Celebrating Tet in the Mekong

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Feb. 13 -- There is an electricity in the air here, an excitement that seems to light up the entire Mekong Delta.

These are the days leading up to Tet, the celebration of the Lunar New Year. The next year will be the year of the Tiger, and I am here photographing the activities leading up to the holiday and the traditions that come with turning the calendar to the New Year. It's part of my ongoing photo project on Vietnam, one that I started with my first shooting trip here five years ago.

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) was a frenzy of activity this morning, as residents did their final shopping, scooping up fish, rice and flowers from the local markets. All this shopping wound-up by noon as residents piled their purchases on their motorbikes and headed home for an evening of eating, drinking and celebrating. Some will go to a temple to pray. Others are looking forward to some gaming and fireworks.

My week started in the flower plantations east of Ho Chi Minh City with my Vietnamese photographer friend Long Ly. We were generously welcomed onto the plantation by the ever-friendly Vietnamese farm hands, inviting us to photograph them carrying bushes of bright yellow, orange and red flowers to nearby trucks. The trucks distribute the flowers throughout the delta.

I was so excited to begin photographing that I left my hat in the car and failed to cover myself with sunscreen. The sun was hotter than a steaming slice of Saturday night sin. And now, I have pinky sunburn and peeling skin to show for it. But I am also getting some great images.

From the plantation, we head further east to Can Tho. From this Mekong commercial center, we photographed about four floating markets, as well as a group of fishermen working their nets in the low-tide surf on the southern tip of the delta near a town called Bac Lieu.

The markets, which typically get started at sunrise, are particularly colorful in advance of Tet. Farmers bring their red, green and yellow produce to the markets and sell boat-to-boat to local wholesalers. The markets are especially busy and the yellow flowers and blooming bonzai trees provide an additional splash of color.

At each market, we find our way along the shoreline, often skirting across bamboo and wood bridges that tenuously connect waterfront shanty. Local residents are usually welcoming, allowing us to use their back porches as a perch to photograph the action. This provides an additional level of interest, as families go about their daily chores, cleaning vegetables, cooking and sewing.

Long is always a pleasure to work with. He knows exactly where to find these special locations and how to talk our way into advantageous shooting positions. He also is a great photographer, and I find that his presence and hard work keep me from getting lazy and push me to do my best work.

During part of our time, Long has invited some photographer friends of his own to join us. These shooters are a mix of professional and amateur and live in Ho Chi Minh City and in the Mekong. I am at first a little taken aback, as I am working on a book and do not want to share my vantage point with others. But the truth is that the Mekong's floating markets are vast, no one has a monopoly here and it is up to an individual photographer to develop a unique point of view.

I am reminded the universe is abundant, and that by being generous I will be rewarded. And indeed, I am. Long's invitation to his friends is itself an act of generosity and they embrace me as one of the group. I am given a front-row seat to see some of the celebrations and observances of friends and families during Tet. And, one of the professional photographers takes us to the shore where we have a unique opportunity to photograph the group of fishermen casting their nets into the setting sun.

After an afternoon of photographing the fishermen, one of the local photographers takes us to a restaurant that I am told is famous for its cooked rat. I feel like fate has finally caught up with me. I sense that maybe the group has some sort of initiation in mind for the western visitor. I am assured that these rats are not like the big, dirty city critters that feast on rotting waste. These are rice field rats and have been treated to a clean diet of fresh rice, making them desirable for consumption.

Food soon begins arriving at the table. There are fried frogs legs, eel in a green vegetable that looks like spinach or kale and a vegetable soup. Where is the rat, I ask. Oh, one of the photographers who speaks English explains, the waiter said they are out of rat tonight.

What a pity.

The next morning, we photograph another floating market in Soc Trang, which is Long's hometown. After a morning of shooting, the other photographers head home and Long takes me to his uncle's home. It is on a rural plot of land and looks a little like a small plantation. There are two very large fish ponds and a variety of trees, some bearing fresh fruit.

As is the custom in the Mekong, the grave sites of deceased family members are in the backyard. While sharing some fruit with Long's three uncles -- two are visiting from the United States -- he explains that one of the Tet customs is for family to gather around the grave sites, light incense, place offerings of fruit and pray.

We move to the backyard and Long lights some incense and places it at the headstones of his father and mother. Outside a neighbor's home, I can see family members congregating around headstones in their backyard, too. As I watch Long, I am suddenly reminded of my grandmother's tears the first Christmas after my grandfather died. It seemed at this moment that the Vietnamese have a better way for recognizing this grief, as their ritual is intended to include past family in the celebration of life and to ask the deceased to bring them good luck during the next year.

After some time at the graves, we all move to a covered outdoor patio and assemble around a big table for dinner.

There is fried sticky rice, dried fish and turtle roasted in clay pots. There also is lots of Heineken beer poured over large chunks of ice in mugs. One of Long's uncles presides at the head of the table, leading round after round of frequent toasts that are made throughout the dinner.

At the end of the evening, Long and I head back to Can Tho. We want to get an early start the next morning so that Long can make the 10-hour journey back to his home in DaLat in time to celebrate the New Year with his own family.

These customs may seem very different from our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year celebrations in the West. But they actually are all based in some common humanity. All seem to be based around love for family and friends, hope for the future and expressions of faith. They are rituals and celebrations that remind of us the important things in life and that in the end we are more alike than we are different.