Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year here in Vietnam (and China) but the festivities have been going on since we arrived over a week ago. This is the big one! Everyone is getting into the swing of things. We knew something was going on because on our way into Hanoi from the airport, we saw many motor scooters driving around with trees strapped to the seats. In Hanoi, the seasonal tree is the peach tree. Here in Hoi An, the tree of choice is the apricot. These aren't little trees. Some of them are full grown. It's a bizarre site.
We're now in Hoi An which is just north of Danang, a location made famous by the American military. This is the port used by the US and French during their occupations. There are one million people in Danang but only a few hundred thousand in Hoi An, a small town by comparison. Yet it's this small town that attracts the tourists. Last night, the foreigners and local residents were all on the street celebrating together. The mingling and partying was quite magical. It was insanely busy but from our perch at dinner, sitting on a patio at Mango Mango, we overlooked the lagoon and enjoyed the scene from a serene location.
It's also very inexpensive here. For $2.00, we rode a small Dragon boat back to our hotel. Our very nice dinner, two entres with wine was $40.00.
Many business establishments close for the week, including popular restaurants. We fly to Cambodia this afternoon. No Lunar celebrations there.
Even though western culture is embraced here, our food isn't. We've only seen one American fast food chain and that was in the old quarter in Hanoi. It was a small Burger King and it was empty. The only fat people we've seen are from the west. Our guides tell us that many of their clients are from Europe...the Netherlands, Germany etc. In all of our hotels, the majority of guests are Asian, specifically Koreans and Japanese.
We fly to Sien Reap to visit the famous triple towers of Angkor Wat. There'll be no lollygagging on that day. We will rise at 4 AM to catch the sunrise...I wonder who's idea that was. Happily, the following day, we'll finally get a chance to coddiwomple, a long time coming if you ask me.