Putting the wey hey in Hue

The weather north of the Hai Van pass has certainly been unpredictable.
The sky looked like it would be certain to bring rain. We decided to bring an umbrella and raincovers.
Obviously we forgot the umbrella but thankfully it didn't rain!
We visited the tombs of Emperor Minh Mang and Khai Dinh. Minh Mang ruled in a time of paintings and obviously killed anyone that painted him in any way other than looking ferocious or ruthless.
Khai Dinh ruled in a time of photography and looked ridiculous when all dressed up.
This ridiculousness became widely known thanks to the Vietnam equivalent of snappy snaps and the game was up for the monarchy.
We then visited the much older Pagoda of Thein Mu on the banks of the Perfume River before winding up at the Citadel in Hue.
A strange lower leg and foot massage followed by a rickshaw ride took us to the hullabaloo of the Dong Ba market. A warren of dried fish, material for unfeasibly small women and ubiquitous t-shirts for 'westerners'.
I came in search of casual shorts. I was described as Buddha size and much commotion followed as women were despatched to all corners of this maze for 'bigger size, bigger size'. This was shouted around the market while I stood with my pants on underneath a curtain which doubled as the least discreet changing room in the socialist republic.
The women then go from fun to serious as they discuss exchange rates of VND to USD with the expertise of a foreign currency trader in the square mile.
Negotiation opened at 36USD I said my limit was 20USD. This was laughed at.
"I can get these shorts cheaper in England" I said.
"Not this quality, this top quality and very cheap" came the reply.
We settled at 25USD. I handed over 30USD.
"Only have change in Dong" my diminutive nemesis snapped.
"OK says I," still sensing a chance to beat these uneducated natives at their own game.
"24000 Dong to the dollar" I say confidently.
"NO, 1 Dollar fixed at 22000 Dong" She shot back assuredly to nods all round the market as if the whole world knew the exchange rate.
An experience!