Happy New Years! Tet Festival 2007

Rach at the King Tu Duc Tombs
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After a long day of exploring the DMZ, we drove 100 kilometers south to Hue. Friday, Feb. 15th was the eve of the new year! Tet is the largest celebrated holiday in Vietnam. It lasts for three days. The first day is spent with family. On this day, the tombs of ancient ancestors are visited and prayed over. Doing so brings good luck in the coming year. The second day is reserved for friends, and the last day is straight up partying. We met up with some friends we made in Halong Bay. The streets were filled with hyper children, popcorn carts, and conversing adults. There was a carnival type set up too! At midnight, fireworks lit up the sky. Happy New Year again!!!

This is the tomb of an Emperess!
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Luckily for us, all the Royal tombs are free on New Years Day. (Come on now, people shouldn't have to pay to visit with the ancestors now should they?) There are a few options by which means to explore the city. Tour bus, foot, boat, or motorbike. Rach and I decided to get to personal motorbike drivers for the day! Only $6. They were great! We got to start the day at whatever time we pleased. So at 10 am we went exploring. We visited various tombs around the city. I found them interesting, not only for their age, but because of the atmosphere. Green landscape and the river made these places perfect for reading. Rach and I just wanted to bust out a picnic and read. A visit to one of the temples was interesting because the monks were chanting in celebration of the new year. One lady dragged Rach to the front and showed her how to bow over and over in prayer. Haha, and here i thought she was Jewish? ;)  It was great! Apparently we'll have good luck now. Not sure how much better my luck could get these days!

Tet is the largest celebrated holiday in Vietnam.

Ancient man: Rachel's size.
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We asked our guides to take us up into the hills for a bit too. Oh what a view. Uggh I can't get over how beautiful it is here. No matter how many gorgeous landscapes I see around the world, I'm still blown away.  Our final stop of the day was the Imperial Citadel. It used to be the place where the Nguyen Dynasty ran its government and court duties from. The Chinese influence in Vietnam is insane. I suppose they did rule over the land for quite some time in the past.

Ancient horse: my size. (Thats for the Cheryl's who I knew would laugh)
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I liked Hue. It was a nice little city. Drivers don't have as big of a death wish and even better they don't have as big of a death wish for us pedestrians!! I enjoyed celebrating with the locals and just enjoying life. Huda beer is tasty too! (For the record, I make it a point to try the local beverage of most places I go too...in small quantities of course...even though beer is like 60 cents) As much as I enjoyed the area, it was really hot (and its only spring). I'm definitely ready to head to the beach for a bit! Well thats all for now!