Pre-Tet Crazies

It’s now been about two months since my last post. Partly neglect, but also partly because I’ve been travelling for the past 3+ weeks. I’ll do my best to catch up on life, and central to that is the strange phenomenon known as Tet.

Tet is the Lunar New Year, (also known as Chinese New Year in other parts of the world). This year it fell on February 14th, a particularly auspicious date for all you romantics out there. It’s probably the biggest holiday of the year and a time of family, shopping, and strange happenings. In the madness leading up to Tet, prices inexplicably rise, flashing lights and bejewelled signs deck the city spreading good fortune and “Chuc mung nam moi” (Happy New Year). Traffic reaches an extreme, and the usual daily adventures of getting around the city are confounded by large mandarin and cherry blossom trees strapped to the backs of motorbikes so that the roads begin to feel like a living forest, winding and twisting through narrow alleys to the incessant sounds of honking. Crisp 1,000 to 50,000 dong notes become suddenly hot items to get stuffed in red envelopes and given away as ‘lucky money’ to children and friends.

Any sort of strange occurrence can be explained by the overwhelming force that is Tet. Robberies and thefts are said to increase leading up to and during Tet (a few of my friends can attest to that). Furthermore, the words “auspicious” and “inauspicious” begin to dictate your life. For example, a female friend tried to stop and get air in her bicycle tires on the way to work one morning. She was refused by the shopkeeper. Apparently it is inauspicious to have a female customer as the first of the day in the weeks before Tet. Interesting.

The whole nation shuts down during Tet holiday to go be with family in the countryside, eat dinners of epic proportions, and wail to the inspiring tunes of Vietnamese Karaoke. For most expats living in Ha Noi, it’s a time to escape. They say if you do plan to stay in the city, stock up on food, water and money. And for those who have remained…. on the actual day of Tet, the streets are eerily deserted. Left to the rats and the few foreigners wandering the streets - the city is the most peaceful it will ever be.

I decided to take advantage of 5 consecutive days of public holiday and headed to Indonesia with a friend.