I am folding up numbers for the draw and it reminded me of being in Vietnam. I hired a car to take me to Silk Island on a car ferry. The houses on the island are all on stilts and the huge wooden looms are below. It was an amazing sight. Soon ladies came running out with their wares, so much beautiful fabric and scarves. They gathered around me like so many tropical birds in their bright plumage. I was totally overwhelmed with the chatter and the fabrics. Finally, my driver got them quiet and I explained that I could not buy from them all so we would have a draw. Each one was given a piece of paper from the notebook I always carried with me, the driver took off his hat and they were invited to write their name on the paper, fold it up and put it in the hat. To my amazement, they did not fold the paper but rolled it into long narrow scrolls. I had never seen that before and I never saw it again. Maybe it was just a Vietnam thing. As I mostly worked for owner/operated hotels naturally I stayed at their properties. However, I had never been to Vietnam before so decided to go a week early and “play tourist” to get a feel for the place. A travel agency in Chaing Mai booked my tickets so I told them to book a small hotel close to the Mekong river And the market. I arrived, the small hotel looked clean and tidy, I booked in, climbed a wide stone staircase, found my room and although it was only about 9 p.m. I went to bed. At 10 I was awakened by chatter coming from the stairs and noisy footsteps. This went in for hours. Finally, I dressed and went to the stairs where I saw a number of men sitting and chatting. Puzzled I went back to my room and tried to sleep. I later found out that all the noise was the “customers “ waiting their turn! I moved out the next day!