Tet in the Red River Delta

This year I was to spend Tet with the family of my friend Lan. They live in the middle of the Red River Delta in an area called Nam Dich (scuse the spelling). The area is amazing, it has got to be the flattest place in Vietnam. You can clearly see this is the rice bowl of Northern Vietnam. Everywhere are rice paddies, acres of them uninterrupted all the way to the horizon. I was there in their winter. The paddies when I arrived were all flooded. The place looked like it had suffered a major flooding incident. At most times driving around you were surrounded by water. Only the towns and villages rose out of the water like sentinels in a sea. What is even more striking and anachronistic are the cathedrals and churches that pierce the horizon with their spires and towers. It boggles the mind to see so many in what is also a staunchly communist area. At one point when I was on the coast wall looking back over the paddy clad plane I counted 27 of these buildings as far as the eye can see. Most of them were built by the French in times gone by, but my friends and relatives assure me that they have regular Masses every day and that they are well attended each time. During the Tet week Lan and I visited the Cathedral that housed her school when she was a kid. It was her first time in a church. It was my first in Vietnam. It was quite impressive from a Catholic point of view. I have to declare several conflicts here, just to qualify... I am not a Catholic, in fact you would have to say that I am definitely non religious. More of a non believing atheist. Another conflict... Lan is a good communist. Her father is an even better communist being the party representative in his village. A position of authority, responsibility and very hard work for the community. The whole family has impeccable connections and are well regarded in their community. I was very grateful that Lan's Father was so patient with me asking very direct questions about things political. I was anxious to talk about rubbish and the way it is managed in Vietnam. He was very gracious and answered my questions about what was possible and what was not. We ended up at several impasses, in circumstances such as these that is all one can expect. He is a very gracious man and I have total respect for him and his family. Next door to us is his brother. Also a very nice warm and inviting man. He enjoyed plying me with rice wine starting from 9am in the morning.

The village is very small, no more than 20 houses all in a row beside a canal full of fish, ducks and rubbish. the streets are clean and well swept (daily), there are flowers on all the edges and little plots of herbs and small green plants. There is a table and bench covered by a concrete umbrella so that people can sit outside and chat with the neighbors. The street also has a PA system which starts at 5:30am and wakes everyone up with stirring music or talks from the local women's representative or the youth Rep. While I was there I was invited to be part of a local celebration for all those members of the community who were over 70. There were a whole pile of them, two were over 100! The ceremony was held in the Party Town Hall type thingy. Statues and pictures of Uncle Ho. Photos of party luminaries etc etc. All the oldies were herded onto the stage and various people including Lan's Dad got up and gave speeches. Then the Party Luminary got up and gave presents and certificates to each of the older ones. It went on for about and hour and a half and by the end of it the old ones and I were pretty tired. We were served tea and nibblies and then people began to drift away. It was an awesome demonstration of how healthy that community was. Everyone turned up with cousins and aunties and all the rest.

Tet lasts for at least a week and it consists of drinking and eating with all members of the family, near or far. Every time we visit someone it seems it is banquet time. All of a sudden people turn up from near  and far. Food is laid out in a long line on the floor and the family sits down to eat. There is a nominated person whose job it is to manage the "Hot Pot" a large pot kept hot by electricity. Meats and vegetables are placed in the pot and allowed to cook in the steam and boiling broth. There is  constant activity with food added and taken away from the pot and put in bowls for people to pick over with their chopsticks. There are other plates of food as well. Being Tet people eat an awful amount of meat. As well as that added to the Hot pot there are also pressed and preserved meats. There is pork rolls and chicken rolls, the meat pressed with spices and other greens. The whole thing is a dietary delight.  my only problem was that my stomach cannot take in a lot of food at once these days so I am only able to graze the feast. My hosts are concerned that I do not eat enough food so someone is always there trying to fill my bowl with morsels and tastes. I really enjoy Tet in Vietnam. This is my second experience and it is as good as the first. The festival is celebrated country wide and has an effect nationally. If you don't know a family or people you can spend Tet with it can be very difficult to be a tourist. The buses, trains, planes and any other transport is a. ll booked out, the hotels and restraunts are closed  It can be very difficult for the unsuspecting. With a Family it all changes. You are constantly surrounded by people and activity.

While we were in the area Lan, Ewan and I spent a day at the beach. First we went to an area that has the ruins of a cathedral right on the waters edge. We had drinks here and then moved to a beach where there were no tourists just the occasional fishing boat making its way to the shore. We had an absolutely lovely time here. I did a little fishing in the ocean... no luck! We were sitting under shade in a sort of beach cafe that was empty. at one stage a fishing boat returning has some fish which Lan quickly acquired. The lady in the cafe agreed to cook some for us and all of a sudden here is this huge meal laid down in front of us. The fish were fascinating, long and slim with a snake like head. When they were cooked they turned to a weird kind of jelly. This made the bones edible as they became soft and jelly like too. All in all the meal was delicious if not a little strange.

While we at the beach we watched a gaggle of boats come in. The whole thing looked a bit strange and turned out to be a bit of an emergency. One boat was clearly in trouble, in fact as we watched it sank. The whole gaggle turned into being a pandemonium. After the boats were finally brought in and all the flotsam cleared it was clear what had happened. One boat had crashed through the side of another basically breaking the boat in half! What got me was that the boat owner did not seem overly upset.

Another day after Ewan had gone back to Hanoi Lan and I went to a National Park right at the river mouth of the Red River. It was a maze of canals and mangrove swamps. We hired a boat to take us into the mangroves to spot birds and other wildlife. We went out into the River mouth and then back into the mangroves. I got out and wandered around a big sand island. It was very interesting to look at the ecosystem, to see the succession of plants etc. What struck me was the similarity in form these plants had with Aussie ones in the same system.

The coast in this area is spectacular. The inland is soo flat. Stopping the ocean coming in are huge coastal walls that are wide enough to drive on the top. the coastal plain is all rice paddies and fish farms. When you stand out the front of Lan

's house the unimpeded view is of rice paddies. I quizzed Lan about how they managed the rice. She told me that they have grown two crops of rice a year on all these paddies without a break for some 1000 years! Without a break! never leaving the land fallow! That is amazing. The nutrients must come with the flooding from the red river! It is incredible to see how fertile this place really is.

This area is not a traditional spot for tourists. All you will see is daily life. But for someone like me it was really fantastic. I shall treasure the memories of this place. I will be back.