Hal: When I hear the word, “village,” I generally think of a small community of houses built in a rural locale, surrounded by farms and all the trappings of a pastoral life. And when I hear the phrase, “silk-weaving village,” I imagine a tiny hamlet wherein old women tend to small wooden looms, following local traditions handed down for generations. So these were the images I had in mind when a friend suggested we visit Van Phuc, a local Vietnamese silk-weaving “village,” and center of Vietnamese sericulture for nearly two thousand years…

Vietnam720: Cathy from GastronomyBlog.com is an established food writer with at least 34 publications under her belt (from what I can count on her site) and at least 31 press articles written on her (from what I can count on her site). This cute Vietnamese girl has even appeared on BBC before. She is currently based in Los Angeles but during her one year trip back home to Vietnam, she had written many blogs on Vietnamese food from the south all the way to North Vietnam. Since I already have quite a bit on Vietnamese food from South Vietnam on Vietnam720, I’m highlighting Cathy’s blogs on Hanoi food which you can find here at ‘Eating in Hanoi 01′ and ‘Eating in Hanoi 02′.

Vietnam720: Julian from Julian Abram Photography Blog returned from an annual Buffalo Fighting Festival in northern Vietnam. He shares his 2 slideshow of images with us. This is part 1.

Vietnam720: Hal Medrano from Hanoi Scratchpad gives us a list of cafes in Hanoi to check out.

There has been an increase in reports about a scam in Hanoi International Airport (Noi Bai Airport). I thought I should share it here with our readers to be warned.

The scam goes like this…

Vietnam720: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology brought to you by Mr Fish from Visit Hanoi.

Vietnam Pictures taken at Old Quarter in Hanoi. Images of the weekend night market in the Old Quarter Hanoi.

Vietnam Pictures taken at Old Quarter in Hanoi. Images of the Bia Hoi scene which is very much an attraction in Vietnam itself.

Vietnam pictures taken at the Old Quarter in Hanoi. Pictures of old Vietnamese people sitting around the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake.

Pictures taken at the Old Quarter in Hanoi.