Story: Nam Hoa
Photo: Minh Tuu
Golden rice fields stretch toward the mountains as white wind turbines spin overhead, creating one of the most distinctive rural landscapes on Vietnam’s South-Central Coast.
In a land bathed in sunshine and sea breezes year-round, the Dam Nai Wind Farm, located in the former Ninh Thuan Province, now part of Khanh Hoa Province, takes on a striking new character during the rice harvest season. Golden fields, gleaming white wind turbines, and the earthy brown clothing of local farmers come together to create a landscape where rural life and modern renewable energy exist in quiet harmony.
The golden season in the land of sun and wind
I arrived in the Dam Nai area on a breezy morning. From National Highway 1A, rows of wind turbines stretched across the brilliant blue sky, a striking reminder of the region’s role as one of Vietnam’s leading renewable energy hubs. Yet it was only after leaving the highway and following a narrow road toward Dam Nai that I encountered a scene that truly made me pause. What was then Ninh Thuan Province had been envisioned as one of Vietnam’s leading renewable energy hubs.
At the foot of the towering turbines, rice fields were ready for harvest. The wind never ceased, turning the blades steadily overhead, while below, ripened rice stretched toward the mountains, glowing like honey beneath the sun of Vietnam’s South-Central Coast. Wind power has become an unmistakable feature of this sun-drenched, wind-swept landscape. Yet unlike the turbines perched on hillsides or lining the coast, those at Dam Nai possess a character all their own. Rising directly from the fields, they seem woven into the rhythm of ordinary rural life.
During the harvest, the landscape unfolds in colors that shift from one paddy to the next. Some fields shimmer in rich gold, while others remain vividly green, blending into a patchwork of soft, natural hues. Narrow farm roads weave through the paddies, drawing the eye toward the deep green mountains on the horizon. Seen from above, the entire landscape resembles a vast woven tapestry, with rows of white turbines standing out as graceful accents across the golden fields.
I wandered slowly through the windswept fields in the early morning, breathing in the gentle fragrance of ripened rice carried on the breeze. In the distance, a combine harvester worked steadily across the paddies. On the fields already harvested, neatly rolled hay bales lay scattered across the landscape, like giant spools of yarn left behind in the open countryside.
Standing there, I never felt as though I was in the midst of a modern energy facility. Instead, what stayed with me was the quiet harmony of a rural landscape in the harvest season with wind turbines rising against the sky, where sea breezes and golden rice fields come together to tell the ongoing story of this remarkable region.
Open skies over golden fields
By late afternoon, as the day’s heat began to soften, Dam Nai revealed yet another side of its beauty. The golden light slanted across the freshly harvested fields, bathing the rolled hay bales in warm amber hues. Long shadows from the wind turbines stretched across the paddies, while their blades continued their steady rotation in the sea breeze.
The roads originally built to construct and service the turbines have since become everyday routes for local farmers, carrying combine harvesters, trucks laden with rice, and trailers stacked with straw during the harvest season. Rural life continues much as it always has; only now, above the fields, the quiet rhythm of renewable energy has become part of the landscape.
I lingered until sunset was near, simply watching the slow choreography unfolding against the sky. The wind swept across the rice fields in gentle waves that rolled toward the horizon, while overhead, the turbine blades turned unhurriedly. Nature and human endeavor seemed to move in perfect rhythm. Perhaps that is what makes Dam Nai’s golden season linger in the memory, offering something far deeper than a beautiful landscape.
Sun and wind were once symbols of hardship in this land. Today, they have become some of its most valuable natural resources. Local people still recall the years when the harsh, arid climate made farming an endless challenge. Now, the wind is harnessed by towering turbines to generate clean energy, while the rice fields below continue their seasonal cycle, just as they have for generations.
As I left Dam Nai, the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains. I looked back one last time at the white turbine blades turning steadily against the fading sky. Below, the fields still glowed with the last golden light of day, while the earthy scent of freshly cut straw drifted on the breeze, mingling with the distant hum of harvesting machines. It struck me then how naturally two harvests coexist here: the harvest of rice upon the land, and the harvest of wind overhead.
