Grandmothers in South East Asia

The Thais will sell you their grandmother. They will put her in a sack and get her into the back of your truck and then tell you that whatever is in the sack is potatoes/ diving equipment / elephant souvenirs.

The Cambodians will also sell you their grandmother. They will put her in a sack and get her into the back of your truck but Cambodians will actually tell you that their grandmother is in the sack. Cambodians are willing to argue with you for hours in order to convince you to buy their grandmother. Indeed, having two grandmothers of your own is merely in indication that you are rich and can therefore afford one more.

Interestingly....the Vietnamese will start by trying to sell you their grandmother. But when they realise that what you really want is a tour on Ha Long Bay they will say "fine, you can have the tour on Ha Long Bay but then you have to take my grandmother at a 50% discount". The interesting thing about the Vietnamese grandmother , however, is that when you get her, you realise that she is in a mini skirt.