Silk Village scenes

Shoes and book bags outside an elementary school. Happy little boy. We were asked to enter a memorial to villagers killed in the war. I don't think this was trying to lay a guilt trip on us. As Buddhists, they honor the dead and wanted us too also. Outside the memorial were gorgeous Bonsai. I looked for fallen soldiers that would have been my age. They were easy to find as the dead were separated into the 3 wars, The Japanese War , The French War and the American War. This small village had paid a huge price for independence.

Wandering silk village

We walked around the village with our guide. On a wall by a park was Communist Party slogans urging the locals to work hard. The Party flag hung in the streets. We wandered into a beautiful Pagoda and met the gate keeper, a 71 year old man . He asked our guide where we were from. I asked her to ask him if he fought in the war. He had been in the Army and had walked to South Vietnam on the Ho Chi Min trail and fought the Americans. I asked if he disliked Americans. He said no, the war was long ago. He invited us to tea and gave us a gift of packaged food. Over cups of tea he said Vietnam had a new enemy, the bully up north: China. Beware of the growing power of the Chinese !! He shook my hand when we left,

Silk factory

Women did all the work, each tending several looms. The old wooden contraptions were loud. Coding cards dictated the silk pattern on each loom.

Silk Village

Our new guide showed up at our hotel at 9 am sharp, they are always on time. These guides are University students wanting to practice English. Their service is free, they even refuse tips. Today our guide was Trang, a junior majoring in Finance and Banking. She was wonderful. She took us to a village outside Hanoi specializing in silk production. The worms eat mulberry leaves, and the cocoons then grow on bamboo wall racks, When mature, the cocoons are soaked in hot water, then women draw the silk thread out of each cocoon by hand. The raw silk is dried then woven on antique wooden looms. The whole process hasn't changed for generations. The village was full of shops selling the factories silk.

Another Hanoi Tea House

The guides took he to another tea hour hidden down a long narrow ally. We climbed several sets of stairs before reaching a deck overlooking Hanoi, the building was really interesting

Warning : Dog lovers skip this post

We met our two university student guides today, they took Karen shopping for silver, I bought some Buddhas. I offered to buy them lunch and they asked what kind of food . I had read that Vietnamese consider dog a delicacy so I asked if I could try it . Bear in mind every culture has foods that other cultures find unacceptable ( pig, horse, snake etc ) Dog can only be eaten on certain days of the lunar calendar and today was ok. Off we went. Karen was not too happy about my dining choice but agreed to let me try it. The name of the restaurant was Dog Meat Restaurant ( pretty catchy ! ). As with any meat there are many cuts. I declined the baked paws but was served plain sliced, sausage , and ginger flavored. The plain was strong tasting, not unlike lamb. The sausage was greasy ( Eric would have liked it ). I preferred the ginger dish. They dipped each piece into fermented shrimp sauce ( which I didn't care for ) Side dishes were rice bread , sliced cucumber and scallions. We all drank beer. Karen didn't touch a thing and was silent during the meal. Postscript. : Dog gave me indigestion

Museum

Our guide took us to a Women's Museum that among other things glorified the heroic achievements of the Vietnamese women in what they call The American War. Photos of heroes and their equipment including packs, a blanket made from an American parachute , and other gear were prominently displayed. One photo shows an American POW. The soldiers were often 16-17 years old. At the end, our guide ushered us into a room full of photos. When I declined, he said we must view it. It was photographs of mothers who had lost their sons or daughters in our war.