Textile & Craft TOURS + SISTERS TOURS VIETNAM C BUILDING, 3RD FLOOR, NO 46 TRAN HUNG DAO, HOAN KIEM DIST, HANOI, VIETNAM TEL: (+84) 4 3562 2733 FAX: (+84) 4 3853 7920 EMAIL: INFO@SISTERSTOURSVN.COM WWW.SISTERSTOURSVN.COM
"Discovering culture through local eyes" In Vietnam, textiles are considered to be one of the highest forms of art and spiritual expression. The knowledge and skills required to create these textiles have been passed down through generations. By utilizing primarily the simple blackstrap loom, local people have crafted one of the most advanced and sophisticated weaving cultures in the history of civilization. There are 53 ethnic minorities in Vietnam and each minority has its own textiles tradition and costume. There are crossovers but they still remain quite distinct as each tribe has its own symbolisms and patterns marking their identity. When you are up north the cloth is heavier because of the weather but as you go down south, silk becomes the fabric of choice. The most defining element of textiles in Vietnam is its surface decoration and fabric manipulation techniques such as pleating, i-kat. Also, color holds a key role. The surrounding natural environment is translated into vibrant fabric. Our textile tours are fascinating excursions provides opportunity to deeply explore and experiences various kind of textile weaving and dying art in Vietnam. Discover the diversity of their colorful costumes and dress; learn about their unique textiles, embroidery styles, cultures and traditions. Hands on lessons in tribal embroidery, silk weaving & natural dyes classes, learning how to use tubers, fruits, and leaves from the forest to dye the beautiful colors in textile. These products have been designed for small groups and family who have an interest in craft and local culture. It is a unique opportunity to travel with like-minded people and explore all the wonderful Vietnam textile and craft history and culture, workshop that this part of the world has to offer. Combine this with hand-on natural dying workshop and you have your own product of indigo dye textile for the holiday experience of a lifetime.
Sisters Tours Vietnam Travel Responsibly At Sisters Tours Vietnam sustainable and responsible have always been parts of our vocabulary. We are passionate about the countries we specialize in, therefore it is a natural progression that we help to protect each region and maximize the benefits that tourism can bring. Responsible Travel (RT) means assessing our impact of the environment and local cultures and economies - and acting to make that impact are positive as possible. We feel strongly that we should directly benefit the communities we visit whenever possible through sustainable travel, environmental protection and social projects, without sacrificing comfort or character. Sisters Tours Vietnam always focus on unique culture, traditional craft in Vietnam, along with the best artisan to raise the products in higher level in order to promote widely, remote local people understand the value and preserve the traditional products also promote the uniqueness of local produce nature-friendly. In effort we are making, our textile & craft tour itineraries specialize in remarkable experience to customer and contribute tourism interest to support and preserve traditional textile that gradually lost, making tours to special interesting poor village where local people try to learn and work hard to meet the demand of life and make their life better.
Textile & Craft Tours - Itinerary Textile Tour Full Day Option 1: AM: The trip start from 8:00, customers were picking up at the hotel. Textile specialist will greet and transfer you by private car to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, one of the most interesting museums in Vietnam where display a wide range of textiles, craft of 54 ethnic minorities living in Vietnam, we will discover Vietnamese creative abilities as well as skills in a textile and learn the history of weaving and techniques of weaving several motifs. 10:30 am: We are going to continue one more museum - The Fine Art Museum that have stunning displays of ethnic custom clothing, where is one of the city's finest colonial building. Apart from textile displays, there are plenty of ancient antiquities and contemporary art with rooms display the development of lacquer in paintings. 12:30 PM: After having lunch at The Matchbox Restaurant, we are going to attend the Natural Dye and Hand On Workshop with textile expert. At this class you have opportunities to see the wide range of natural color dyed on to antique fabrics, how the organic dyed product made from leafs, roots, and barks... and environmentally safe pigments. Experience yourself by hand-on an indigo dyed product Option 2: AM: Pick up customers from hotel at 8:00. We will start the tour with a visit to Women Museum. This museum gives a good view of the life styles, culture and textiles of 54 ethnic minorities living in Vietnam also collection includes more than 25,000 items and documents which illustrate the past and current achievements, contributions and creativity of Vietnamese women. In this morning we will continue The Fine Art Museum where has a well known for superb and unique ethnic crafts, textiles and clothing. PM: After enjoy the lunch at The Matchbox Restaurant, we are going to join the textile workshop and demonstrations with textile practitioners with a Textile Artist for hands-on natural dyed experiences. Processes from dyeing, weaving, decorative concepts, silk will examine processing during the workshop. All the material in this class is lead to natural and environment protecting. 2:30 PM: Leaving the class, we will visit the Silk Street located in the heart of the old quarter; enjoy the shops selling silk products close together We can arrange Water Puppet at night!
+ TEXTILE TOUR: HANOI - MAI CHAU - HOA BINH (2 DAYS/1 NIGHT) At 160km from Hanoi, Mai Chau offers customer a balance of cultural interest, physical activities and your hobby textile holiday, set amongst some of northern Vietnam's most stunning scenery. We will have opportunity to visit and study the cultural and textiles traditional of several minorities. The trip will bring us to special meetings in remotes villages to see their way of life, to observe their weaving and/or dyeing skills of Thai people, learning about the batik technique of Hmong. Day 1: Hanoi - Hoa Binh - Mai Chau y groups. Picking up customer from hotel, morning drive from Hanoi to Hoa Binh mountainous province, home of Muong and Thai minorities. We will visit Da Bac village to see how local people wax - resist dyeing technique used to create unique color and design on fabric (Batik technique) and uniquely hair dying with tea tree leaf technique. Having lunch on the way. In the afternoon, drive to Mai Chau (70km), leisure walking around the peaceful Thai ethnic village where famous for rich ethnic handicrafts, especially the embroidering clothes, enjoy the scenery and learn about the people's life and culture. After dinner, enjoy the traditional Thai dance performance and join the locals sweet rice wine (Ruou Can) tasting. Overnighting in Mai Chau. Day 2: Mai Chau - Hanoi After breakfast, start driving on the peaceful, scenic, curvy road with almost no traffic to a Thai tribe village where the beautiful Thai girls who are hard working on the loom with cantering hands. Customers will view most intriguing work and collection of ancient designs of local weaver. Having lunch at the local restaurant. We're going to have a short walk to H'mong village to see how the H'mong in Mai Chau use their traditional handicraft skills to earn additional income without subsist by cultivating fruit trees, growing corn and a tuber used for making noodles and collecting firewood form the surrounding dense forest. 4:00 pm Come back to Hanoi. Tour ends. 5
+ Textile Tour: Hanoi - Sapa (2 days/ 3 nights) Experience with Sisters Tours Vietnam in village life when customer stay with a local White Thai family and learn to weave in Northern of Vietnam, learn embroidery from the ladies of Red Dzao and H'mong minority groups. 1. Hanoi - Train to Sapa: Bus and guide will pick up and transfer for the overnight train to Lao 2. Arrive to Lao Cai in the early morning. Take an hour drive up hill to Sapa, giving guests a glimpse of stunning scenery and impressive rice terraces. Breakfast at local restaurant before a short walk around Sapa. Check in hotel, having lunch and view most intriguing work & collection of ancient designs of local weaver, enjoy baste fiber (smashing, bleaching...), visit indigo or hemp farms and study batik and tritik technique and H'mong and Dzao textiles. In the evening, enjoy the traditional musical performance of H'mong people. Overnight in Sapa 3. Sapa - Lao Chai - Ta Van Sunrise breakfast, trekking from hotel through pine forest and mountain valley that surrounded by French architectures to Lao chai village, home of the Black H'mong people and Van village, home of the Dzay tribe. Customer has chance to experience and hand on the fabric workshop to learn about traditional weaving, private meeting with textile artist and craftspeople, practice the process from raw tree of age-old and dyes technique linen texture. Having lunch at the local restaurant.4 pm Transfer back to Lao Cai Station for a night train to Hanoi. Early dinner is reserved at a local restaurant in Lao Cai station before getting on the train. Arrive to Hanoi in the early morning. 6