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Village Discovery
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Head out of the city to explore the surrounding villages and learn about the crafts and trades that are their livelihoods including wood carving, ceramics and furniture making.-
Visit to local handicraft villages surrounding Hanoi
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Visit to Do Temple
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Traditional Lunch
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English speaking guide
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Hotel pick-up and drop-off from centrally located Hanoi hotels
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Air-conditioned transportation
Your journey begins with a 1 hour drive from the hectic capital of Hanoi to Bat Trang ceramic village. Here your local guide will take you through the production process in the village and there is the chance to visit the workshops and have a look at the kilns used for firing the ceramic pottery. Continuing we visit the community house of Dinh Bang (approximately 45 minutes). Traditionally all villages in Vietnam had a ‘community house’ in the centre of the village, it was where all decisions regarding the village were made, it connected everyone to the village and was the core of Vietnamese culture. With few "communal houses" remaining in Vietnam today, the Dinh Bang communal house provides you with an interesting insight into Vietnam's past. Not far from the communal house lives a family who make lacquer ware. Your guide will assist you in learning more about the process and translate for those of us who may have questions for the family.
Continue to Do Temple. Do Temple or Den Do Temple honours the 8 Ly emperors of the Ly Dynasty. During their reign Vietnam experienced an era of prosperity and independence. The first emperor of the dynasty Ly Cong Uan founded Hanoi in 1010. Other achievements during this enlightened period included the construction of the Temple of Literature and first University in Vietnam. The temple was built in 1030 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong to worship his father Emperor Ly Thai To who died in 1028. Over the centuries the temple has been upgraded and restored on a number of occasions. Unfortunately the temple was damaged in 1952 during the French war and was restored in 1989 to the original architecture from the 17th century. In the middle of a lake situated at the front of the temple there is a two story, eight roofed house which floats on water and is used as a stage for water puppet shows.
Continue to the small township of Tu Son for lunch. The restaurant has simple dishes for you to choose and is all genuine local food. Following lunch you visit the village of Dong Ky, a traditional wood carving village. Your journey there takes you through a beautiful rural setting of rice paddies with plenty of photo opportunities along the route. You will be dropped at the beginning of the village for your visit, your local guide will take you through the village to meet the people, learn about their craft and lifestyles.
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- Additional refreshments
- Gratuities
Casual. Dress according to the weather for that day.
To ensure a real life experience, the group sizes are limited to 12 passengers.
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