The Perfect Moment

Hanoi, the noisy city. Traffic everywhere, loud and clear, deafening my ears.

We hide in a small sidestreet, one of the many.

We spot an old chinese temple, one of the many. Hundreds of years old, no doubt, one of the lucky that escaped destruction by the French.

Inside the temple, peace and quiet. Some dogs look at us with suspicious eyes, but the owner tells them that it's ok for us to enter, and they obey the voice of the master.

In the temple: nobody but a beautiful boy. He makes tea for us, while we stroll around and make pictures.

Then he offers us tea. No words. Only smiles and tea.

He's today's angel, showing us a piece of heaven. The perfect moment.
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closed door (except one)

strolling in the old town of HaNoi, discovering one of the many old temples and pagoda's. Looking behind the bars at the closed doors. No wait, one door is open. Guys are playing cards.

This ordinary picture depicts pretty much my idea of the country. We, the tourists, see things not as they are, we see them behind the bars of tourism. Even behind those bars, most of the doors are closed. If we see one door open, we see only a glimpse.

When talking to a guy in a park, he told me: nothing in this country is what you see. Nothing in this country is what you hear. Everything is different from what you see and hear.

I need to go to a gay bar or sauna, to meet real life, the life of the underbelly, the life of the uninhibited desire and lust, where guys can be themselves, and feel no restraints. Meanwhile, I enjoy my stroll in the virtual reality of daily life :-) .

Diamonds on the soles of your shoes

Today's surprise never-seen-before: 3 boys, working on old shoes. One boy removes the soles from the old shoes, another one keeps only those parts that are still useable and adds a new sole to the shoes. The third one, using those parts, makes "new" shoes from it. Incredible. And their workshop is the street. Not exactly a job that produces diamonds, but for them those old shoes are their living. And the speed in which they transform the old shoes into new footwear is astonishing. What would Jimmy Choo think of it? .