Taking a tour anywhere in Vietnam I have found very interesting and you could say the latest half day tour I took with my friend Nicole sent us potty.
We decided to join one of the Hanoi International Women's Club outings for the morning which lead us to Bat Trang Village to see all types of pottery.
The tour was lead by two of the French women who had recently published a book on the subject of pottery of Vietnam. With a little information on the making of the pottery we where free to roam one of the market places. After a while my eyes started to hurt as there was so much to see, roaming around one hour didn't seem enough time to view all on sale.
It turns out that Bat Trang is the most famous and long-standing pottery village in Vietnam
Some information I found was according to a legend, the village was first called as Bach Tho Phuong before its name was changed into Bat Trang Phuong. According to some archaeological documents, plenty of pottery items has been discovered at many old relics and monuments built in Ly Dynasty. Sir Nguyen Trai, a great politician, strategist, diplomat and poet, wrote in his Du Dia Chi Book at the beginning of Le Dynasty that Bat Trang used to provide 70 sets of bowls and plates as tribute paid for China. This fact proves that pottery items were very sophisticated in the past from this area. At present, pagodas and temples in Vietnam still have carefully-carved incense burners and lamp stands, which were made in the 16th century (for example Boi Khe Pagoda in Ha Tay Province).
I can honestly say that a morning of viewing so much pottery & ceramics doesn't make me an expert on the subject but I sure now know what styles I like and what I don't. I think this village will be somewhere I would like to come back to walk around when there is more time.
Picture: Ladies listening to information about the ceramics
Picture: Show room at one of the ceramics shop
Picture: Nicole & Bernadette on the tour
Picture: Main gate to shopping area
Picture: Some ceramics stalls in the village
Picture: Some of the ceramics
Picture: One of the buildings where the ceramics is fired
Picture: Some ceramics drying before being fired
Picture: A man delivering some large ceramic vases
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