*versions of “ca chien”
During my first full summer back in Vietnam, I paid 100 USD to a local friend and for the money was able to a) rent a motorbike, b) attain an owners’ certificate, c) possess two rain jackets for biking in the downpours that dropped so frequently during the rainy season, and d) possess one real and one fake helmet, the latter used in case I need to drive a friend around. Within one week, someone took my real helmet and replaced it with a fake one costing one tenth its value. Two weeks later, my original fake helmet too, was stolen, and I was left with the substituted fake helmet that the first thief left me to use during my last few weeks in the city.
