusion--no key makers.
So we went through the same pantomime with several shopkeepers. We could see the light dawn and they would point to the same corner. We walked up and down the block, not a sign of a key maker. Finally someone walked to the corner with us and pointed out this guy:

No shop, he just squats on the ground with his bag of tools and key blanks. We had probably walked by him 3-4 times without noticing him because we were looking for a shop. We were a little skeptical of his ability to do the job because one of the keys looked complicated, but he pulled out a blank and simply by looking at the key was able to hand file a duplicate. Now we were really skeptical. Just before leaving California, we had tried to get a key made at Home Depot and after four trips back and forth, grinding and regrinding the duplicate on their machine, it still never worked. His did, first time.
So this is how it works here. Low tech, but effective. And people are willing to work hard to make it work.
Ask Bob McNamara.

P.