Christmas Eve: A skinny Vietnamese Santa positioned strategically in front of a giant Heineken "snowglobe" in the city center informs me that, in order to take a picture with him, I must give him 10,000 VND. I offer a polite shake of the head and a hell no.
Thirty minutes later, the Vietnam soccer team beats Thailand, their archrival, in a South East Asian championship tournament. The game was held in Thailand, and was the first time in years that the Vietnamese bested Thailand in sports. Everyone in Ho Chi Minh City proceeded to honk their horns, wave their Vietnamese flags, and generally wild the fuck out for the next 4 hours.
Including this man in a Santa hat.
Including this man in a Santa hat.
All of this merriment brough traffic to a standstill for two hours. Not even ambulances could plow their way though.
After two hours of furiously snapping photos of every drunk and merry fool on a motorbike, my friend Jeff and I parted ways and I trudged a mile back to my apartment in the neighboring district. The next morning...
...was met with an absurdly abundant Christmas buffet, chock full of cheese, proscuitto, and lots and lots of alcohol. Four hours of gastronomic perserverance were followed by the kind of comatose state only pure, unrepentant gluttony can induce.
It was magical.
It was magical.
full Christmas photo set available here
No comments:
Post a Comment