Dancing in the street.
When we arrived at our hotel in Hanoi we asked if anything would be happening for New Year’s. A very friendly and helpful staff member (Martin was awesome) explained that since the Vietnamese celebrate Tet new year, nothing much would be happening this night.
We decided to head out anyways and I’m glad we did! A stage had been set up near the lake and a crowd of people had gathered to listen to traditional Vietnamese music. It was a little weird to see so many people standing still and expressionless while watching the performance.
Later on a hip hop performer and DJ came out to perform top 40 hits and that’s when the crowd got moving. For awhile I kept trying to figure out if the performer was someone famous. But then Mike pointed out he didn’t know how to use a microphone or the lyrics to many of the songs… so I’m guessing he was an amateur of sorts. (Although I did see Timbaland that one time and he wasn’t very good either.)
We counted down to midnight and fireworks exploded off the stage. It was so fun to be out in the streets dancing and wishing everyone “Happy New Year!” Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay out too much later because our flight was leaving very early the next morning.
And with the exception of novelty snacks and a few videos coming later, that’s the end of Vietnam blogging! Finally.
xo, jill
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