Tet: Lunar New Year in Vietnam!

"Everyone is wearing pajamas!" my new friend Karina said when we arrived in Chau Doc, a town just across the Vietnam border. The matching, loose-fitting shirt and pants sets that women here wear truly look like nighties to our Western eyes.

Adding to the impression that this country is one big slumber party are the many hammocks that line the highways here: rows and rows of Pitt stop nap stations. I want to try one out, for the cultural experience, of course.

But if Vietnam is a slumber party, it's the kind where everyone stays up all night. There's been hardly a dull moment since I got here--and not just because we're in the midst of Tet, the lunar new year celebration.

The first thing we noticed, even before the "pajamas," was the flowers. Whereas Beijingers celebrate the lunar new year with a downpour of fireworks, the Vietnamese turned the town of Chau Doc into one big bouquet.

Everyone seemed to be loading a motorbike with flowers as the whole country headed home to celebrate.

As transit systems stretched to accommodate those extra travelers (and flowers), I wondered where my next destination should be. On the advice of a nice Vietnamese couple, I headed for Ben Tre, a little town in the Mekong Delta.

I got off the bus and started the usual bargaining with motorcycle drivers to get to my hotel--except something seemed wrong, and it wasn't just that the drivers were trying to rip me off. The bus hadn't dropped me off in Ben Tre, but in the next town over!

When I finally arrived at my hotel, after another bus ride, I was half wondering why I hadn't just gone to a bigger, more navigable big city. But as I wandered in search of dinner, a family gathered in their front yard called out, "Hello!" I spent the next hour eating homemade curry and watching the group, an entire extended family together for the holiday, tease each other, hug, kiss, and proffer dish after dish. I had three plates in front of me!

By the time I said my drawn out goodbyes, we had exchanged phone numbers, red envelopes, and paper cranes. For that hour, I felt like a part of the family. And yes, all the women still looked like they were dressed for a slumber party. I wonder what they wear to bed?

PS: Walking to breakfast the next morning, another group called me over to join them; this time, it was three middle-aged brothers, their wives and kids, and a big bottle of brandy. THEN, after breakfast, I watched groups of highschool boys drive around town in decorative trucks and dance in the new year with dragon costumes. Vietnam has been one big celebration so far. Happy Tet!