Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Happy Tet part II
On the first day of Tet, Tracy and I joined thousands of Vietnamese in visiting temples. We walked first to a temple near the Ha Noi zoo that included a shrine honoring people killed in the war. We then took a long walk through almost deserted streets to Quan Thanh Pagoda at West Lake. Turning the corner, we went from an empty area to West Lake, which was throbbing with life and people. The pagoda was flooded with people lighting incense and burning fake money to appease their ancestors. Most of the money is US dollars!
We had a coffee at a nice cafe across from the lake and went home to fill up on the Banh Chung that Huy's mother had given us. That night a swirl of fireworks filled the air.
