Taking on Tet

Tet has consumed the mind, thoughts, and actions of every Vietnamese person in Ho Chi Minh City and the country as a whole. The Year of the Tiger is upon us as Vietnam prepares for its biggest holiday of the year. It is unmistakable that this holiday is bigger than Christmas, the western New Year, Halloween, and Thanksgiving combined. A fever has taken over the city and you would have to be blind to miss any of it.
If you have walked through downtown Ho Chi Minh City, particularly Dong Khoi or Le Loi streets, during any part of the last week, you’ll notice how the city has been transformed into a lit-up wonderland. No, this is not part of Vietnam’s monthly decorating routine for the enjoyment of tourists around the world. Vietnam treats Tet as the real New Year as opposed to January 1 of every year. The date changes every single year, but the traditions never do. Vietnam celebrates Tet to the fullest and if you notice that Ho Chi Minh City is a sort of ghost town around the week of February 14, it’s not because the city has been hit with an epidemic that you are unaware of.
Through the next week, flower markets will start to open up and downtown Ho Chi Minh City will be packed to the brim, not only with tourists but with locals enjoying the decorations. My suggestion is to catch it all before motorbikes start to congest the streets and give you the gift of exhaust fume ingestion. You will regret it later when you are shuffling your feet because you can’t walk at a normal pace due to the other walkers that are trying to bob and weave around the photo-takers.
I got a chance to see one of the flower markets before it gets crowded. The sellers at these markets devote themselves fully to maintaining their goods in the week or two around Tet. This includes eating and sleeping in the parks at night to make sure that no one steals or vandalizes their goods. It is common to see sellers sprawled out on lawn chairs, settling in for a nap.
It’s not necessary for Vietnam to have a botanical garden when you have the Tet flowers and plants right at your fingertips. It is not a surprise that lilies, orchids, and kumquat trees can be sold for three to four hundred dollars, given the size and beauty to which they have been nurtured. Get your pictures in now before the flowers are sold and/or you have to fight to get the pictures against all the Vietnamese that have perfected sneaking in at the right time to get their pictures. There is only so much room to walk. Women will soon be fighting to fill their homes with the perfect chrysanthemum arrangement.
Tet is a celebratory time in Vietnam so get yourself a box of sweets that are specially manufactured for Tet to dissuade the anger and annoyance that are sure to take hold of you when you try to take in some of the normal attractions of Ho Chi Minh City but find yourself like a sheep in a herd.