1 day excursion – Hồ Chí Minh Trail Museum & Mrs Thuan (Lotus silk Artisan) – POSTPONED DUE TO COVID 19

THE VILLAGE AUTHORITIES HAVE ASKED US TO POSTPONE OUR VISIT DUE TO COVID 19 CONCERNS.  THIS EVENT WILL BE REARRANGED

A 2 part excursion – morning visit to the Hồ Chí Minh Trail Museum and the afternoon we visit Phùng Xá commune,  Mỹ Đức on the outskirts of Hanoi to meet a wonderful artisan, Mrs Thuan. She specialises in making 2 types of silk from the lotus flower as well as traditional silk from silk worms. Visit her huge lotus pond and her special way of breeding silk worms.

The Hồ Chí Minh Trail Museum, the so-called Trường Sơn’s miniature in Hanoi. In last year’s visit, we received an emotional sharing from a participant. She was extremely impressed with the amazing sacrifice and sheer will of the Trường Sơn soldiers in creating and protecting this legendary supply route.  Trường Sơn route was already more than ten times longer than the 1,650km length of Vietnam.

The museum is on the way to Mrs Thuan’s village so although FVH has been a few times it is one of our favourites.  If you have been before you may well discover something new that you didn’t know before.  We spend a few hours visiting the permanent and temporary exhibitions, telling stories of a Vietnamese generation who split the Trường Sơn mountain range to save the nation.   The Hồ Chí Minh Museum is located about 16km from the centre of Hanoi, in Yên Nghĩa, Hà đông  District.

In the afternoon, we hope you will be surprised by a very non tourist experience of meeting Mrs Thuan – the lotus silk artisan. This is our first FVH activity with her and we need to arrange it before the lotus flower season ends. This humble, friendly and passionate lady will share her journey in reviving and developing the traditional profession of raising silkworms and silk making in Mỹ Đức District as well as the unique way of making silk from the lotus flower.  The products made by her and her workers, are distinguished, unique and authentic, for which she has been awarded many honours.

08.30: Depart from the Pan Pacific
09.10: Arrive at Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum
10.50: Leave Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum
11.00 – 12.00:  An early Lunch at a local restaurant
12.00: Travel to Mrs Thuan’s village
13.00: Arrive at the village, we have appx a 15 min-20 min walk from the mini bus drop to her house, crossing a stream over an interesting bridge followed by a pleasant walk through part of the village
13.00 – 14.00: 
– Introduction (video clip)
– Mrs Thuan will talk about her interesting journey
14.00 – 15.00:
-Visit the silkworm raising farm and mulberry garden. (Mrs Thuan will explain about the process of raising silkworm and special techniques in the previous part as we need to keep quiet when visiting the silkworm and not to interrupt people while they are working)
3.00 – 3.30:
-Visit the lotus pond
3.30 – 4.15: 
-Return to Mrs Thuan’s workshop in front of her home to watch how the silk threads are extracted (note it will be wet underfoot)
– back at her house we have a mini contest to see who can pull the longest lotus silk thread
-Before we depart you have a chance to buy some of her products if you wish (no obligation of course)
4.15: Return to Hanoi
5.30: Arrive at Pan Pacific

The afternoon timing is estimated as its the first time we have taken a group here, so please be flexible in our return in case its a little later (or earlier)

The excursion is led by Anh, please RSVP through this link by 22 August  https://forms.gle/PukwQWCyob9YTZ1N6

Max 13 people as space is limited at Mrs Thuan and a small group is preferable for Mrs Thuan. Thanks for your understand.  We expect this to be a popular event so please RSVP asap. Once full we will have a waiting list.

350,000 vnd pp (adults, students – one price for everyone to ensure FVH covers all expenses). Includes transport, Museum entrance fee, donations to the artisan and her team. Lunch and refreshments excluded.

Museum – we hope to have an ENG speaking guide supplemented with VN/ENG interpretation. With Mrs Thuan she only speaks VN so we will have VN/ENG interpretation

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