One of the best deals in Bangkok is the Lumpini night markets. Not only is there a huge market selling just about anything that one could imagine, there is also free live entertainment and great food.

After a hot day sight-seeing there is nothing better than a fruit smoothie and the Thais make the best I’ve ever had.

 The fruit is ripe when it is sold (unlike the green fruit we tend to get sold here in Australia) so the flavours are divine.

Off to one side of the night markets is a large area that is set up a bit like an Oktoberfest tent except it’s in the open air.  There is a retractable roof in case it rains.

 Lots of seating in front of a large stage with women coming around selling drinks.

All around the seating area are food stalls

 that serve up, in a flash, some of the best Thai food you’ll ever taste, at prices that are better than reasonable.

And to top it all off, there is live Thai pop music.

 The atmosphere was great. The markets aren’t just for tourists and I couldn’t help but think that I’d love to see such a thing here in Sydney.

September is a hot and steamy time in Hanoi.  The locals know that early morning and evening are the best times to be physically active and that is when they can be seen enjoying their leisure. One of the really charming things that I saw in Hanoi was the large groups of people dancing in Lenin Park at about 6am. in the morning.

There were different groups dancing to different types of music, ranging from rock and roll (in the picture above) through latin to ballroom (in the photo below).

I couldn’t help but feel a little envy for the people of Hanoi as they unselfconsciously enjoyed themselves in a public park.  It made me realise how disconnected most of us are from each other here in Sydney. There doesn’t seem to be any sense of community back home and I can’t image dancing in downtown public parks here in Australia in the early morning.

As I was taking these photos the occasional dancer would look my way and give me a very warm smile.  I felt so welcome and that is one of the things that struck me about the Vietnamese in general, they are usually very warm and down to earth people.