Art And Culture in Hanoi

Culture around Hanoi is best met in the workshops and villages that ring it, because the museums tell only half of it. Co Loa, north of the centre, is the spiral citadel of King An Duong Vuong, third century BC by tradition. Bat Trang fires ceramics, Ha Thai has made lacquerware since the seventeenth century, Chuong has made conical hats for some 300 years, and Quang Phu Cau dyes incense sticks and dries the colourful bundles in the sun. Duong Lam, west of the city, has laterite and mud houses and temples to Phung Hung and Ngo Quyen, two kings born in the same village. In town, Hang Ma Street sells the paper goods that are burned as offerings to the dead.

The shortest format is a craft half day of about five hours, leaving at 7:30 or at noon, that visits Chuong and Quang Phu Cau and gives each guest a conical hat. The longer version adds a lacquer painting class at Ha Thai and a home-cooked lunch at an artisan's house, and takes about ten hours. Duong Lam is a day by car, cycling between the houses and helping on a farm, and one version crosses the countryside in an open army jeep. A Vespa day reaches Bat Trang for a pottery class. Most are small groups, and private versions come with a car and guide.

Practical. Several craft half days do not include lunch, so eat before leaving. Incense is dried outdoors, so a dry day shows the colours best; October and November, at 18 to 28C, are the mildest and driest months. From May to September expect 33 to 35C and do the visit early. Most village days can be cancelled up to 24 hours ahead, though one private Duong Lam day is sold as final. Covered shoulders and knees are expected in any temple.