Making decent handicraft products is one of the highlights of BenTre. Since it’s the kingdom of coconut, which is often used as the sole materials for these types of gifts. No doubt, without the hands of amazing artists here, no single coconut material can become the fine art items!
Lying in Cuu Long River Delta, Ben Tre Province owns the best soil conditions for growing the coconut trees. They tend to have many fruits with a higher content of oil than those grown in other areas of Vietnam. Here’s your chance to learn further about Ben Tre and its development of coconut handicraft villages in Ben Tre.
Ben Tre, the capital of “coconuts” overview
With immense orchards of green coconut trees, Ben Tre Province is renowned as the capital of “coconuts” in Vietnam. For locals, such trees bear a unique position in their cultural life and the whole economic development process. As mentioned above, coconut trees in the region own the highest value as compared to others.
That’s why the fruits can be used to make everything, from food to drinks, from household items to fine art products. This industry has brought great prosperity to every farmer in Ben Tre.
As estimated since 2011, the region owned more than 51,000 ha of coconut trees, of which over 41,000 ha yielded the output of over 400 million of fruits per year. Besides, the province has 70 enterprises along with 1,400 facilities and nearly 50,000 workers involved in producing and processing coconut items.
Mentioning the benefits of this coconut processing and making industry, you can listen to Ho Vinh Sang – the Chairman of Ben Tre Coconut Association. As he said, if a coconut is sold via small trading ways, we only get VND 11,000.
Meanwhile, when a coconut made into a product for export purposes, it brings over VND 100,000, about 10 times higher. In other words, it confirms that the coconut making industry will bring extensive economic efficiency and jobs for locals.
Top 3 coconut handicraft villages in Ben Tre to visit
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Hung Phong coconut straw basket weaving village – Giong Trom
Hung Phong (so-called Con Oc), situated away from the mainland and on the floating alcove. So to reach the coconut basket weaving village, you have to travel by water or by road if you want.
Tourists coming to this area will have a chance to watch how the coconut straw basket is made. It’s claimed that the workers must learn knitting and implementation steps, like the spokes, frame, knitting, wrapped filming, cracked and so on.
The basket weaving job here has been created and continued for almost 20 years. It has grown much stronger, nearly by household production.
Thanks to such a great abundance of styles, the market has been favored much more than ever, particularly at the end of the year. This is also due to the higher demand for gift baskets, and the products are thankfully consumed quite a lot.
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An Thanh & Khanh Thanh Tan coconut fiber craft villages
Undoubtedly, this is a newly-developed village that has its base in the certain regions where coconut trees are grown. But you can only find it mainly in An Thanh Commune, Mo Cay and Khanh Thanh Tan Commune of Ben Tre Province.
A large number of exotic and diverse items have been formed through the craftsmanship and dexterity of the local workers.
However, especially in these two handicraft villages, the production of coconut fiber products are consumed in and outside the country. They’re usually exported regularly to foreign countries, such as Korea, Malaysia, India…
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Mat weaving village (Nhon Thanh, AnHiep, Thanh Thoi B of Chau Thanh District)
Most mat weaving handicraft villages in Ben Tre show up quite soon, running year-round in the commune. They tend to begin from January to the end of the lunar month.
The production of these crafted mats exploded in the last months of the year. The reason for this is that people here and other neighboring regions tend to purchase new mats with new decorative patterns to use.
For weaving job, women will be the ones who are considered as the main workers. It’s because they have enough patience, clever hands, skills so that they can easily weave the nice-looking and durable mats as fast as possible.
Besides, these mat weavers can freely sell straight to those living in the region or sell to the peddlers nearby.
Aside from these handicraft villages in Ben Tre, there are several nice traditional houses for you to come and join these activities. Cam Thanh village is one of them!
Visiting other traditional villages in Ben Tre
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Chau Thanh coconut candy village
Lying nearby Rach Mieu bridge, Chau Thanh coconut village is one of the few ecotourism sites maintaining Vietnamese tradition. By getting to this place, you do not only witness the production process but also have a chance to make candies.
The main products made here are mainly food, cosmetics, handicrafts, and other items for the industrial segment.
You can witness how the cakes, candy, milk, and jelly are made. At the same time, it’s easier than ever to see the oil, lip balm, masks, shampoo, and mosquito repellent making. If not, there’s another chance for you to watch the production of activated carbon from coconut shells and coconut fibers.
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My Long girdle cake village
Another traditional village to visit is My Long girdle cake village. From Ben Tre city, let’s follow the road 885, which takes about 7km to the craft village. This place is situated in My Thanh Commune (Dong Trom), and quite popular to all consumers for sure. In other words, its products have great fame inside and outside the region.
Interestingly, this girdle cake has various flavors so that you can freely choose your favorite. They are the coconut milk fat cake (sweet and salty types), coconut fat cake with added milk, chicken eggs, and non-coconut milk cakes.
And of course, the tastiest cake to pick out here will be the coconut cake. Once placing it on a charcoal grill, the bread instantly owns a charming aroma of fat.
