I met this lady on the beach in Vietnam, her massage station was set up close to where we had settled for our couple of days on the beach. Her days are busy with plenty of tourists unable to resist a $3 massage on the beach, and as she works she flashes smiles our way and always shouts us greetings in the morning.
As the sun is setting on another busy day she comes over to our sun beds to chat as she winds down. Since the sun is setting she has removed her conical hat that she wears for most of the day and is just enjoying the peace of the evening.
We chat for a while and I tune into her accented English and in a handful of words she proudly tells us her story. She has been working on the beach for many years since her son was a baby, when she first started she made very little money and her son lingered with her while she tried to work.
Now, she says, “Money, no problem, no problem” waving one hand in the air, all the while her other hand is deftly and absentmindedly massaging my boyfriends foot and popping his toes with ease and comfort. As she beams and massages she tells us repeatedly with such pride that now her son is going to school and she owns not one but 2 motorcycles! One for her and one for her son. We cannot help but smile and become infected with her joy, I snapped this photo whilst thinking it was one of the nicest moments of the trip so far.
