Arnaud Zein El Din, the foreign traveler, told VietNamNet that as soon as he returned to France, he received messages from Vietnamese who said they wanted to send him a paper horse which he had wanted while traveling in Vietnam.

In early July, Arnaud Zein El Din, 44, an artist, architect and owner of a restaurant, who lives and works in France and Mexico, took a 3-week trip to Hanoi. 

Arnaud has a great passion for travel and learning about the culture of other nations. Vietnam is the 25th country he has visited.

During his days in Hanoi, he collected items from Vietnam, such as mu coi (soldier’s hat worn by Vietnamese People’s Army officers), dieu cay (farmer’s pipe), mat na (facial mask), choi (straw broom) chieu (sleeping mat), and a paper-made horse.

Paper horses, like other items made of paper, are votive objects which people burn on special occasions to offer to the gods or to deceased relatives.

Arnaud liked the paper horse because of the special design and patterns. On August 3, he went to the airport with the horse, planning to bring it with him to France. However, the airline refused to transport the horse because it was too large.

Son Dang, an architect, after hearing the story about the foreign traveler, came up with the idea of buying another paper-made horse and sending to the traveler as a gift by post. When Son contacted Arnaud, the man was surprised and said he would be happy to receive the present. The traveler provided his address in France, where he would stay for some days before leaving for Mexico.

Son shared the history on his personal page on social media and called on people to implement the plan with him. After four days, netizens donated VND1.8 million. This amount of money, plus VND2.2 million from Son, was enough to buy a horse and pay the transport fee.

“It is expected that the foreign traveler will receive the horse in a few days,” Son said, adding that he is happy as his idea has been applauded by other people. This shows the traditional hospitality of Vietnamese people.

It was more difficult than he had imagined to buy the horse similar to the one bought by the foreign traveler. On Hang Ma street, where votive objects are sold, a horse was found but it was not beautiful enough.

He also went to the production workshops in Bac Ninh province and Thuong Tin district. There were many horses from which to choose. However, he realized that Arnaud was in France, and if he flew to Mexico in some days, a big horse may be refused again.

Finally, he decided to buy a horse which was smaller, but beautiful. The product was priced at VND80,000.

“I've been to the Oaxaca region of Mexico. Visitors there can easily come across colorful mascots, hand-made, which are hung on balconies or placed in front of houses, on squares on festive occasions. The hand-made beasts are created from the human imagination, so they are quite different from each other and are very lively. This is a very interesting Mexican handicraft called a pinata,” Son said.

“Pinatas all have large sizes, but for some, I could not bring them to Vietnam. I just could keep some Alebrijes, very small and lovely, which can be put in my briefcase,” he explained.

Recalling the trip to Mexico, the Vietnamese architect could understand the foreign traveler’s wish to have the paper horse. This prompted him and his friends to spend money and time to hunt for the horse to send as a gift.

Arnaud said he was so moved when hearing that people from Vietnam would send the paper horse to him as a present. “Vietnamese people are hospitable,” he said.

Linh Trang