Why did An Nhut field suddenly become popular during the golden rice season?

The road through An Nhut rice fields in Ba Ria - Vung Tau - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

An Nhut Commune in Long Dien District, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province has never been named on the Vietnam tourism map. But now people are excited because of the image of peaceful golden rice fields along the road, sometimes straight, sometimes winding, extremely impressive.

The day I went was a weekday, not a weekend, because I was afraid of the heavy traffic. According to the instructions of young people who had gone, An Nhut was about a 4-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City, but in reality it was only about 2 and a half hours.

At 12 noon, after finishing work, we departed from Ho Chi Minh City on the Long Thanh - Dau Giay highway, turned right at the Long Thanh intersection onto Highway 51 towards Vung Tau.

The rice fields at noon will be very sunny, and there are very few restaurants, so we decided to go straight to Phuoc Hai embankment, 12km away, for a late lunch.

An Nhut Bridge turns into a very hot road through the fields - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

Phuoc Hai embankment - a paradise of affordable seafood

In recent years, tourists from neighboring provinces and districts have tended to go to Phuoc Hai embankment to enjoy seafood. The seafood is quite delicious and the prices are reasonable, so on social media platforms, there are many articles and video clips of culinary experiences in this area.

Tran Hung Dao Street - also known as Phuoc Hai embankment - along Phuoc Hai beach, there are many shops along the road. According to the instructions of many people who have gone before, Kim Tien, Be Chi, Chi Oanh... restaurants all have delicious seafood.

However, we arrived late at lunchtime so only Quy Map restaurant was open and very crowded. Phuoc Hai is famous for its oysters and various types of snails, shrimp, and squid. Steamed oysters are plump and sweet, and cost only 35,000 VND per kilo. In addition, grilled oysters with cheese and grilled oysters with scallion oil are also attractive, but perhaps the simple steamed oysters are still the best.

The embankment is located right next to Phuoc Hai fishing village. On the beach, basket boats are parked close together, fishermen mend nets, arrange nets, and laugh happily while working. The beach is also airy and clean, you can stroll, take pictures, and check-in.

However, we did not forget the purpose of coming here to admire the ripe rice fields, so after being satisfied with seafood, we set out to find An Nhut field.

Sunset on An Nhat field

Tourists try rice husking - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

An Nhut rice field is only about 12km from Phuoc Hai embankment. The road is deserted and beautiful, with trees on both sides of the road. Houses here are quite sparse. Going on D.55 road, you will see a very large rice field. From here, you can stop anywhere to enjoy the scenery. Occasionally on small dirt roads you will see farmers harvesting early rice.

The strong aroma of ripe rice, the smell of stubble mixed with the smell of drying mud filled the air around us. The locals were very happy to see strangers coming, asking for enough information and not hesitating to invite them to try the rice mill, or even lending them "props" to take pictures.

Taking pictures with 'props' in the rice field - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

Go on D.55 road to An Nhut bridge and turn in. This is the road that has been "causing a fever" on social networks all week. This is the best place to watch the sunset and take pictures, because the road is small and not much higher than the rice fields. On both sides of the road there are only ditches and no houses, so the view is not blocked.

The black asphalt road stands out in the middle of the golden rice fields, and it also winds around, making it great for taking pictures. There is also a moderately tall tree that netizens call the lonely tree. Under the shade of this tree, who knows how many "muses" have posed, and how many beautiful pictures have been created.

There are also many tourists from Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City. Mostly young people, sometimes there are families of three generations coming together to enjoy the wind in the fields. The rice fields are cool in the afternoon, the road is quite long so even though there are a lot of people coming to see the rice fields and watch the sunset, it does not cause any noise or inconvenience to each other.

An Nhut rice fields in Ba Ria - Vung Tau - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

An Nhat Country Market

An Nhat Countryside Market - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

An Nhut rural market in Ba Ria - Vung Tau - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

From the sunset viewing point, follow D.55 road for about 1km to reach An Nhut rural market. When we arrived, we thought the rural market was only open on weekends, if it was open during the week, there would probably be only a few stalls. With that mindset, when we arrived, we were surprised because it was very crowded with customers and many stalls.

According to the traders, the rural market has existed for half a year and was located elsewhere, but later the government saw that there were too many visitors causing traffic jams so they planned the market here. The market is about 1km long, has two reasonable and very large parking lots for motorbikes and cars, and has a very dedicated security team to guide.

The market sells a variety of foods from savory to sweet, from traditional to modern fast food. The quality is also average. People come here just to enjoy the atmosphere, without too many expectations, so everyone is happy and comfortable.

Cool wind, large space, sitting in the middle of the country market eating something small and talking about endless stories suddenly feels light.

Lonely tree in An Nhat - Photo: NGUYET PHAM

Many people think that An Nhut only has fields with nothing special, so why does it cause such a "fever"? It's not necessarily the psychology of tourists who like to follow "trends". We personally found the half-day experience very enjoyable, a change of pace to feel refreshed without having to spend a lot of time, money and effort planning, so the trip was worth it.

An Nhut field is not only beautiful in the golden rice season. I think after the rice season, we can come to fly kites, and in the next planting season, the lush green color still gives a fresh beauty.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-canh-dong-an-nhut-mua-lua-chin-vang-bong-nhien-gay-sot-2024033019494011.htm