Ho Chi Minh

Four Tucsonans sat together on a street corner somewhere in Ho Chi Minh City, ate a Vietnamese meal and drank some beer in mugs with ice. Gus had known them from before - Denise and Sonya - two expat English teachers in Vietnam.

We were joined by a bunch of their friends from Vietnam, Tasmania, the US, and Australia. While we drank, people would approach. There was a kid, probably no more that seven years old, who yelled "Hey!" and then started juggling flaming sticks. Then he ate a hot coal. He went around to collect donations.

Several females, from very young girls to hunchbacked old ladies, came to us with cigarettes and different foods. Sonya got us some lotus seeds and boiled quail eggs. They were both pretty delicious.

Rats and cockroaches shared our walk back to the hotel. As Gus said, the weather is perfect for living things.