HANOI – Standing at the ancient village of Duong Lam and taking pictures, Tran Quoc Trung seemed to be traveling through space to return to the past.
Tran Quoc Trung, born in 1982, lives in Ba Dinh, Hanoi, impresses the travel community on social networks with a series of photos of Duong Lam ancient village. This is the 4th time he has come here and decided to preserve the memory with pictures. “I am afraid that one day the village will be urbanized, only memories are left through pictures,” Trung shared. The series of photos, which he named “Forgotten Old Town”, has now garnered nearly 8,500 likes and about 500 comments.
There are many entrances to the ancient village, but the Mong Phu gate still bears the most impression. This is the only remaining ancient village gate in the Northern region. Through many ups and downs, the Mong Phu gate is still very intact, imbued with the soul of the homeland of Doai. Standing in this area, time seems to slow down, it’s like going back to the past.
Located about 45 km from modern Hanoi city, Duong Lam ancient village is a stopover for tourists who want to find the old imprints. This place well preserves the characteristics of the old village of the North with banyan trees, water wharf, communal house yard… Among thousands of villages across the country, Duong Lam is the first place to receive the title of the architectural monument of art. National level art.
Trung’s idea expressed through the series of photos is the preservation of moments and memories of a peaceful, ancient and bold village in the North, which is now preserved by very few places due to urbanization. He also posted on social networks because he wanted friends near and far to know this place more. In terms of preparation, Trung said that the weather is the most important factor to produce beautiful photos and luckily he was supported by the weather, without difficulty.
A memorable memory with Trung is finding photo samples. He had to ask acquaintances to contact the old people in the village and had to be the old women who dyed their teeth to match the village scene. The custom of dyeing teeth black has existed since ancient times, now only remaining in the previous generation. Trung has to work quickly and accurately because he doesn’t want to waste the time of elderly people. He adjusted the standard time frames to have the best sunlight, selecting the most soulful and natural photos of life.
In the morning, people prepare sticky rice. Visit some old houses here, you can buy sticky rice as a gift and listen to a description of the process of making sticky rice properly. Jars of soy sauce are displayed in the yard, smelling salty in the air.
Trung shared that sticky rice is one of the cultural and culinary products, a specialty of the ancient village that needs to be preserved. The jars of soy sauce are displayed in the courtyards of ancient house architectures, increasing the impression of space travel.
In the future, Trung will continue to bring images of the peaceful and ancient countryside, not only Duong Lam, to let friends near and far know the beauty of the Vietnamese countryside. Although he has been to Duong Lam 4 times, he always has the urge to return because here, he always encounters childhood images rushing back. The most beautiful time of the year that Trung encourages people to visit Duong Lam is during the ripe rice season. Follow vnexpress
Photo: Tran Quoc Trung