We started the morning off with breakfast at our hotel; beef Pho and Vietnamese coffee. The breakfast was even included – a clean room with a queen-sized bed, air conditioning, in-room satellite TV, a private bathroom, Wi-Fi, lobby computers, and the afore-mentioned breakfast… all for something around $22.50 USD a night for the both of us. Ya gotta love it!

Alley fronting our hotel.

After breakfast, we had a leisurely stroll through the neighbourhood to meet up with our local guide: Quan.

Street vendor selling meats.

Street vendor’s basket of meats.

Scooters and more scooters.

Flowers fresh from the farm.

At least the kid’s got a brain-bucket on.

We meet up with Quan and it’s off to Bat Trang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1t_Tr%C3%A0ng), a village located approximately 13 km from central Hanoi. Nicknamed, “Ceramics City”, it is known for it’s ceramics factories and, in particular, Bat Trang Porcelain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1t_Tr%C3%A0ng_Porcelain).

To get to Bat Trang, you must drive there….

On the main drag of Bat Trang.

A Bat Trang delivery-bike.

More Bat Trang delivery vehicles.

Dragon vases.

Local propane depot.

Vietnamese fire hydrant.

Watching the world go by.

Museum wall.

Bulk materials at a ceramics factory.

Lily pond in Bat Trang.

Vase delivery, Bat Trang-style.

The Bat Trang ceramics market.

Sugar cane delivery.

We actually ended up custom-ordering a big set of dinner-services, serving platters, and soup tureens in a Celadon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celadon) finish from a ceramics factory in Bat Trang. Luckily, we didn’t have to lug it home; it would be shipped by sea.

Next, it was on to Van Phuc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%E1%BA%A1n_Ph%C3%BAc_silk_village), otherwise known as, the “Silk Village”. It is the best known silk village in Vietnam and is located approximately 8 km south-west of Hanoi.

Off to Van Phuc.

In Van Phuc, we had lunch at a restaurant specializing in fried rice – Quan’s fav! I gotta admit, it was pretty good… not as good as mine, but pretty good.

Tea… and, of course beer after lunch.

Quan lighting up a traditional water-pipe.

The “kitchen” at the fried rice restaurant.

Now, fortified with lunch, we tackled the “Silk Village”.

Guard-poochies at the silk factory.

Silk weaving loom.

Reels of silk.

Silkworms.

Silkworm cocoons.

Construction zone  in Van Phuc – speed limit 5kph.

Yet another type of delivery-motorcycle.