No, Scottish people don't come from England

While we have been on our travels , the regular questions we get asked are "Where do you come from, " closely followed by  "What's your name? We have actually been amazed by some of the knowledge people have had of Scotland and can usually make some reference to it, such as Edinburgh, Andy Murray or whiskey. Even the street children trying to sell things have known something and will try and engage you in conversation in the hope of selling something. We have also been amazed by the amount of people who were interested in the Scottish Referendum, people selling at roadside stalls even in Nepal asked us about that. 

Well, in Vietnam we have basically been met with blank stares when we say Scotland, or they respond, " Ah, Scotland in England." Now, people who know David will know this really winds him up and he decides to go into a geography lesson with people who barely understand what he is saying anyway. All over the place I have generally had to step in and speak, as people have said that his accent is too strong or that he talks too fast! Let's hope they don't meet someone from Glasgow, that will totally confuse them.  So, David starts telling them all about the countries that make up the United Kingdom and they just stare at him smiling, so I hold up one finger say Vietnam, hold up another finger and say Cambodia and put the fingers side by side, then do the same saying Scotland and England, they get that. The other day though we were sat in a cafe  in Vietnam and a man asked us where we were from, when we replied Scotland he said " No underwear, " it is amazing the links people make.

We have even seen people wearing hoodies in Vietnam with United Kingdom of England on the back.

Some of the sights in Ho Chi Minh.

We had to take a second look at this sign, it says "Sorry, we're open" 

David decided to go for a haircut in Vietnam, well that was an experience. They very quickly cut his hair so David got up to leave, the man put his hands on David's shoulders and pushed him back down into the seat . He went off and came back with a cut throat razor, me and David made eye contact using the mirror and I could see the look of puzzlement in his eye. The man went to shave David's face  , David flinched and the man backed off with David saying he would do that himself. So the 

man proceeded to shave around the back of his neck, ears etc. 

 Once done, David tried to leave again , well the man  suddenly attached this metal glove thing onto his hand and then proceeded to give David a back massage! My goodness what treatment, cost less than £2 too.

The new haircut.

Selling bamboo plants from the back of a motor bike.

These toys are all the rage over here and you see people of all ages out playing with them, you do keepy up with it. In Thailand , Vietnam, Peru and Cambodia we have been impressed by the amount of outdoor equipment and areas that are provided for people to do exercise, all for free. In HoChiMinh we saw some people doing ballroom dancing in a grassy area in the city centre. 

There are lots of people still going around selling their wares from a long pole over their shoulder, these are really heavy David got the chance of carrying one.  Sales people will wonder up and down the street shouting out what they are selling, it is a bit like the scene in Oliver when they sing "Who will buy" but not so harmonious and nobody bursts into spontaneous dance, which is a pity.