Intangible Cultural Heritage and Presidential Retreats

On Friday, instead of going to work (where I continue to be lacking sufficient tasks to keep me busy) I went with the publishing house Hannah and Calah work for to Họi Lim, a festival celebrating a Quan Họ, a UNESCO recognized form oftraditional singing. It is even on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, although not an Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding--which is the actual term used by the UN for endangered traditions.

I can't even put into words the chaos that was this festival. Imagine being at a state fair, with a parade, games, booths, and thousands of people trying to cram through small gateways. Then imagine being one of the very few people of foreign origin at this fair. I have never heard the word, tây (westerner) so many times. And it was without inhibitions. People clearly didn't think we knew any Vietnamese words because they would stare right at us and yell to their friends, while pointing (or snapping pictures), tây! tây! Ridiculous. It was kind of an overwhelming festival. Although interesting to see. Well, correction, "see" is an inaccurate word--we could see/participate in very little. But it was a good experience none-the-less
.

Below is actual Quan Họ singing, although it doesn't have to be on a boat. This is just a special example:

Then on Saturday I went with some friends to Ba Vi, a national park just a hour and half outside of Hanoi. Turns out Ba Vi is where grand ole' Uncle Ho used to hide out during the war. I can't blame him, if I was a revolutionary military leader in the midst of a war I'd make that my hide-out too; I think it might be my new favorite place here! We spent the night at this guest house half way up the mountain where we were the only guests! It was a beautiful, crowd-free weekend to make up for my crowd-filled Friday. Although at Ho Chi Minh's pagoda, the reward for climbing up the stairs that lead to the top of the mountain, I heard my fair share of "tây!". And it does make one wonder, what do people do with all of their pictures of the random foreigners they saw. Is my smiling face adorning vacation slide shows all over Northern Vietnam? Or the background of someone's phone? Eh...who knows! All I know is that it was a fantastic weekend.