Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Vietnamese Lacquer Art - WW

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After travelling for more than two hours on a bus, we took a toilet break at a rest stop on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh city. While waiting for the rest of the tour members, I wandered around the area and discovered a lacquer art painting demonstration.

It was fascinating watching the artists worked.

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A young artist was drawing the outline with chalk and apply crushed egg shell.

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materials for the lacquer art - eggshells

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shells, mother of pearl

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Rubbing and polishing after the painting has been completed

During the three-day trip in Vietnam, our tour guide sneakily included souvenir shops selling expensive lacquer ware and Vietnamese products in our tightly scheduled itinerary.

As a result, we missed visiting the famous Saigon Notre Dame Basilica and Saigon Central Post Office because she insisted on visiting a lacquer factory when we had only an hour before our dinner on a cruise ship. Her 15-minute stop turned into an hour long of shopping. ISH. *feeling frustrated*
 

8 comments:

  1. Must have been very interesting to see how that works ! The fact that you missed the Basilica and the Post Office, made me think of a tour I had done around Morocco where we had to watch how oriental carpets are made and then hadn't enough time to visit the rest, lol ! The same happened in Turkey and Tunisia for pottery too, they want you to buy things which is normal. My friend even had bought a carpet and they had sent it to Belgium.

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    1. It was amazing watching the young artists work. Their lacquer paintings are so beautiful.

      I dislike going on guided tours because the tour guides would bring us go shopping to earn their commissions. I went along this trip because of my friends. I love to explore new places, see how the people live and experience a little of their lifestyle. I would buy souvenirs for my relatives and friends if I see local products but I would not go out of the way to get those through a middleman.

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  2. Pity la the guide so sneaky like that!

    But I also experienced it before. Our free time got wasted because of an extra shopping trip squeezed in by the guide.

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    1. I didn't get to visit Saigon Notre Dame Basilica and Saigon Central Post Office although I was in HCMC and don't have photos of them because we were hijacked to a factory to spend money. What a waste!

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  3. I think most tourist guides do that eventually, they just want to earn that extra "allowances"

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  4. sounds like the tour guide might get paid by the artist shops to bring customers there.

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  5. That's the main reason why I dislike following tour on my travels. I try to avoid tours as much as possible. They will always bring you to souvenir shops to earn those commissions!

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  6. That's good. My family also likes making craft. They prefer it than famous tourist spots.

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