12 Mar 2025 - The Lo River
A series of river traffic photos from across our total trip. Upstream of Hanoi river traffic consisted incredible numbers of barges of river sand heading for Hanoi construction sites. Downstream of Hanoi, we started to see shipbuilding. And there were a small number of small local fishing boats. The sand barges carried so much sand that they were barely afloat.
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On the Red River day two. A good breakfast before setting out at 9 am for the first of the days excursions. This one involved a bus ride to a village which had a UNESCO cultural award for its dance. We walked round the village and into a temple where we then sat and watch six ladies performing different dances, all of them very authentic somehow. We were given some rice wine to drink from them. .”
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After a good lunch back on the boat I had a siesta and we then set out again at 2:30 pm for the afternoons tour to a blacksmiths village. This involved getting on a landing craft from our boat to take us to the other side of the river and then a short bus trip in a local small bus to the village. The Blacksmith village was called Ly Nhan and they use the traditional production methods to this day. Nearly every household in Ly Nhan Village, engages in blacksmith trade. Knives, scissors, sickles, chisels and other cutting tools made by the villagers are well-known in many localities thanks to beautiful designs and premium quality of tempered steel. The villagers even made weapons during the wars. The village exported 100,000 knives to Cuba in 1962 for cutting sugarcane.
There, most houses had forges underneath them and the noise level was incredibly high. We had a demonstration in the forecourt of a very nice house showing how the iron and steel were forged together and inserted into wooden handles. These hand made knives cost about $8 once made . The household making them could manage 10 knives per day. No protective goggles were used . And the noise level was just incredible We then proceeded to yet another forge which was also a restaurant where we were offered beers and cokes: this seemed a very unnecessary stop.
Back aboard the ship we showered and enjoyed a cocktail up in the lounge deck And at 6 o’clock there was a cocktail of the day, a whiskey sour, and Tapas. After yet another most enjoyable supper, talking to Alexander, we watched the first part of the classic film “good morning Vietnam.
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