After a terrible night’s sleep, a day with a lot of sitting sounded good. The Duong Lam Ancient Village tour was leaving right then so I got in on that.
It was a typical bus tour with the obligatory stops at tourist shops, but otherwise was good. It got me out into the countryside; lots of water buffalos standing in fields.
The trip included waters and lunch, so I just rode along and enjoyed not having to decide anything.
At lunch, the ever-present Trump conversation was had. I kept trying to change the subject, but these folks really had questions to ask of an American. The other people on the tour were Singaporeans.
The tour ended and I had a forgettable bowl of pho for dinner. A pleasant walk around the neighborhood found me at the cathedral again. This time it was open, and some kind of music recital was happening. That was neat. On the way back to the hostel, the weekly night market was getting started.
I also found the party neighborhood. If I was 21, it would have been heaven. As it was, the only titillating discovery was the 24-hour nacho stand. That’s where I’m at these days lol.
Come to think about it, I actually walked a lot today.
Here’s todays pictures…
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of control on the quality of installation of the cable industry. This was the most controlled one I sawFirst stop was the Silk Village.They do it at this place the oooooolllllld fashioned wayPunch cards!This machine was cool.
In Hanoi and otherwise I guess, all the shops are grouped together. Over 1000 silk shops are in this villageIf it’s a village, the village temple has the same name. The silk village temple
Our first choice pagoda was closed for renovations, so this was the one we went to. It was way out in the country, and let’s just say that the locals were surprised to see an American. This banyan tree is about 920 years old.Vietnamese Buddhism sure is different from what I’ve seen before. The temples and structures are very humble and often in very poor repair.
This one just around the corner is in much better shapeNow we’re in the ancient village. It’s pretty old, but the important structures are all the old wooden housesSo all those white chips are drying radish slices. Just laying on the filthy filthy groundThe villagers are farmers, so this is an altar to a god of agricultureJust as soon as I learn this language…I’ll know what this saysThe original? city gate. It’s over 500 years oldApparently the climate is hell on wooden structures. The government has actively started conservation.
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Here we are at the first of 3 original wooden houses from chinese times. those pots are used to make soy sauce, and rice wine.
The people who live here now are only the second family to live here since the 1500’s
Here’s the courtyard and house of the 2nd house. They turned the compound into a restaurant.Lunch was good. Pork meatballs, vegetables, spring rolls, rice, and chickenThe interior construction. Looks cold in winter, if such a thing exists here
Its tough to see, but these are clusters of graves, tombs specifically. When they get so old nobody remembers who’s buried there, the remains are dug up and reburied somewhere else so the land can be used to farmLots of communist monuments like thisNow we’re in a neighborhood of temple furniture builders. The guy in the background was carving wood with a chainsaw, in flip-flops.I saw a lot of putty being usedThis is the temple used by the market sellers. It’s closed bc the market is closedThis is the temple for the furniture makers.The furniture makers in the sun dong neighborhood must be doing ok. They were making neighborhood improvements, and everyone we saw was pretty cheerfulSome new bits on this gateOur last stop was another shop, this one selling lacquer ware. These are eggshells. duck only, pleaseThis guy was in laying mother-of-pearlThink of the tennis elbow. The polishing is done manuallySome of the intermediate steps in the production process
Travels with Froggy and Other Stuff 