Welcome to Vietnam

[Feb 6-10, Hanoi]

When we first arrived in Hanoi after haggling over the official price of our visa (a haggling battle we were destined to lose), we were sure it was worth the "rush fee" to get the visas approved before Tet. Tet is the Vietnamese lunar new year festival celebrated, this year, on February 9th. Actually, it's a festival that lasts for several days after the 9th, and for most people includes as much time as they can justify spending with their families before and after the actual new year.

This extended celebration wreaked havoc on some of our travel plans -- businesses and museums were closed, train service was limited, and most train tickets were booked by people traveling to see their families. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all, including us and the millions of Hanoi families celebrating in our midst.



Luckily, our first couple days were spent finding our balance among the pushy vendors and cold weather, so we were prepared for the crowds on the eve of Tet. One of our first stops was the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex, where we saw the man himself, embalmed as a visible memory of his struggle for the communist party. (Never mind that he abhorred the idea of being worshiped after his death, and made an icon for propaganda on every bill of Dong, the local currency.) The mausoleum itself is an imposing black marble structure, very cold inside and with the aura of solemnity carried by absolute belief and reverence. Spooky, but cool, and the guy looks great for being dead since 1969. We hear he gets regular touch-ups in Russia.


Marita at the Ho Chi Minh Museum

On the same day, we were also hoping to see the Hoa Lo Prison, a.k.a. the "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War. Turns out it was closed for Tet, but we managed to get in later in the week. The prison existed originally as a French prison for Vietnamese revolutionaries, and most of the exhibits were devoted to the Vietnamese struggle against colonialism. The most interesting parts for me however, were the elements showing the treatment of American pilots held at the prison. According to the museum, that they got it better than most, with basketball, mail from home, literature classes, and whatever other comforts the V.C. could justify. Of course, that's not the story from John McCain, an inmate at the prison for several years.



Aside from the sight-seeing, we had most of our fun with the Tet celebrations, which stopped up traffic pretty good. In preparation, sidewalks were busy with the sales of kumquat trees and branches of cherry blossoms for decoration. Another sidewalk-blocker was the outdoor studio shot, where an enterprising photographer would snap a pic of you posed with giant figurines denoting the Year of the Rooster. The old quarter of Hanoi is centered around a lake, around which is a five-lane one-way drive, and all the major intersections around it were covered by stages hosting acrobats, dancers, and singers. At each stage, traffic would slow to a crawl as people cruising the lakeside drive on their motorbikes stopped to watch the action. The motorbike, in this case, served as a sort of portable sofa for the night's performances.



All evening, the lake became more and more crowded, until the skies lit at the strike of midnight with a dazzling array of fireworks applauded by onlookers pressed shoulder to shoulder. After a January 1 New Years Eve of mourning in the wake of the Asian tsunami, this was just the sort of celebration we needed. After that evening, the town became quiet as families retreated to the comfort of their homes.



The celebration also inspired our first successful Vietnamese phrase, Chuc Mung Nam Moi -- Happy New Year. Happy indeed.