Our host for lunch invited us in his 400 year old home, the 55 year old man said he was the 12 th generation to live there. The house is largely untouched and original with the exception of electricity .
They served us a huge meal , I had pork and chicken with stir fried coleslaw, steamed sprouted mung beans, and rice. He served us his own rice wine. The man was anxious to chat with us through our interpreter and guide. He rarely saw an American . He told us this village had a POW camp in it during the war housing American pilots. He said the villagers still spoke of the giant Americans toiling in their rice paddies. We both agreed it was good that we now come in peace as tourists. He shook my hand when we left.
In the afternoon we stopped by another antique home. Great grandma
( 92 ) served us green tea in small bowls with no handles. She kept her tea warm in an insulted basket ( I'd seen these baskets in Hanoi shops ) Great grandma's daughter chatted with us, ( through an interpreter ), she was my age. People seem very interested in us as Amaricans.
Both houses had low buildings surrounding inner courtyards. One had a building on one side of the court yard clearly of French influence . As a colonial power, France controlled Vietnam for over 100 years till the Vietnamese thru them out in 1954. This village has a French Catholic Church, now padlocked, like all churches in this godless,communist country.
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