Noodle works

The village of Cu Da in Ha Tay province specializes in the manufacture of a type of noodle called mien - a translucent vermicelli. I think it is made from tapioca which comes from up in the mountains. It isn't grown around here anyway. While wandering around the village we walked into a couple of these places - the people were invariably friendly and quite happy to let us have a squiz. There is some kind of ingredient added to colour the noodles - which come in white, pale gold and a deeper gold colour according the the amount of this stuff added. I've never seen the gold ones on the table though. Half the households in Cu Da are in this business and the noodles are hanging out to dry all over the place. They make the village look very cheerful, but the smell is pretty horrid!