Tet a tet

Hanoi is not a small city at all, it is huge.

There must be two motorbikes for every person. Half of them are parked on the sidewalk annoyingly blocking my way and the other half seem to be careening along the streets carrying a weeks' shopping and the entire family. At first, it was a novelty to see a family of four riding a Honda 110, now it rarely raises an eyebrow. Thankfully, most people wear helmets. The young children riding on the handlebars don't, but at least the adults do. Most of the time.

Of course, motorbike traffic congestion is legendary in Vietnam and it has been made even more intense by the mad rush to stock up on seasonal treats and Tet supplies for the New Years' celebrations.

The markets were jammed, there were long queues getting into bakeries and supermarkets, the constant "meep-meeping" of the motorbike horns reached new levels. Things eventually winded down.

As afternoon approached, the metal shutters on storefronts started coming down; more and more places were closed for the holiday. At about 8:00 pm, I wandered down to the Vietnam Airlines office to inquire about an airport shuttle. The streets were nearly empty. Whereas before crossing the street was literally a matter of praying that I did not die under the wheels of a careening 100cc scooter, I suddenly had all the streets to myself.

Dinner was a toasted Danish salami and French Camembert sandwich on a nice baguette and washed down with an Orangina. I came back to my lovely $12 a night hotel and watched a movie on HBO. When it was over, I turned out the lights at about 10:00 and fell asleep.

Until midnight.

At exactly midnight, New Years was celebrated with a loud series of explosions, sky rockets, firecrackers and festive music blaring out of the People's loudspeakers that are present upon every utility pole in the city. Seemingly, all leftover U.S. Army ordnance was detonated within the space of a few minutes. Much hilarity ensued.

And then suddenly, as if by some secret signal, it went very quiet and everyone went to bed.