Living Heritage. Village cycle tour – meet the áo dài tailor, rice miller and rice wine maker

AS OF 3 AUGUST MORNING 6 SPACES ARE AVAILALBE

Our friend Ngọc, who devised the tofu tours, has created a lovely afternoon filled with number of fun and engaging activities in her village, Xuân Canh village, Đông Anh. Meet a variety of artisans – her village neighbours – as part of a new FVH section called ‘Living Heritage’. The whole experience is expected to take 3 to 3.5 hours.

After a short afternoon ferry crossing across the Đuống river to Đông Anh on the other side we share taxis to Ngọc’s village where we collect our cycles – our main mode of transport around the village and rice fields.

The idea for this event grew out of the tofu tours to give more time in the village and meet some of the locals in their homes, which serve as their place of work/local employment.

The duration for each meeting depends on us and what’s going in the particular family’s working schedule at the time.

THE PLAN

Meet the áo dài tailor. We focus on her own family’s story including how her father learnt the tailoring profession as a young boy in the 1950s, how she started helping her parents in the 1970s, and how she continues the family craft today. The meeting includes learning how measurements are taken for a custom-made áo dài, we can try a few simple hand-stitching techniques, compare hand-finished and machine-finished work, and get the idea of how an áo dài is made from start to finish.  (NB if you wish you may also bring an áo dài for alterations or order a new one made – an optional extra personal cost – or take the tailor’s details and come back another day).

Meet the rice miller. Every season tells a different story and one rarely stops to think about what the processes are before the rice reaches our table – depending on the season and what’s going in in the fields we can see discover more about the rice growing industry. Local rice farmers often bring their rice to the local guy in the village who has a milling machine, which he hires out to mill and sift the rice. We have a chance to see how the machine works (NB the room will be dusty with a dry smell of rice so you may want to wear a mask for this part).

Meet the rice wine making family.  Let’s see how ‘happy water’ is made by one of the local home wine making families. And a chance to sample some wine.

Sharing a meal at home. We end the afternoon with a simple and delicious home cooked meal – food from the local market and hand-picked vegetables and herbs depending on the season.

NOTE

Numbers – 10 to max 12 people

Duration – 3 to 3.5 hours

Price pp – VND 400,000 (free for children under 10 years old). This includes – 1 way short ferry ride; donations to the áo dài tailor, the rice miller and wine making family,; bike hire and late afternoon meal. Excludes personal expenses such as tailoring costs, if you want to buy products from any of the artisans, shared taxi ride from getting off the ferry to the village and your return to Hanoi.

When RSVPing please state if you already have a cycle and plan to bring it, and if you are vegetarian or have any food allergies. If you plan to sign up for a child please note the bikes are adult size of various different types and many not be suitable for a small child to ride. Please include you mobile number

Please RSVP – to  Ngoc at bamboolife2@gmail.com

The welcome email will be sent a few days before with exact meeting point. NB  this event could be subject to the weather so we ask for your flexiblity and patience depending on what the weather decides to do.

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