What am I doing?

 On our last evening in Hanoi we took a walk, and Judith was attracted to the display window of an antique shop.  It was already dark, but the shop was still open, and we started looking around, without intending to buy anything.  In the end we did buy some stone figurines, which I'm saving for another entry.
The store was in a typical urban house, quite narrow and about five stories tall.  To pay with my credit card, I had to go up to the third floor with the owner, a vigorous man of about my age, whose English was limited, but whose enthusiasm for his wares was extreme.  He knew I wasn't going to buy anything more expensive than the figurines, but he kept showing my treasure after treasure, including this jade sculpture of horses drawing a royal chariot, which you can buy for only $25,000.

Another example of Vietnamese splendor is one of the emperor's tombs in Hue, one of the places you more or less have to go as a tourist in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, while looking for some information about Vietnam, I came upon the website of a very accomplished photographer and dedicated traveler named Matthew Herschmann.
I haven't had time to look at all of his hundreds of pictures of many places in Asia. He is essentially a professional travel photographer, and I am resolutely an amateur.  I took the pictures in Vietnam to remember our trip, and I'm sharing them with modest expectations.  Our trip to Vietnam was surprisingly significant to me personally, opening me up to an unfamiliar culture and thus giving me insight into the monotheistic, Mediterranean culture I live in.  We barely spent two weeks in Asia, certainly not enough time to understand anything about it, but enough time to be stimulated and puzzled.
That's the kind of traveler I am.