The Pottery Village
Yesterday, Alyssa, Fred and I traveled to Bat Trang. This village was about a 45-minute bus ride from Hanoi. We decided to go to Bat Trang because it is known for its pottery. The road to the village was bumpy and winding. It was no wider than one and a half lanes in the U.S. It was somewhat scary to see another bus coming towards ours on the narrow road, especially with so many motorbikes around. Along the way we saw numerous instances of the brick-making industry that all of us have read about. There were stacks and stacks of bricks sitting in the fields that we passed by. When we arrived in Bat Trang, the first thing that struck me was how empty the streets were. There was nobody to be seen or motorbikes swerving around us. We walked into the main market where all the ceramic goods were being sold. There was everything from small figurines to beautiful tea sets.
The real treat was walking around the village after shopping. The only movement in the streets was men pushing carts that carried large cans of clay. We realized that what we were seeing was the beginning of the pottery making process. The men were delivering the clay to homes where the clay was formed into various items, vases, teapots, flowerpots etc. We peeked into some of the homes and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of bowls and teacups in their final shape, but in an unfinished state. Some houses looked as if they had roaring fires inside. The walls were covered with black soot. We assumed that these houses were where the pottery was put into the kilns. Next we saw a large building that resembled a warehouse. We could see from the street that this is where the pottery received the glaze that produced the beautiful colors. It was truly amazing to see each step of the pottery making process.