(Irina) Y'all have been asking questions. So...

(Q) How many people on a moped?
(A) As many as four. Plus anytyhing else you can imagine - animals, building materials, food, etc.

(Q) Why is teh Perfume River so called?
(A) A long time ago, a princess had her wedding procession in boats over the river. So many flowers were thrown in tne river that it smelled like perfume.

(Q) Why are the pictures so dark?
(A) Weather up north was crap. Rained almost non-stop for 10 days. Thankfully, down south weather is great.

(Q) Who is Uncle Ho?
(A) None other than Ho Chi Minh.

(Q) What about the nightlife?
(A) It's here - lots' of karaoke bars. We haven't been to one, because we are on a break from nightife and because we'd much rather have a beer in the Vietnamese equivalent of the beer garden - sidewalk with tiny plastic tables and chairs into which most Western tourists cannot fit. Or we are so tired from all the pagoda-hunting that we fall asleep.

(Q) What's up with the ttellow pack?
(A) Don't even go there. The thing is sacred and apparently irreplacable even in a land where you trip over bag shops carrying every imaginable type of bag at ridiculously low prices.

(Q) Can you ride the buffalos?
(A) Yes, if you are a little Vietnamese boy.