We took the kids to Bát Tràng Chợ near Hanoi. It is THE market for pottery. Since the kids love riding the bus, we planned the trip by bus, plus it is quite a bargain as compared to a cab, and so the total of $2 round-trip family bus fare was worth the excitement and fun, while visiting the little town east of the Red River. Plus, you get to talk to lots of strangers on the bus, which is either a plus or a minus depending on whom you ask.
One more positive attribute, folks on the bus always yield to old folks (sort of us) and little kids, guaranteeing us seats on the long drive, while the majority of motorbike-under-age-college-high-school kids are standing.
Bat Trang offered the opportunity for our kids to make their own pottery and both Lukas and Anton enjoyed making mugs. After molding the clay it went into the dryer for an hour, then the kids could paint it and take it home. All for a reasonable $2. Tea drinking cups went for 2500 Dong, and tea sets are available starting at 70,000 to 300,000 for good ceramic ones.
A couple of folks on the market asked if they can take pictures of the kids. One guy came to me and said in English: “excuse me, this is my girl-friend… ” hmm, ok?! “Can I take a picture of her with him” pointing to Lukas. At this point, it’s almost routine and the people were nice enough to ask, so we gave the go ahead and the young girl held Lukas to have her boy-friend take a picture with an oversized Samsung phone.
While on the topic…. On Friday, I got photographed by a middle-aged woman on the Y Hoc campus as if she had never seen a European in Hanoi. It hadn’t been the first time. Sometimes, it seems people just take a camera or phone and snap a photo of me. I then imagine they go home and tell their friends: hey I got a picture of a European walking down the street, want to see?. .. A bit strange, but I guess European tourists also take pictures of Vietnamese people and bring them home to show to others, so it’s just reciprocity. I just decided it’s better to ask the person first before taking a picture, even though that is weird too.
In any case, the kids had fun:
I’m not quite sure why, but it cracked me up when I read about the younger people yielding to older people on the bus and you wrote (sort of us)!! LOL! That is interesting about people wanting to photograph you there…have you thought of the possibility that maybe they want to because they’ve never seen one so handsome?! 🙂 Liz would probably agree with that 🙂