About Vietnam travel - Visitors to Sa Dec Town in the Mekong Dlta province of Dong Thap can admire gardens full of colorful flowers in spring time or visit Huynh Thuy Le House where French hit movie L’amant (The Lover) was filmed. But there is another side to this area of the delta and tourists should take time to have a look at Dinh Yen sleeping mat craft village in Dinh Yen Commune, Lap Vo District.
Located around 33 kilometers from Sa Dec Town, the craft village lies along the bank of Hau River. Through the passage of time and industrial development, the village has stood strong for almost 100 years and it is a source of pride for locals and an attractive tourist site.
For a long time, sleeping mats were a way of life in Vietnam. People still use the mats to sleep or sit on and not only in homes as they are used in religious ceremonies or sacred places or festivals. In Vietnamese culture, a beautiful sleeping mat is very important for newly-weds and the mat is considered part of many love stories.
The main material to make sleeping mats is lat trees. Every household, in the village, has one or two weaving looms. The craft is handed down to younger generations in the craft village. It is a fascinating spectacle for visitors to see the whole family gather to make mats as they choose lat strings to dry, weave and decorate.
Coming here, tourists will have a chance to attend the village’s market where millions of products of different kinds from the Cuu Long River delta and the eastern area of Southern Vietnam are exchanged every year. Particularly in the last month or the first and second months of the year of the lunar calendar, mats are much sought-after. One of the most outstanding features of the market, different from those in other regions, is that buyers will stay at a place to wait for sellers who carry products on their shoulders.
Another unique feature of the market is that the market is held at night for two hours because the locals arebusy weaving mats all day long and they only go to the market at night.
The market is always animated with young female sellers who enthusiastically introduce to customers various kinds of mats, diverse in colours and patterns. Prices vary widely and a lot of bartering can be seen going on.
In An Le Hamlet, the family of Ho Thi Muoi has an age-old tradition of making mats. Her 70 year-old mother and daughter Vo Thi Tu Trinh, 22 years old, diligently weave mats. Muoi said: “Nobody knows when the mat-making craft was established in the village. At present, almost households in the hamlet participate in the craft after harvest time, helping to provide a stable income.”
In the wharf are hundreds of boats and junks of traders from different provinces who go to the market to buy mats. Each trader buys 500 to 1,000 mats to sell all over the watery area of Cuu Long River. The market is also the place where mat-making materials from Sa Dec, Vinh Long, etc., are sold.
Visiting the market, tourists will be impressed by an exciting atmosphere of the market on the yard of An Phuoc Pagoda. It will be an excited experience for tourist travel to Vietnam as well as impressed travel spot of tours in Vietnam
Hong Tam
(Collection)
