From Christmas in Vietnam 2007

A word of wisdom from the wise: if you’re planning to head downtown on Christmas Eve in Hanoi, leave yourself lots of time.

Despite the fact that Vietnam is predominantly Buddhist (if only nominally), with Catholics comprising around 10% of the population, I have never before seen Christmas revelry on the scale I witnessed in Hanoi. I suspect much of this can be chalked up to the climate. After all, a street party is much more appealing at 20 degrees above zero than at 20 degrees below. Culturally, it also makes sense that if you’re not at home reading from the Gospels and exchanging gifts, you might be looking for something to do when a third of the world’s population is celebrating a holiday.

And so the young people of Hanoi head downtown. I was there myself because the two Protestant English-language churches in town were holding a joint Christmas Eve service in the ballroom of the Hilton. (Somebody was heard to observe that if Jesus was born in a filthy stable, wasn’t celebrating Christmas at the Hilton somewhat incongruous?)

To get out of the downtown area following the big production, we made the mistake of passing the most famous ice cream joint in town, which was filled to overflowing, bringing traffic on the road outside to a halt. Taxis couldn’t be had, with taxi companies hanging up on callers trying to arrange a ride. Our evening was a mess of cell phone calls, constantly evolving plans, flat tires and traffic, but it was a good evening all in all.

I leave for Thailand on Saturday, where it is currently 34 degrees Celsius. Compared to the damp 15 degree weather we are having here in Hanoi, the warmth should be a welcome change. There is no indoor heat in Hanoi, so to understand why I am complaining about such moderate temperatures, try setting your thermostat at 15 degrees for a week, spending hours at a time typing at a keyboard. I suspect you’ll empathize shortly.