As we cruised towards Ninh Giang we could see the boat landing was crowded. There was no way we were going to land there.
Streams of people were crowding onto the ferry. Some carried flags and banners, all were wearing colourful costumes. We had arrived on the day of the local village festival. Wonderful timing.
About 35% of the North Vietnamese population is Buddhist. Most of the rest have no religion although you can find Catholic, Hindu, Moslem and a weird new religion called Caodai, founded in Vietnam in 1926. It has a large eye as its symbol.
But when it’s time for the festival everyone can join in.
The festivals usually take place in spring with people praying for good weather, good crops and good health.
In this case a Buddhist monk was on board the ferry as it moved into midstream and he cast offerings into the water to make it holy. Villagers would then take the holy water to wash the statue of Buddha in the local temple and they also took bottles of it home. Our guide, Tuan, says they drink this for good health but having seen the colour of the Nam Dinh river hereabouts I’d be dubious about that.
We managed to clamber ashore just a few metres down the river bank from the landing place and were in amongst the rest of the festival parade. Fabulous.
