Take a Close Look

We stopped at a huge tourist place on the way to Halong Bay, ostensibly for a bathroom break. But they had all manner of local crafts. Everything from artwork and sculpture to clothing and food. The place was immense and it was obvious that most if not all of the 3.5 million people who take the road from Hanoi to Halong Bay every year stop here. Buses and tourist vans galore. There's nothing particularly special about this artwork at first glance - all of which was being created in front of us by many, many artists. But what is kind of amazing is that these are not paintings or photographs. They're actually embroidery. We saw probably 20 women stitching works like this. These were large pieces and not cheap. The black and white of the woman and child was just under 38 million Vietnamese Dong, around $1700 US (frame not included).