Today it’s Tuesday 6 January. We are going to visit a “UNESCO village” this morning. Duong Lam Village. I bet it’s got a temple! Ahh, yes. It does! The Phun Hung Temple …
Lots of offerings and lots of Buddhas. Lady Buddhas, normal ones and some with fuller figures!
Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) – two of Vietnam’s Kings, were born in Duong Lam, giving the village its prestige as “The Land of Two Kings”. Both men led resistance wars against northern invasion and were crowned kings after gaining national independence. (Thank you AI.)
We visited the home of this happy chap … for tea and cookies – or was it rice wine and sticky rice cakes? I can’t remember!
And this is the lady of the house – doing the actual work …
Wandering on, we wondered what makes a village a UNESCO village.
The Mong Phu Communal House …
In villages in the Red River Delta, the communal house serves both as the administrative centre and the place of worship for the guardian spirit, whose sacred powers, sanctioned by a royal certificate, were believed to secure the village’s prosperity. In addition, it’s also the public gathering space for ceremonies and festivals in the village.
In Vietnam, ladies of a certain age have taken to colouring their teeth. They like black! The blacker the better!
The Vietnamese tradition of black teeth was a historic beauty standard, especially for women, symbolizing beauty, status, and protection from evil spirits. White teeth were seen as demonic. This ancient practice involved staining teeth with natural dyes like charcoal, ant nectar, and betel nut.
On the way back to the bus, we walked through the Mong Phu Village Gate …
Historically, there were several entrances to Duong Lam Village, but today there is only this one original gate left. In ancient Vietnamese architecture, the village gate is considered as the sign marking the edge of the village space.
We left the place still uncertain why this village warranted UNESCO status. I guess, in this case, it’s a combination of very old residential buildings, a surplus of temples, a community house, an old gate and an enthusiastic town planner with a grasp of economics! Having had two local boys crowned king wouldn’t have been a disadvantage, either!
The “back-to-the-boat-for-a-four-course-lunch” arrangements cut in every day just before noon. Well, you just don’t get enough food with only two cooked meals a day! We are getting used to the routine by now. Up the gang plank, shoes off, disinfect hands, be given a cool towel to dry hands, collect cabin key, receive welcome drink – all in the space of 10 feet. It’s quite a knack!
Lunch in the main (only) dining room, top deck at the rear.
With Duy and his little assistant Salai.
Except those of you who are still awake will realise that the picture in actually of an evening meal, not lunch! Who said this blog was totally correct?
Can we fit in another temple this afternoon? Sure we can! The Chùa Thầy, or Master’s Temple, one of the oldest temples in Vietnam. Allegedly, this is a Statue of a Trừng Ác dharmapala inside the temple ??? …
… and this is a lady bashing a drum continually and monotonously while chanting her way through a 60 page book of words.
A lady in yellow not chanting, BUT LOOK – an actual monk. We haven’t seen many of them about! In fact, I think that he’s the first.
Moving onwards and upwards. We need to learn how to make traditional conical hats. Essential training!
The process involves a number of distinct stages starting with a template, adding the radial spines and the hoops of progressively decreasing diameter, reinforcing the edge, then adding the radial leaves and stitching everything into place with very fine nylon thread. A bit of embroidery at the peak for looks and strength, and Bob’s your uncle. You have a perfectly formed example of a hat that most agricultural workers wear. Six or seven ladies can turn out a number of these every day.
Here’s me with my new best friend – presumably the CEO of the Viet Tropical Hats Inc.. Or ar least the owner of the premises where the hat making takes place.
Tomorrow it’s back to Hanoi. During the evening the captain relocated a short distance down stream …
… and moored just upstream of the Nhat Tan Bridge which flashed a cycle of bright colour’s at us all night.
So, now we have Hanoi City (again) to look forward to…
Everybody is rugged up, including the locals, is it very cold in Vietnam this time of year? Or is it just in the Northern area? Looks like you’ll be visiting lots of temples on this trip!