The Hon Khoi Salt Fields are one of the most unique tourist
destinations in Nha Trang, Viet Nam. Mounds of natural
salt are manually harvested from shallow field ponds
along Doc Let Beach.
The salt fields are large areas of ground slightly above
the level of the ocean. The walls are at such a height
that at high tide, the water flows over the wall onto the
fields. But when the tide recedes, the water is trapped
there. The water on the fields evaporates to a degree,
leaving the remaining water saltier than before.
Over the span of a year, the saltiness of the water gets so
high that crystals of salt form and sink to the bottom of
the ponds.
Once a year, laborers (mostly men) in Nha Trang come
to the fields with long-handled scrappers and rake
the salt into piles.
Collecting the salt into piles.
It is a massive job.
Once the salt is raked into piles, it is left for about 10 days,
depending on the weather, in order for the salt that is above
water level to dry out.
The tops of the piles are allowed to dry.
Once the tops of the piles are dry enough to harvest,
"salt farmers", almost all of whom are
women - usually middle aged - come, each person with
two baskets.
The harvesters enter the field.
Each basket holds about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of salt.
They pick a pile and load it into their baskets.
When the baskets are full, they carry them back to shore
to be placed on an ever-growing mound of salt.
The mounds must grow higher instead of wider, so
the women must climb to the top to dump their
baskets.
The mounds of salt will be loaded into trucks for market.
The average workday is from 4AM to sunset every day.
Human skin and lungs cannot survive this environment,
so the workers wear plastic gloves and boots, a face
mask to protect from the salt dust, and a conical hat
to protect from the sun.
Once the mounds have been basketed up, the remainder
is below water and will not dry.
So the remaining salt is again raked into new piles,
allowed to dry, and the process starts again.
There is enough salt in these ponds to keep this process
going from January through June of each year. Each year,
the fields produce over 730,000 tons of salt, all harvested
without the use of any machinery, totally through the hard
labor of the "salt farmers". One might think that
this labor is done by poor or transient people, but that is
not the case. These are proud farmers who have held these
jobs and these fields for generations. Wars and famines
have come and gone, but the need for salt has never waned.
They make a good living and are known to be very friendly
and happy people who love the work they do and the product
they produce.
At one time, the salt farmers produced all the salt used
in Viet Nam.Now, however, mechanized salt production has
dropped the use of their salt to about 30% of the country's
needs. So, they work harder and longer hours, but still
love what they do and are proud to say that they are
harvesters of "the gift of the sea".
NOTE: The UK's Daily Mail ranked these fields as the
13th most photogenic place in the world, and it has become
a magnet for tourists and photographers. The most
photogenic times, of course, are morning and evening when
the sun is low and more dramatic. Besides, during the
warmer months, the mid-day temperatures can easily reach
40 degrees centigrade (104 degrees Fahrenheit). At any time,
however, the workers are friendly and happy to pose for pictures,
if you don't keep them from their work too long. They
only speak their local language, so unless you
speak their dialect of Vietnamese, there won't be any
conversations or interviews.
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