I landed in Vietnam during Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It is the most important and widely celebrated holiday in Vietnam. It marks the beginning of the lunar calendar year and is a time for family reunions, honoring ancestors, and welcoming the coming year. It’s often the only time that people living in major cities are able to go back home to visit. It lasts several days and most businesses are closed.
I started my day by walking to the Hanoi Train Street. There are restaurants lined up along the tracks, not many feet from the train passing. Then I walked to Lenin Park and then on to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and museum. I wasn’t aware, until I walked into the black marble room in the heart of the mausoleum, and saw Ho Chi Minh laying in a glass enclosed case. It was really pretty amazing. He looked pretty good for being dead so long. It was eye-opening to see how revered he is by the people of Vietnam.
Motorbikes are the primary source of transportation. Families of four will ride on the bike, with the babies in between them with NO helmets. Women in furs, fancy dress and high heels, Anything goes. Kids don’t even hold onto parents, they just hang out on the back of the bike. Makes my blood pressure rise just watching them zip through traffic.
I thought the traffic in Thailand was bad, but in Vietnam it’s on even crazier level. Cars, bikes & pedestrians via for the street. No one stops for lights (in fact, there are few) and even go the wrong way on the street. And, EVERYONE honks. At first, I though the honking was to tell people to get out of the way, but have realized that it is simply a way for them to let others know that they are coming or there. Crossing the street means you are weaving between vehicles. They just go around you. You have to believe that they see you and , not they won’t stop, but they will go around you.
More Sights of Hanoi.
As much as I enjoyed the sites and sounds of Hanoi, I was ready to head to the cast to Ha Long Bay for a nice 3 day cruise.