Village trek

Our party of four adventurers set out on a village trek to Lao Chai and Ta Van. It was a hot day and we quickly found ourselves surrounded by "friends" who had umbrellas to shield us from the sun.

Having friends comes with responsibilities and once we had bought an item we were free to walk on unhindered.

In Lao Chai we found this grandmother weaving natural hemp fibres on her loom. The cloth is narrow in width but metres long.

The hemp hangs outside to dry after it has been processed into yarn. It is quite coarse and gives a rough, stiff texture to the woven cloth.

This photo shows the process of polishing the indigo dyed cloth to give it a high shine. The flat stone is rubbed over the cloth to achieve the sheen.

A coat and sleeveless vest featuring the embroidered collar and should patches common in this area. Many Hmong women wear this daily.

 

Seoul day 2

It is so interesting to learn about another culture and being guided by local friends adds enormously to the experience. Above is a rubbing opportunity that will be on the list for next time.

With the holiday for the first independence march against the Japanese occupation, many took the opportunity to dress in national costume. This is the Hanbok, one variation of it.

At the National Folk Museum cabinets displayed items form a more traditional Korean life.

Loving the shoes, such style.

A typical first birthday celebration.

Life in the freezer- day 41

It is quite common to see the national costume, the Deel being worn on the streets of Ulaanbaatar by both men and women. It is made in many different fabric weights, silk or wool, with or without a warm lining. A leather belt or coloured scarf is tied around the waistline. The long sleeves with the shaped ends are great for the cold weather but also used to make secret bargaining deals.

Just cute

The Tsagaan Alt wool shop has the cutest felted slippers for little ones! I visited the store several times when I was here in 2012 and will do the same again this time as I am quite fascinated by their beautiful felt products made by Mongolians.

I bought this coaster set and have plans to hand stitch on them.

But the cuteness factor lies in the slippers.

It is going to be hard to resist!

 

Riverboat

Our afternoon tour was on a 4 tier riverboat down the narrow Chena River in Fairbanks.

We had a float plane demonstration, dog mushing and stopped at a recreation of a native village to see fish smoking, reindeer and learn about the way of ancient ways of life to survive in the harsh winters of minus 40 F.

A beautiful Muskrat fur, stitched parka with a Wolverine trim near the face and  further Wolf outer circle on the "sunshine hood". It was a very warm day to be wearing such a warm garment but our lovely model smiled so sweetly for the cameras.

 Hand beading on the leather garments.