This is a time in Vietnam that has great meaning tothe Buddhist population and one of the markers is Tat Nien a feast involving the whole family. Literally Tat Nien means All Ages but its more than that. I have been told it marks the end of one year and the beginning of a new one although the Tet celebration means that as well. The family have been busy cleaning and I mean cleaning everything, chairs, tables, walls, the yard, the shop and the rooms. It's very important to them to start a new year with everything pure. There have also been many visits to the pagoda praying and leaving offerings. Every road you drive down you see people out painting their front fence or sweeping in front of the house. The town is getting quieter now as the people go back to their ancestral homes to visit parents and pay homage at ancestors graves. After the American War there were 1000s of bodies not recovered and the families are still searching for them, the Americans made a big fuss about their MIAs but the Vietnamese missing far outnumbered them.
Any cemetery contains 100s of graves simply labelled Liet Si, Martyrs. They outnumber the marked graves 100 to 1.
Today I had a strange experience. I was sitting outside My Les shop, as I do, and a guy hopped off a bike and walked up to me holding out a mobile phone.I looked and saw Montreal Johnny on a video call, he is my old friend from years back who I travelled with from Saigon to Hanoi and by train to Hue and Da Nang and then Hoi An. He had guided his friend Andre to the shop to surprise me and it sure did. Andre turned out to be a nice guy, most Canadians are, and we chatted and he filled me in on Montreal Johnnys life back home. They were travelling together but Johnny took sick in Thailand and had to go home early, very dissapointing for him and me as I knew he was coming over here.
Had a great chat with Andre and I found out that despite Canada not being involved in the war 100 Canadians died here. Apparently they went to the US and joined the Army only to die far from home. I will meet Andre again I hope and we'll go to dinner with Hai.
dennys
2018-02-09
interesting as usual. good photos.....can't wait to enjoy Tet time once more. SandB xx
woodytel
2018-02-11
Hey Les, the photos seem a lot sharper - are you using a new phone/camera? Also, are you planning to retire to Hoi An someday soon?
enos
2018-02-12
Yes I have a new cam, a Panasonic Lumix DMC LX5, its fully manual or fully auto. Being lazy I just use it on auto with some spotty results. Some of the pics I take with an Oppo R9 phone which has a reasonable camera. Its an iphone look alike but Android and much much cheaper. Very popular phone over here. As far as moving here goes, I doubt it as I am well established in a Ladies Benevolent Society flat now with cheap rent and gauranteed (?) tenure. Plus I would miss my kids and grandkids.