It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Tet

The pre-Tet excitement is building in Ho Chi Minh City.

In every street, the sound of renovations ring out — the harsh shriek of metal being cut and the pounding of hammers, as well as the shouting that always accompanies work projects in Vietnam.

In every market there’s a crush of shoppers buying new clothes, Tet decorations and traditional Tet foods.

Chuc mung nam moi, Vietnamese for happy new year!

This time of year is exciting for expats and for those who have taken holidays to Vietnam.

Tet, the lunar new year, falls on February 10 this year and there’s a buzz through the whole country right now … and so much more colour and movement than usual.

From roadside stalls selling flowers …

 … to market ladies selling red lì xì (lucky envelopes) that will be used to distribute cash to children …

The markets are full of happy vendors selling Tet specialties like bánh tét (giant rolls of glutinous rice filled with fatty pork) and chả lụa (Vietnamese sausage) …

… and busy housewives buying pickled vegetables …

There’s mounds of mứt tết, candied fruit snacks that are served with tea to visitors over Tet. My favourite mứt is the coconut — seen here in various colours …

With everyone focused on their Tet preparations — and the Tet parties — business slows down, as does bureaucracy.

It’s very much like the lead-up to Christmas in Australia. VERY much like it.

Australian journalists call the pre-Christmas lull “the silly season”.

With the parliament in recess and government and private sector employees focused on Christmas parties, their holidays and shopping for Christmas gifts, there’s not much “real” news that’s worthy of being reported. But newspapers and news bulletins still need to be filled. And so the “silly” stories are trotted out. Stories like “the 10 best gifts to give this year” and “how to avoid embarrassment at your work Christmas party”.

It seems the same thing happens here in Vietnam.

One of the local newspapers has decided to do a “foreigners enjoying Tet” special. And guess which foreigner they asked to participate? Yes, the very un-photogenic me.

So I spent this morning in the crowded Pham Van Hai market in Tan Binh District being trailed by a video camera and two reporters as I shopped for Tet treats and decorations. (The special will include a short video that will be posted to the Thanh Nien website.)

After this crazy filmed market morning, I realise two things. First: I need to lose some of my chins stat. Secondly, now I’m really enjoying Vietnam again, after my bout of culture shock last year, I am noticing the colours so much more.

My photography skills don’t do Vietnam justice, unfortunately. However, I am going to try to share some of the beautiful colours that pop out at me.

So stand by for a series of photo essays!

* This post was brought to you by Travel Indochina.

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By: Barbara

A career girl who dropped out, traveled, found love, and never got around to going home again. Now wrangling a cross-cultural relationship and two third culture kids.