(Vietnam Tourism Review) - Duong Lam old village can pride itself in its vast, well-preserved trove of cultural and historical richness, both tangible and intangible ones, first and foremost the sphere, landscape and environment of an intact long-standing inhabited village. The old village of Duong Lam hosts a number of valuable architectural landmarks already registered by the state, such as Giang Van Minh temple (Mong Phu hamlet); Ngo Quyen temple & mausoleum (Cam Lam hamlet), Mong Phu titular temple and Phung Hung titular temple (Cam Lam hamlet), Doai Giap titular temple (Doai Giap hamlet), Mia pagoda (Dong Sang hamlet), Phu temple (Dong Sang hamlet), various clan temples and Catholic churches…
Duong Lam old village is also home to a variety of intact old-fashioned mansions. Old houses are full of authenticity, from their chronological age to aesthetics and technique, typically comprising 5 or 7 compartments, 2 gables, a kite-shaped concave roof tiled with mossy, dark grave fish skin tiles. The density of old, beautiful houses is at its highest in the hamlets of Mong Phu, Cam Thinh, Dong Sang and Doai Giap. Travelers to Duong Lam can easily glance at Mong Phu village gate roofed with upwardly curved gable and traditional fish skin tiles, old fashioned vendors, little shrines of a community as erected by the corresponding outposts, ancient laterite walled water wells, slanted tiled alleyways and laterite or rammed earth fending walls of residential clusters…
Visitors to this old village can also gain access to ancient documents scattered over sites (imperial ordinances, genealogical records, parallel sentences, signage or stone stelae…). On several occasions, one can also join festivals at titular temples, temples or pagodas and lend a hand in communal tasks of clans, quarters, clusters and teams, as well as their folk performances, fish rites, chicken sacrifices (Mia chickens), blindfolded duck catches, swing, temple processions, human chess, rooster fights or wrestling…
Traditional crafts in Duong Lam are equally diverse, many of which even rose to prominence, including knitting, carpentry, statue sculpture, soy sauce production, weaving, molasses production or laterite abrasives… Local foods are also one of the most rewarding parts of a local tour, such as Mong Phu soy sauce, Mia chickens, roasted pork, nem rolls, traditional confections, mung bean lump, braised molasses compote or spongy cakes…
Duong Lam old village and Va temple and Son Tay citadel are the tourist trip of historical sites and place of worship for visitors to Son Tay town, long a bulwark of civilization and kingship.
Lan Phuong