Happy holiday, or impending disaster?

by David Stout

For foreigners living in Viet Nam there are a few questions that are synonymous with Tet. The first is: "Where are you going?" which is then usually followed by "When are you going to leave?" Both of these questions are equally important and just as telling. The first question implies the necessity to spend time in a country that won't be shutting down and the second suggests that there is an immediacy and strategy that must be taken into consideration with the planning process.

OK, travelling during a break is nothing new in any country, but making plans for a holiday during Tet is another endeavour. More important, for newly arrived foreigners is learning how to cope with the pandemonium that accompanies the weeks and days before Tet.

While the holiday is meant to be a time for people to relax, return to their hometown, and spend time with family; the run-up to Tet is more similar to a scene from one of Roland Emmerich's apocalyptic films. The crowded streets are even more swollen with traffic and you're constantly told that it will only get worse. People are both excited and restless during this period; expect longer waits and bigger lines/mobs.

Theft is more common during this time, so make sure to lock up your motorbike and keep a closer eye on your belongings for the next few days. Often tempers run high during this time of the year due to increased frustration caused by municipal anarchy, stretched finances and the idea of having to spend three whole days cooped up in a house with your extended family in some god-forsaken province. Consequently, street altercations are on the rise!

For walkers, rogue drivers, who refuse to be slowed down by congested lanes, increasingly appropriate the sidewalks as an extra lane. For people who drive motorbikes, learning how to dodge giant peach blossom branches and kumquat trees strapped to the back of motorbikes becomes a necessary skill for survival. Then there is the ominous warning that is constantly reiterated again and again before Tet:

"Leave the town early or it's a nightmare trying to get out."

"You think it's bad now! Just wait till the weekend and it will be ten times worse."

Therefore, make sure you're strategic in your exit from a big city. If you fail to plan, then you might risk missing a flight or other arranged transportation because you are caught up in the colossal evacuation that occurs before the beginning of the holiday (if you haven't booked a ticket on a train, bus or plane yet, then immediately begin stockpiling instant noodles).

But besides the increasing entropy on the roads, there are also the price hikes, which are the antithesis of the sale prices that accompany holidays in western countries that induce their own unique brand of chaos.

"I went to buy some tangerines the other day and I asked the woman how much for a kilo and she replied 'VND25,000' and I said that's too expensive and she looked at me and just said ‘Tet!'" says Matt Hunter, who is spending his first Lunar New Year in Viet Nam.

But food isn't the only item that is affected by the holiday frenzy; basic commodities and alcohol are also subject to inflation during this period.

"Little grocery stores are filled to the brim with boxes of candies and nuts, but are out of some necessities, like tampons. I asked when they would get more tampons, but the woman shrugged and said ‘I don't know because it's Tet!'" says Julia Plevin, who lives in Ha Noi.

While there has been no official evidence to prove that there are any massive shortages in the country at the moment, shops and vendors continually take advantage of the high demand during this time.

"Prices surely go up before Tet. The prices increase day by day and little by little, and I doubt that they will go down next month," says shopowner Duong Hong Hanh, who has surrounded her shop with a barricade constructed out of Bia Ha Noi boxes that help keep the customers at bay. "I myself don't really care about it. I only care for my business and I'm really happy with the sales now."

But for sound advice on how to handle price hikes, the solution is simple: "You can eat less," says Vu Thi Nhung, a local fruit vendor. "Say, you normally eat 10 portions, so for Tet, you should eat only seven. It's the same every year. You've got to learn how to live with the price hikes, traffic jams and so on."

My final piece of advice to foreigners who have failed to make plans during the Tet holiday is to find a Vietnamese family to celebrate the New Year with. If not you might find yourself alone, eating overpriced biscuits or snacks for four days straight. — VNS