At the airport as we were leaving we ran into more than a little trouble over.. you’ll never guess… our baggage. Anyway, that was just the issue. The thing i have been pondering is what went wrong. We move in and out of a nation each month and usually have no trouble navigating with people. But there it became “win/lose” immediately and there was no fixing it. First, with the little 26 year old lady who “caught” us as we entered the immigration area with too many carry ons. Then with the manager of the airline operation there in Hanoi. (We told him these were the exact bags we entered Vietnam with on the same carrier five days earlier, but that did not matter.) They weren’t hateful. Just like unmoveable mountains. Very unusual in Asia. Because we were American? (can’t say I would blame them from their perspective) Because I was wearing more casual clothing (this time i wore distressed jeans, and not my typical “traveling in a business shirt” for this very reason). The first words out of her mouth when I protested that i just couldnt check an expensive video camera were, “Now YOU listen to me!” I will probably never know what set that off or what I could do about it next time, but as we move into Vietnam more i need a better conflict strategy, that’s for sure.