Back To Vietnam.

Part of getting new phones is letting go of the old phones. That's not usually difficult to do, but mine had been with me in Vietnam and had all my Vietnamese phone numbers in it. Not to mention several photos that I had never been able to transfer to my Mac. My old Sony phone came with PC-based sync software, and although I had managed to transfer a few photos initially, after that first time it didn't work. As a result, I had several irreplaceable photos on the phone that I despaired of ever being able to access. So when I switched phones, I asked the sales people if they could transfer the photos to my new phone. Of course they could, but nothing they tried seemed to work. At last one wise old tech-head was able to use Bluetooth to effect the transfer.

This is the only shot I have of the bottled water delivery man.
It was amazing how many bottles these guys could carry.

A particularly lovely dragon crowning the lintel above
the main entrance to a temple several blocks from our house.

The only shot I have of one of my favorite temples on busy Kim Ma street.

An especially creepy pair of maimed child mannequins
in front of a store on dear old Doi Can.

A man and his ladder. I actually have no idea why I took this shot.

We saw this old man squatting in his doorway almost every day.
He was toothless and clearly not all there, and I didn't want
to embarrass him (or myself) by obviously taking his picture,
but I managed one shot surreptitiously.
Not great quality, but a vivid memory of our old neighborhood.

We were out of town during Tet, so we missed all the celebrations,
but before we left I managed to get this shot.
These kumquat trees (and many other ornamental trees) are considered
good luck for the new year, so for a few weeks,
they're as ubiquitous as Christmas trees at Christmas in the U.S.
In fact, a really old tree can rent for up to $10,000
because of the luck it's supposed to bring.
Every business has some kind of tree, as well as most homes.
I used this shot as the wallpaper on my old phone.
I'll miss it.

P.