FISHING FOR CIGARETTES
Lao Cai, Northwest Vietnam

smells: exhaust, fried rice
temperature: pleasant
weather: overcast
tastes: mentos, fried eggs and noodles, coca-cola, and plaque (plack? oh spelling...)
feeling: stickiness (as in contacts stuck to my eyes from sleeping with them in the smelly, exhaust belching, spit covered bus from Kunming to HeKou)
main object of amusement in this town: the "dream world" cigarette machine. Imagine a Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Garfield covered "claw machine" that has been wheeled onto the sidewalk and filled with tobacco products instead of stuffed animals.
travel companions: a young japanese couple with limited English and a decent phrase book.
time till train departure to Hanoi: 8 hours
main source of my own amusement: Margaret Atwood