Day 2 | No Fireworks Here

Monday, Dec 31
Hanoi
Kilometers Traveled : 0


G-third and I spent New Year's Eve walking to and hanging out around Hoan Kiem Lake. We were anticipating some kind of local revelry in celebration of the new year. It seemed that there was going to be one since there was a constant stream of people and motorbikes going towards the lake. We thought, maybe there would be fireworks. Oh, fireworks would just be lovely when reflected on the lake. For a greater part of the evening we just sat on one of the benches, watching and waiting.

At around 30 minutes before midnight, we decided to take a stroll and see where the action would happen. In the middle of the plaza was a stage - it was empty, unlighted. But motorbikes had gathered around it and people were milling about, or standing facing the stage. We thought, ah, maybe this is where the countdown's happening. To our bemusement, at 15 minutes to midnight, policemen started to disperse the crowd. No countdown here.

We stayed rooted in our spot, watching and waiting. There were certainly lots of locals and tourists milling about, and definitely an air of festivity in the cold crisp night. An obviously tipsy French young woman beside us  was jabbering loudly to her companions. Soon, some local teenagers near our spot started counting down to midnight. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! There were greetings of "Happy New Year" all around. But alas, there were no fireworks, no dancing in the sreets, no tooting of horns, no singing of Auld Lang Syne. G and I turned to each other, smiled, said Happy New Year and shared a brief kiss.  We then walked back to our hotel. While the rest of Hanoi partied, we tucked ourselves in bed, set the alarm for a wake up call at 5:30 am. Tomorrow, we pedal out of the city.

 Happy New Year, Hanoi! Goodnight.

    

 Next : Day 3 | Hanoi - Son Tay - Thanh Son