TRADING PLACES


If you're even vaguely Anglo-Saxon, or otherwise non-confrontational in nature, the thought of arguing about how much bewildering foreign currency to pay, while doing rapid conversion arithmetic in your head, for an item you're not even sure how you will get home/ if it will pass customs/ you'll understand why you bought once you get back to life on a comfortable mattress, may induce a hyperventilating panic attack. Never fear, I have a strategy.

TRAVEL

Travel is only glamorous in retrospect ~ P. Theroux

I could tell you a lot of really interesting travel facts about the Perfume Pagoda. Set amongst the limestone hills and tropical forests of the Huong Mountain region, I could tell you about the network of magnificent Buddhist shrines set in limestone caves. I could tell you about the strong women who shuttle tourists back and forth up the Yen River on flat-bottomed boats, or even about the deep respect (and consequent self-loathing) I developed for the joyful elderly Buddhist women overtaking me on the climb up to the main shrine.