In 14 days we haven't heard a police siren even having spent time in 3 major cities - it seems they are self policing. The other day in a museum 6 of the staff including the security guard, admin and handyman all sat on the floor together sharing a hot meal. So - very community minded but, except for hostel/hotel staff I have not found them to be as helpful as the Thais and Cambodians.
Chatting to the guide yesterday and to other locals it seems that much more value is put on males here. The sons provide for their parents, daughters have to move to be with their husband's family. On two occasions men have asked to have a photo just with Martin ignoring me!
Crossing the roads has been a nightmare and walking the pavements nigh on impossible - even on this morning's walk around a lake no scooters but loads of trees in the way!
There are lots of shops selling North Face clothing and bags - it is manufactured in Vietnam. We nearly bought some items but checked online and there is a lot of forum chat about fake gear and videos showing how to tell. Interesting when you closely examine the stitching and labels and see the mistakes etc. So whatever the shopkeepers say, it's all fake.
Tonight - or rather tomorrow morning at 01.45 we fly to Seoul arriving at 06.00 body time so we are not expecting much sleep. Fingers crossed the hostel can let us have a room early. We then take a week to travel down South Korea. Jess has emailed to tell us they experienced a mild earthquake in Christchurch on their last day in NZ. Kath has had her first day of her scuba diving course in Cairns and learnt the sign for 'shark'! Only 9 days to go before our big reunion in Tokyo.
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