Goooood bye Vietnam

Well we've had fun but we are on our way out. But not yet. Right now we are in Natrang which is a tourist town. The Miami beach of Vietnam,sort of. There is not as much abject poverty and panhandling here as in the North of Vietnam. People still do "accost" us at any time, during dinner, breakfast or any walk we take. They sell everything from raincoats to the tours on which you will you use the raincoats. They sell books, postcards,shoes, sunglasses,and watches. They sell food and drinks of everykind of course and they do this on every corner. Cindy and I noticed that also on many of these corners there were old water bottles filled with pink, green sometimes orange fluid. We wondered what on earth these bottles were doing on the ground ? They were often tied to a post or a large rock; they were obviously meant to be there. Then we saw the answer. A bicycle pump. The fluid was soapy water used to find the holes in the tires of the passing motorbikes and bicycles. (Well they had to stop to find the holes. ) Once we noticed the pump we started noticing tools, compressors and patches, usually stashed behind a tree or post and a waiting repair man close by. It was the only entreprenurial venture we had not been subjected to. And I think the only one we will NOT be subjected to. We've met travelers that were brave enough to rent a motorbike or bicycle and had actually seen a few blue eyed white people going by, but we couldn't bring ourseleves to do it. Call us chicken, go ahead. We just didn't want to end up in the market.