With this being my second time visiting the city, I am exploring my surroundings a bit more. I have decided on another day trip, this time to see a specialty of the area that has been produced in the region for hundreds of years. Come experience the beautiful Vietnamese culture at Nam O Fish Sauce Village with me.
Getting There
Located south of the city of Da Nang, this village is only about 13 kilometres away. I chose to take a Grab and be dropped off at the market. The cost was 211,000 dong or $11 CAD. If you are driving, this is a fairly easy find as we just followed the coastline up, after crossing through the city.
Having absolutely no idea where to find the actual fish sauce production, I decided on the market as a good starting place. I though I would see it for sale and ask the vendor where to locate the production area. Alas, that plan was foiled when I showed up at the market only to find the building deserted.
What Now?
Needing a new plan, I decided to explore the village and see if I would be lucky enough to happen upon it by accident. The site around the market was bustling with commerce, so I headed into an area on the map that looked a lit haphazard. This indicates to me, that the area is old and was created before there was municipal street planning.
What I found was marvellous! An actual village with old houses, narrow alleys and lanes, colourful buildings and beautiful people.
Rice Paper Making
Within five minutes of entering a small alley, I turned a corner and ran right into a rice paper manufacturer! How lovely! With the encouragement from the big grin on the mans face that was outside, and the wave of his hand to follow, I did just that.
Inside I found two lovely women busy at the rice paper machine. This was a new sight, for my last field trip I had visited Tuy Loan Rice paper making village, where these sheets were being made my hand.
The paper discs were coming fast and furious down the conveyor belt. Each one had to be carefully lifted off and placed onto mesh that was spread across a bamboo sheet. Once the sheet was full, which happened in under two minutes, it was carried outside by the gent, and placed onto a cart.
From here, the cart is transported to another space, where these are laid out on the roof of a building to dry in the sunshine! These busy Vietnamese folks were so kind and friendly to me, I left here with the biggest grin across my face.
Nam O Village
Wandering through these little alleys is incredibly charming. I can witness first hand, their culture and way of life. From the brightly coloured buildings, doors and windows, to the clothes drying in the breeze. Everything I saw was such an interesting and beautiful sight.
I passed three women and a child in the street. They immediately said ‘hello’ and some words that I didn’t understand. I pulled out my translating app and discovered they wanted to know where I was from, what age I was and if I had a husband. It was a beautiful interaction as we all crouched down in the alley sharing smiles and hand gestures. Some of the translation was difficult to understand. 🙂
Then a little further on, this elderly woman comes out of her front entrance as I am admiring an old temple gate. She says some things I don’t recognize and grabs my hand. She holds on tight and won’t let me go. I stand there, smiling at her, saying the few Vietnamese words I know and we share such a delicate and beautiful moment.
Cemetery
After I was free again, and just like Tuy Loan Village, I stumbled across a cemetery. This one had uniform cement graves of a rectangle shape rather than the circle and dome ones I am more familiar with. There was also a large family grave at a junction between several alleys.
Just like in Thailand, it is not uncommon here to have the grave of relatives right in the yard of your home and I did see this here as well.
Shops
One thing I find incredibly interesting are the little shops and eateries spread throughout this village. It looks like the owners, simply open a window or slide a door over, and the store is ready for business. To see all of the snacks and goods hanging from every inch of space looks like chaos but all is arranged according to category.
Down near the railroad tracks, there are vendors selling fresh produce and fish on any available patch of space that won’t be impeding the passing motorbikes. I don’t know why, but seeing this quaint and humble commerce, near the tracks, with the old rail markings, was such an enchanting sight.
Vendors offered me big smiles and didn’t seem to mind me taking photos and admiring their goods. I enjoyed this part of the village so much.
Village Temple
With no fish sauce in sight, I kept wandering through the village. I came across a gorgeous, bright and colourful temple and of course had to enter to see everything. I was immediately greeted by two women, who took my hands and guided me around the grounds. It was incredibly sweet.
They wanted to show me everything. I mean everything! The priest even arrived with his lunch and showed me his sleeping quarters, and then I was shown the lady’s bedrooms as well. Very humble indeed, a thin cot, fridge and table with a rice cooker and a few utensils.
There were beautiful pagodas at this temple, one especially striking and many trees and flowers. What a glorious place. One of the women did not leave my side and followed me out of the temple.
This is when I got lucky. With the help of the translation app, she asked me what I wanted to see next, and I told her I had come to learn about the fish sauce. With my hand in hers, she led me down alleys and into lanes. I decided to trust the process, go with the flow, and let myself be guided by this sweet woman right into the next post.
