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Published: July 21st 2011
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Dilly dallying down
D Le Thanh Ton we wandered in the direction of the hotel. Our brains drained from the market and lack of water. It's possible that sleep deprivation had started to rejuvenate in both of us as well. We walked aimlessly without speaking, looking left and right in search of nothing more than a convenience store.
Rounding around a street pole Shauna bumped into a woman in a conical hat. Strapped around her neck a small box filled with hand fans. "You want? One dollar," she stated smiling at Shauna the fan flicking open. Mesmerized by the beauty in the fan, Shauna pulled it out of her hand. Wafting it back and forth the cool air flipped past her shoulders. She instantly dug into her new cast-off crumpler Sunday Bruneh bag withdrawing the one-dollar bank note. Handing it over, they both smiled and separated. "This is just what I needed," she exclaimed. I laughed. "I would prefer a bottle of water, or a smoothie. But we all have our own desires."
We strode down the avenue looking into shop windows. Pausing I spotted an old Rollei 645 twin lens camera. I've owned two in the past both from the 1930's. They use 120-roll film. And you have to look through the top to take the photograph. I've never paid more than $25 in the states for them. I looked at it on the shelf. There were four. All in decent condition. "How much?" I inquire about the one in my hand as I pulled the back cover off. "two-hundred and fifty," is the response. "Dong?" "No dollars." The laughter rises from my diaphragm. It bellows out of the store, out onto the street. Shauna looks up to see me exiting the store. I cannot stop laughing. "What? What is so funny?" "She wanted two-hundred and fifty dollars," I nearly pee my pants. Shauna smiles. "Do they think we are dumb?" I don't answer, I am trying to hold the pee inside.
Ten minutes later we are standing in front of The People's Committee Building, taking snap shots of the surrounding area. Red flags wisp in the winds. They pop out from the stark white clouds and purely royal blue sky. Our cameras click as we step into the roadway to get better angles on the building. Shortly, we cross the street. "Have you seen
a convenience store?" "Nope." Wandering down the road Shauna unexpectedly stops looking right. Not paying attention as normal I run into her. "What gives?" "Look at this?" I turn hoping she's about to point at a convenience store. Instead its the back of a bus stop. But this bus stop is unlike any other stop I've ever come across. It has a reflective surface similar to a mirror. Except this one has dents in it. And is pulling our bodies and faces both in width and length.
Instantly our faces elongate as we begin laughing at the other. We stand at the back of the bus stop, moving left and right to adjust our silly faces and postures. We start snapping photographs and laughing more. The people around us cannot believe what they are witnessing. Two foreigners are nearly pissing their pants laughing and making funny faces at the bus stop. The truly great part of this is we are surrounded by high rise shopping centers with the likes of Armani, Gucci and Diesel plastered around the entrance way. This doesn't stop us. We change settings, stack our faces and take more photographs.
After twenty minutes of constantly
laughing we leave the bus stop. People are still starring at the two of us as we walk off down the road. Around the corner from our hotel we spot a sign simply stating
24. "It has to be a convenience store," I state as a matter of fact. (Even though I don't really know). "Let's grab some water, desert and then eat," Shauna says. "Sounds good, but I'd rather do it in the reverse order." "Agreed."
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