Blue Heart Journey: Hanoi Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Liberation

On Friday, October 10, Hanoi celebrated 60 years of liberation from France. It was a wonderful day to be in the city. Many of the major streets were decorated with beautiful arrangements of flowers, colorful lights, red lanterns, and flags hanging from most stores. That night Douglas and I met up with friends at Hoan Kiem Lake to share in the celebration, while taking photographs of the many decorations.

Hoan Kiem Lake is a ten minute walk from our residence. Most of the streets going into and around the lake suspended regular vehicular traffic and were open to pedestrians only. The normalcy of walking around without battling motorbikes swerving around us was absolutely refreshing. If only every day in Hanoi could feel like that evening. Although there were numerous people already outside near the lake by 7:30 PM, there was still plenty of space to walk in and along the sides of the road.

At 8:00 pm a show began in front of the Hanoi Opera House. There were dancers and singers showcasing their talents on the main stage out front. Fireworks were scheduled at the lake at 9:00 PM, though at the time we did not know the specific start time. About 8:40 PM we left the Opera House and began heading towards the lake. Everything was normal until five minutes into our stroll as we found ourselves taking less and less steps. The entire area that just a few minutes ago was open to comfortably walk through, was now jam-packed with people. It was pure walking gridlock. Our calm evening outing turned into a desperate battle to find somewhere to stand. The four of us squeezed and often shoved our way through the massive horde of people, attempting to locate some semblance of an open space. To make matters worse, the streets and sidewalks were drowning with Hanoians standing and sitting down everywhere! This was a first for me. I’ve been to venues with masses of people and a hectic crowd, but never have I seen people sit down in the middle of the streets leaving absolutely no walking path. There was no order to this at all! Sweat was dripping from Douglas and me as we trudged through, over, and on the people. I am sure there are several people we accidentally stepped on in the process. There was no type of system present to maintain organization in the streets. It was complete chaos. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, we finally found an open space and stopped there. All of us wondered why that space was empty while every other area was impassable. It didn’t take me long to let go of my curiosity and simply enjoy being able to breathe again.

The fireworks started promptly at 9:00 pm. It was then we realized why our space was devoid of other people. There was a huge tree in front of us that blocked the bulk of the large display of fireworks. So much for a great view. The show lasted about 15 minutes and we all enjoyed it, despite our substandard view. Afterwards, everyone calmly cleared from the space in a surprisingly orderly fashion. It was actually quite impressive to see how quickly everyone cleared the scene. Despite the massive crowd, it was a great experience…one I have no desire to go through again. : )

Lighted orchids lined the streets around Hanoi.

Your favorite balloon animal character is just a pole away!

Rarely will you ever find two Americans on one cyclo, but here we have FIVE Hanoians in one! Oh, the perks of being small. :)

Area around Hoan Kiem Lake at 7:30 PM.

Nice open space around Hoan Kiem Lake around the same time.

The Hanoi Opera House. It is actually an off-white color, but it was lit up to many different colors throughout the night.

Performance in front of Hanoi Opera House

The man in black sang of the famous former Vietnamese leader and president Ho Chi Minh while the choir sang along and dancers performed all around.

Trang Tien Plaza (luxury shopping mall near the lake)

They probably had one of the best views for the fireworks.

Notice the man in the background taking a picture of me having my picture taken. It never gets old!

So this is the same area as the pictures above, but now it's about 8:45 PM and absolutely packed!

In case anyone thought I may have been exaggerating with my words, my pictures are proof. It was pure madness.

I wish someone were carrying me in their arms that night. We had to walk in between and over all those people sitting on the street.

The things we do for an experience....

The downside of our open space we found among the horde of people...obstructed view of the fireworks...at least we could breathe and move our arms freely!