Escape the Bleak Midwinter Part 1: Ho Chi Minh City

蛇年快乐！Happy Year of the Snake!

China is a wonderfully festive place around Chinese New Year - there are red lanterns everywhere, people giving gifts, twinkling light displays, and a general bustle as people prepare to travel to their ancestral homes. But it's also been pretty dismal weather, cold and wet for days on end. And let's face it - it's really hard to sleep when there are firecrackers going off at all hours for days and nights on end. So a coworker and I decided to take advantage of the long holiday to get out of dodge, seek warm and sunny weather, and start filling my new passport with new visas.

Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon if you prefer. Fresh fruit, palm trees, iced coffee - perfect! It was Southeast Asia with traces of France, like the Cathedral Notre Dame and the Central Post Office. 

We spent some time walking around the city center, and among other things, found a park where families were celebrating Tet (Vietnamese New Year) by taking photos amongst special holiday displays.

It's Year of the Snake in Vietnam, too - these serpents reminded me of the Rose Parade floats decorated entirely with plant material: 

The park was also a good place to try some Vietnamese snacks:

 And freshly squeezed sugar cane juice!

I can't go to a new country without seeking out something historical, so my coworker and I also made a stop at the "Reunification Palace." This was the South Vietnamese president's residence and political headquarters during the 1960s and 1970s, and it remains frozen in time for visitors today. They've even parked a few tanks on the front lawn to show how the North Vietnamese crashed through the gates as the city fell.

Aside from all the mid-century light fixtures and unfortunately colored carpets, the palace also had an underground war command center. Old maps with army positions and troop numbers still hung on the walls, while the roof sported a helicopter landing pad next to the bar and dance floor.

Arriving in Vietnam during Tet meant that a lot of places to visit were closed, but we made up for that by celebrating the new year with just about every other resident of Saigon. We joined a sea of people and headed toward the river where there would be fireworks later:

The main avenues in the city were decorated with more floral and lantern displays:

We went up to the "Saigon Skydeck" for views of the city from its highest tower:

And had dinner on a river cruise decorated like a giant fish: 

Instead of staying in the massive crowds for the fireworks, we went back to our guest house in the backpacker district to see what was happening. Backpackers from Australia, Russia, Israel, Europe, even China now roamed the streets buying drinks and sitting at bars blaring music. As the foreigners partied, the Vietnamese shop owners were preparing their ancestral alters. In the midst of the celebratory rowdiness, the local families lit incense, bowed before their shrines, and prayed for the new year. It was so incongruous, and a little surreal. 

When I had told my family at home that I was going to Vietnam over Chinese New Year, my Dad commented, "Vietnam was the last place I wanted to go when I was younger." As in, he was very nearly sent there by the draft. If the war had gone on a few months longer, his number would have come up and who knows what would have happened. But amongst my generation, Vietnam carries no such baggage and has become quite attractive to vacationers (as well as a subset of international relations students).

This thought actually brought a lot of comfort. There are so many unstable states today, ripped apart by civil wars and transnational armed groups, and a lot of Americans have thrown up our hands and given up on them. One can only hope and pray and strive that someday a new generation of travelers will once again enjoy these places too.