bazaars and mopeds

I've been shopping lately at two bazaars, a craftlink bazaar which donates money back to ethnic minorities and a charity bazaar run by the international women's club. I can't tell you what I've bought because they are presents for people- but needless to say they are very beautiful and relatively inexpensive. I saw some Vietnamese documentaries on illiteracy in the highlands and Ha Long Bay which made me think- I don't usually think about the children that try and sell you stuff at Ha Long there's 200 of them between 15-24 and they are all illiterate. Very sobering.
Last night after sangha practice (meditation class) I went with Tuan, Hannah and Nicholas to a restaurant serving traditional Vietnamese food. It was cheap- but not exactly to my taste. Scary experience riding the back of the moped when Hannah and Tuan carried on a conversation across two different mopeds- but I guess you have to trust sometime!
I felt refreshed after practice- I hadn't done it for a week and it really showed. More on that at the interbeing in Vietnam blog.