the lazy travel writer

This was the last place I expected to be overwhelmed by atmosphere on a western religious holiday.

Crowds had started to gather in the square in front of St Josephs cathedral in the old quarter from around 5pm. Strangely enough the gates around the cathedral were securely bolted. We found out later that the church was probably all locked up for good reason as thousands of people descended on the area to view the lights, nativity scenes and Christmas carols that were being shown on a couple of big screens. By 9pm the whole area and surrounding streets were jammed packed with people and motorbikes. Occasionally a car would struggle through the festive crowd.

Children dressed in santa suits and hats posed for photos in front of nativity scenes, families crawled around on motor bikes to gaze at the lights, a group of young Vietnamese were giving out free hugs and I guess in true western Christmas spirit, beer maker Heiniken had some scantily dressed Christmas girls cruising the streets in VW convertibles. The Christmas carols being played were as random as the sight of so many children in santa suits – Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colours” was played more than once.

The festivities though were not confined to the area surrounding the cathedral as we made our way back to Hoan Kiem lake we found the entire road west of the lake was literally a vibrant sea of motorbikes, dotted with the occasional car and huge bunch of balloons, inching their way along the street at a snails pace.

An amazing evening that will certainly stay firmly planted in my memory for quite some time to come.