FJI: Lawai Pottery Village

Sigatoka Valley Road, Sigatoka, Fiji

From the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, my BFF and I were driven to one of the Chicken Express branches at Nadi Downtown for an early lunch. Subsequently, we went all the way to Sigatoka at the southern part of Viti Levu to visit the traditional Lawai Pottery Village. The journey took approximately an hour and a half, allowing time for us to take a power nap. 

Upon reaching the village, we were greeted by a friendly woman, the wife of the village chief to be exact. We were given a quick tour around the small, yet tranquil village. I didn't take a lot of pictures that afternoon, but here are some of them.

That's the church!

I was filled with an aura of serenity inside the small, but well-maintained church.

Flowing next to the village is the Sigatoka River which looks clean and blue. The villagers fish for, well, fishes and clams as part of their diet. 

After the short tour, we were invited into the village hall for the kava ceremony. Each of us was given a very simple garland to wear. Here's a very short video clip of the village chief preparing the kava drink in a communal bowl as he, together with the rest, sang an opening song in Fijian.

As mentioned in one of the earlier posts, I saw the kava roots and stems being sold at the wet market at Nadi Downtown. My first cup of the drink, which has sedative and euphoriant properties, didn't leave much of an impression. Thus, I agreed to have a second cup when it was offered to me. In general, kava drink doesn't have much of a taste, but it does produce a numbing sensation on the tongue.

I was so happy to tick kava drink off my bucket list!

Following that, we were entertained with more songs and dance by the villagers. We were also treated to a demonstration of their skills in pottery making.

We bought a few as souvenirs of various shapes and sizes before thanking everyone for the warm hospitality and bidding goodbye to them.

Thank you for showing us around, madam!

What a memorable cultural experience in Fiji! :)