I was out on my bicycle for an exploratory ride. I'd gone over Cam Le bridge and turned right, in to an ordinary local community. A lot of the chaos in Vietnam gets tiring, but little communities where life is very practical and every space is used, appeal to me. Not pretty, but functional, and more functional than my home, where cosmetics swallow up the useful, and a lawn is more valued than a hen-house or a dove-cote.