Midway through our road trip back in March, we had pulled over to investigate a massive rock formation when some local kids noticed us, abandoned the cow they'd been herding home, and immediately clambered up the rock to show off.
Above: Iain and four of my favorite kids in Vietnam.
The girl with the red scarf was obviously the bravest one, and she made it to the top first, at which point she sat back, ate some fruit, and taunted the others till the little boy in blue managed to join her.
The other two were much more cautious, and only made it halfway up, where they remained, despite much taunting and shoe-throwing (from their friends, obviously, not us).
(Above: the little boy in blue is taking off his sandal to throw it at the boy in yellow).
I couldn't tell at the time how much of this was for our benefit and how much was just, I don't know, impromptu acrobatic frolicking/shoe-throwing, but I'm glad my zoom lens, at least, was able to remove any doubt. After awhile, we waved goodbye (they ignored us) and started to hike back up the hill, at which point they scurried down, climbed to higher ground, and burst into an exuberant, apparently well-rehearsed dance.
Finally, as we drove off, they ran off - probably to collect their forgotten cow.
