The art of silk embroidery in all its glory in Nha Trang

As we traveled throughout Vietnam, we didn't miss the stunning work resulting from hand sewn embroidery done mostly by young women of Vietnam. The art is ancient and probably was acquired from the Chinese who refer to it as Suzhou or "Su" embroidery. This technique dates back 2,000 years (yes as in two thousand).

The intricate details and beauty of the designs are still produced today, using extremely fine colored silk threads (though there are also cheaper, and coarser versions, which are still beautiful) and usually center around pastoral themes, portraits, and uncluttered representations of anything you can imagine.

a typical pastoral scene in a very intricate work; some take a year or more to finish

Later in our travels, we learned that Vietnam's center for this type of art is located in Dalat. However, we stumbled upon an impressive array of finely spun silk thread embroiders just as we were finishing lunch at the Thuy Dong Restaurant which has a view of the beach. The short video that follows will give you an idea of the intricacy of the work; the finished work is stunning, and the threads are almost invisible.


If you find yourself in Nha Trang, head over to the XQ Arts and Crafts Trade Center, and there will be more than your eyes can take in. The setting itself is right out of a fairy tale book. As you enter, you can hear the sound of water gurgling in a small, but serene lily pond. Facing the main entrance is a display which looks like a four poster bed, but where silk strands, white and dyed, hang from the top beams. Have a look:

and the pond:

I sat on the benches which are seen in the background, and 

was served some tea; can it get more idyllic than that?

To complete the fairy tale environment, three Vietnamese young women, dressed in the traditional Ao Dai, were sharing a quiet moment on a bamboo suspended wooden swing, hung over a bed of small gray pebbles.

The main gallery is replete with works of all sizes, subjects, and prices. The sales personnel is courteous, but not overbearing as salespeople can become. I had asked one of them if they would allow me to enter the work area, so that I could watch these artists at work. I promised to be quiet as a mouse, and they agreed.

The room is quite large and well lit; as I watched the women's hands sew, I worried about their eyesight. How can such tedious, meticulous work be produced without hurting the eyes? Some of the pieces are so large and intricate that several women share the work; when they saw me enter, they stopped out of curiosity and beamed when I told them I was from America. If that is surprising, I urge you to visit Vietnam. It is not what you think.

It is impossible to walk away from this place without purchasing something. In the event you don't want to carry your treasures with you, they will ship anywhere in the world, and they are very good at packaging the items so that they do not become damaged.

Below are a few of my favorites, but there were so many more it would be impossible to include all.

Here's the address:

64 Tran Phu Street
Nha Trang, Vietnam

How the art came to Vietnam: 

Embroidery was founded and developed in Vietnam by Le Cong Hanh in 1606.

Traditionally, the art was carried out by women as dictated by ancestors in the following verse:
Men read books and declare poems.Women have to do embroidery and sewing


During the Nguyen reign, it was established as an art of the Royal Court. The Hue artists were reputed for their sweetness, subtlety, carefulness, elegance and artistic qualities. The themes they embrace are of everyday life in Vietnam and have moved away from the Chinese culture of dragons and similar subjects.

These are a few of my favorite things

These are the ones that I didn't' have to go far to find, but there are others. With two trips to Viet Nam, and time in between in New York to find things I enjoyed there, - most are in the form of food or drink-, others stuff will pop up.

Silk embroidery is one of the specialty handcrafts of the country, and there are two major centers: the first is in Da Lat and the second is in Nah Trang; we were very lucky to find the one in Nah Trang, because we simply were not looking for it. We had been having lunch seaside, and my eye had caught a huge sign that said something about women's crafts. Ironically, no one at the restaurant knew what it was, or perhaps they did not know what I was asking. Curiosity always wins, and so glad it did. The embroidery here is that of a stereotypical Viet Namese with his conical hat, his merchandise and his wheels, without which he probably could not make a living.

I picked that up in Ha Noi actually, not far from Hoan Kiem Lake. You find them everywhere, in little shops, and after a few visits, you begin to know your prices. There are very few which are just black and white, like this one. Most are extremely colorful, and naturally, I have those as well. (See the set of small embroideries top left) They become all the more precious when you have watched the women at work over these huge projects, sometimes, 3 or 4 people are working on one design. I will take you to the art center in another post.

As far back as I can remember, I was always a shawl girl. (woman). That included ponchos, that were hand embroidered, and at one time, my mother-in-law was turning them out faster than I could wear them. I could never understand why every woman in America didn't own at least 10 different shawls. The poncho to the left, for lack of a better word, was purchased in Sa Pa, in the north of Viet Nam. Sa Pa is a mountain resort which was built by the French during the nineteenth century, and if and when you go there, you will think you may have landed somewhere in the Alps. What I loved about this design was the harmony of colors, and the fact that it was reversible.

I had not seen anything like it in Ha Noi. It may not get that cool in Ha Noi, but in Sa Pa, in the evening, this can come in very handy. After all, you are sharing space with Fan Si Pan, the highest peak of the Tonkinese Alps. There are other types of shawls which are just about everywhere. The one I hold very dear was a gift from Van, which I mentioned in another post. She had given it to me when we had lunch at Madame Ann Thuyet Pham. It's a very fine and soft wool, almost cashmere like, and the embroidery is so exquisite, and the color combination of the flowers and petals is nothing short of stunning. Whenever and wherever I have worn it, people have stopped to ask me about it.

Here's another beauty which is a combination cotton/silk and perhaps one other fiber, but I'm not sure. A Ha Noi purchase, and amazingly, when you get back home, you find that it can be worn with a number of pieces of clothing you never remembered you had. Mind you, none of these treasures of mine cost a fortune, but they are treasures nevertheless. Their uniqueness sets them apart from anything else I own.

I am also a costume jewelry fanatic; and for a few years now, silver has been more fashionable than gold, so I was definitely in the right place. For earrings, most of the ones that attracted me were hoops of sorts; interestingly, there were no separate parts, like a post for pierced ears. The earring had a self-closing mechanism which just made life a whole lot easier.

The hoop with the multi-colored metal pieces is the most popular in Sa Pa. Everyone wears them, from the little girls who would be chasing after us (another fabulous story coming), to the older women. But then again, everything they wear is multi-colored, because of the "montagnard" sense of fashion which is somewhat the same as the tribal people we encountered in the North of Thailand. The other silver hoop is less ornate, and I didn't like the way the silver bent itself after using the earring a few times. Lastly, there was a bronze hammered metal hoop that was irresistible. At this time, I will admit that I have lost one of each, but I refuse to let go of the mate.

This necklace would have made Cleopatra jealous. Again, it is worn mainly by the mountain women of Sa Pa, and I bought this during the famous Saturday market, where people from all over the region come and make purchases of just about everything, including foods, fowl, fruit and natural dyes like indigo. There are also things like hooves, and pigs feet for sale. The market is colorful, and a wonderful smell of mountain air mixes with incense and the laughter of children.

The pillow covers you see are again typical of the geometric design and color combination of the north. Ironically, I purchased these in a shop in Ha Noi, before I had ever set eyes in Sa Pa. When I returned, I found more pillow covers, but with different designs and color combinations. Indigo had become prominent. The pillows are set on a love seat in my office, which I purchased when I moved into my new apartment in Bayside in 2004. I never bothered to look at the manufacture, since I assume most everything now is made in China. However, one day, as I got behind the loveseat to find a plug, I looked at the tag, and was shocked! The sofa was made in Viet Nam!

I am a fragrance nut as well. This is deep rooted however, and began with my working for a fragrance manufacturer in my early twenties. They ruined me for life, in that I would change fragrance almost as often as I would my underwear. It had become unthinkable to wear the same fragrance every day.
Some aspects of that habit have not changed, and perfume and colognes are not cheap state side, especially with my taste. Though the bottle of finished, I managed to find Kenzo's Flower perfume which sells for $63 on the internet, for a fraction of the price. I also helped myself to 2 bottles of Burberry for women which you see to the left, and 2 bottles of Hugo Boss. Sai Gon has much more variety than Ha Noi, for some reason, and that is where I will head again the next time. You can also find your favorite perfumed lotions, men's after shaves, make up, - everything you need below duty free prices.

The lacquered sandals you see here are as stunning as they look. They have about a one inch heel and I wore them once, on the Emeraude cruise, at a special dinner. Oddly enough, I had an evening dress to match. These were picked up at the Ben Thanh market in Sai Gon which is an adventure in itself. The day you go there, make sure you have no appointments to keep.

I will try to end this with two important food types which entered my vocabulary since 2005 and never left. One is pho, which is broth with noodles and the other is Ca phe sua (coffee is too simple for this beverage). Of course, one can always go to a Viet Namese restaurant just about anywhere in New York and get both of these items, ready made and served. But, there is something very rewarding when you are home, and decide you are going to make pho, and you get out the biggest pot you can find and go at it. Without the little magic cubes which I found at the Viet Namese market, it wouldn't be pho. Of course, you need rice noodles, of which you will find an astounding variety, lime to taste, but I usually slice a lime and throw it in the broth because I'm a maniac for lime. You can add fish, like prawns, or fish balls which are only available at Asian vendors. Some like beef or chicken, but if you're going that route, why bother? The fish is tastier and healthier. It's the simplest dish of all, and the most rewarding.

By nature, I'm not a coffee drinker. I was weaned on black tea since I was a child, and that's just the way it stayed. From time to time, I will have a latté or a cappuccino, but that's the extent of it. All of that changed in Viet Nam. The coffee there is a remnant of the French influence of café au lait, and they have managed to do something to it by adding sweet condensed milk, and serving hot or cold. The coffee comes with a gizmo that filters it; it's hard to describe, but I have photos for later posts. Making a long story short, it's available here in packets and all you need to do is add hot water.
If you wish to have an iced coffee, then make the hot water anyway, mix your coffee with about 1/3 of a tall glass, and then a fill the rest of the glass with ice cubes. And presto. Starbucks will never make it in Viet Nam, because they just don't need it there.

Hanoi introduces five tours to craft villages

Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade is putting together five tours of the city’s traditional craft villages to mark the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The tours, which are scheduled to start this month, include a one-day tour to the Chuon Ngo pearl inlay village, Thang Loi embroidery village, Ha Thai lacquer village, Phu Vinh bamboo and rattan village and an extended tour to Van Phuc silk and Son Dong sculpture villages.

A tour of Bat Trang ceramic and Kieu Ky gold-leaf villages is also planned.

The department has also selected a number of typical workshops and old houses of architectural interest to be visited during the tours.

See my posts on Bat Trang Ceramic village

Also the Xq Embroidery Center

In ‘the middle of nowhere’.

LookAtVietnam - In the ‘middle of nowhere’ Time-out discovers the joys of an open air bath and a square meal of sticky rice in ‘the middle of nowhere’. 

Mu Cang Chai: charming and peaceful
On a misty morning we set off from Hanoi for Tu Le, Mu Cang Chai district in Yen Bai province by motorbike. 

The name Mu Cang Chai is often jokingly used as a term to describe “the middle of nowhere” by Hanoians. But this area – roughly 250km from Hanoi – is home to some of the country’s most beautiful terraced fields. 

Amazingly, for this of year, Tu Le’s mountains and fields are covered with a green carpet of young rice plants and grass stretching as far as the eye can see. Tu Le means ‘Beautiful Embroidery’ in Vietnamese and the landscape lives up to the name.continued>>

Bees and Cobras in Ben Tre Island

The title to the post is not meant to discourage the reader in any way, but rather invite the weak of heart to partake into some rather unusual activities. This is part of the magical, Mekong Tour, and by this time, lunch is hopefully in the process of being digested in your stomach. You can handle the bees, the cobras and anything else that comes your way.

By now, you have clearly understood that the Mekong River Delta is huge. It has more tributaries than you have hair on your head. Once you get further into this water network, expanses of water such as the one above will disappear, and you and nature will become much more intimate. The boats gets smaller as the canals do as well; take note of these canal names: Tan Thach, Thoi Son, Bao Dinh and the smaller river of Tien, Tortoise Island, Dragon and Phenix though you may not get to land on the latter two. As you can see, I am writing them down myself, otherwise, you'd never be able to get this blog entry.

Now remember this is Southern Viet Nam, and it's almost marshlands. It's very hot, but the excitement of being here makes us look normal.

This woman, on the other hand, is a native and sees no reason to exert herself unnecessarily. In fact, hammocks are ubiquitous here, as there are plenty of trees to serve as anchors.Our boat has arrived, and we are told that there are special treats awaiting us. The ground is muddy in some areas, so here again, I suggest you wear shoes that have rubber souls and that hold your ankle firmly. But out of the mud, grow some of the most beautiful fruit and flowers you can imagine: just like the lotus!

This marvelous hedge is made up solely of cacti, and they are taller than I am! You can also see the very narrow pathway which leads to the area where we will be hosted. I never stopped imagining, as I walked these narrow ribbons of land, men fighting each other, carrying weapons and heavy artillery and other loads on their backs...in the stifling heat. This beautiful pineapple is also growing out of the mud. Amazing!

We finally arrive at what I will call a "clearing". I see a very young girl holding an enormous flat beehive, as if she were playing the piano. Her tranquil face somehow does not betray any fear or emotional distress. I'm quietly thinking that she knows every bee by name. I am told that when honey comes directly from the hive, it has the most exquisite taste. So the party is about to begin. Before we can do any tasting, we are all encouraged to take part in sticking our finger smack in the center of the hive. Thoughts are darting in my mind, and I recall a day in the north of Thailand, when Chuck and I rode an elephant; the mere idea had petrified me, and yet, after the hour ride was over, I was thrilled that I had not given in to my apprehension. Well here's another one of those moments.

Ok, now take your time, and try to guess which one of these pictures is me? I know it's hard, but I later find out that the beautiful young girl is blind, and that perhaps explains her calm. I close my eyes in an attempt to gain some of that confidence, but unfortunately, the camera has, once again, caught my expression of terror. Come a little closer so you can see what I'm dealing with.

There are some rewards for this exercise. After everyone, well almost everyone, has gotten a turn, we are invited to sit at the tables, and we are each given a small cup which contains pure honey. Limes, an essential ingredient into almost every dish here in Viet Nam also appear in small plates, and this is when it gets creative. Squeeze as much or as little as you want on top of the honey and drink while warm. Believe me, you CANNOT recreate this at home, no matter how much you try. Not the same.

The choreographer of this tour must have realized that after this experience, we all really need to stay seated and be entertained. This is going to be our first exposure to authentic Viet Nam folk music. (remember this blog doesn't go in any order). Ok, get ready for a hands on - I have downloaded for you the song which is most often sung here along with instrumentation. You'll fell as if you've been there!!

Now as you listen, look at her and the strings which accompany her belong to the gentleman behind her and there was another man to the right of her; if you look very carefully at the picture you will see part of his pink shirt.

I did not do this. I was amazed that Chuck actually let the creature around his neck since he was not too keen about the small monkeys in Bali jumping around us. There were quite a few people in their early twenties in our group who were back packers, and they took to the snake like a fish in water. I prefer to socialize with reptiles when they are behind glass, as in a zoo.

I spent a few minutes looking at souvenirs, which are basically the same everywhere. However, there were some coarse embroidery pictures that caught my eye, and I decided to get one. It was my very first, and would pave the way to bigger and better ones in our visit to Nah Trang and later, Ha Noi. It hangs in my living room now, with some finer embroideries, and Chuck's photography of Ha Long Bay and one of the temple entrances in Ha Noi's old quarter.



They also had small orchid plants on display but I didn't want to take the risk of purchasing them, as they will not allow you back into the US with any kind of flora. As a matter of fact, in Thailand, they package their orchids specifically for export, so that you can purchase them and take them with you, or they will ship. We spent half a day at an orchid farm north of Chiang Mai where I took hundreds of pictures of orchids. They were stunning.



When in the Mekong, buy coconut anything. It's the coconut capital of Viet Nam.