It's Tet Time!

What do ya know - the Vietnamese celebrate Chinese New Year too! As the Chinese have invaded the country many times, some of their traditions rubbed off and are now ingrained in Vietnam's culture. However here they call the festival "Tet", and it's the biggest party of the year. The most important aspects of Tet are: traveling home to family, making offerings at temples and eating specialty foods. They stretch out the celebration - beginning with colorful flower markets that flood the downtown streets with exquisite apricot blossom trees (southern Vietnam's version of the Christmas tree), sculpted bonsai and yellow marigolds galore. Locals buy up the potted plants and adorn their homes, porches and shop fronts with the beautiful blossoms. We rented a motorbike and cruised around the Mekong Delta for a week during the Tet build up, giving us an opportunity to experience the numerous flower markets of the small southern towns. As I'm a bit of a flower junky, this was a special treat and Scott was a good sport in enduring my snappy happy photographic tendencies.

The build up to the Lunar New Year exploded on the eve of Tet, which this year happened on February 7th. We arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon) just in time to witness the chaos of several million people taking to the streets on foot and motorbike. While dragon dancing and fireworks were both on the program, the main event was simply strolling the major downtown boulevards with families and friends, photographing each other in front of the lavish floral displays. As we were staying at a small family guesthouse, they invited us to join them at midnight in their front room for some traditional Tet treats, champagne and beer.

The three days that follow are reserved for family time. Most shops are closed and everyone stays at home - eating, drinking and relaxing. Yesterday in Danang, we were walking through a back alley and passed a group of elderly men doing just that - though perhaps more drinking than eating. Motioning us in, we sat on the floor around a big pot of boiled clams with onions and spices and spent the afternoon enjoying their company and toasting to the New Year every few minutes.

Chuc Mung Na Moi!
Happy New Year!