Unique tourism in the land of 'The Mat Seller's Love'

Ngã Bảy - nơi hội tụ những dòng sông, nhìn từ trên cao như hình một ngôi sao, thế nên người Pháp gọi là ngôi sao Phụng Hiệp - Ảnh: HIỆP VÕ — Nga Bay - where rivers converge, seen from above looks like a star, so the French called it Phung Hiep star - Photo: HIEP VO

The unique features of the relics, new features, and river features in this land are being "upgraded" to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Experience the river and craft villages of "Nga Bay"

Coming to Nga Bay city (Hau Giang) in early summer, you can still feel the coolness and sweet water vapor at the convergence point of seven poetic rivers, a prosperous and peaceful land.

Du khách chụp ảnh lưu niệm tại Cầu tàu chợ nổi và cũng là bến sông ra đời bài vọng cổ Tình anh bán chiếu - Ảnh: HIỆP VÕ — Tourists take souvenir photos at the Floating Market Pier, which is also the river wharf where the folk song Tinh anh ban mat was born - Photo: HIỆP VO

From Can Tho, traveling along Highway 1, about 30 minutes to the center of Nga Bay city, Gia Lam Co Tu appears before your eyes with its unique Indian architecture. The temple yard stands out with a statue of a strong, brave horse, which is the Red Hare of Quan Cong, the locals here call it the Horse Pagoda.

Già Lam Cổ Tự nhìn từ quốc lộ 1 - Ảnh: PHẠM DIỄM — Gia Lam Ancient Temple seen from Highway 1 - Photo: PHAM DIEM

At the same time, the pagoda was also given the name "Single monk temple" by tourists because the pagoda is large and has many unique features such as: having only one monk to look after it, having the most statues in the West, the most unique Xich Tho statue, the heaviest bronze bell... Sometimes, the pilgrimage cars to the pagoda are parked for kilometers on the national highway.

Mr. Le Hoang Xuyen - Chairman of Nga Bay City People's Committee:

Will "awaken" Nga Bay tourism

The special feature of Nga Bay is that it has some gardens with fruit trees that are rarely grown elsewhere, such as rambutan, strawberry, mangosteen... Currently, some travel companies exploit the river for tourism, and every month they also lead groups of tourists to visit these areas.

Since the beginning of the year, the city has welcomed over 27,000 visitors, an increase of more than 34%; revenue reached over 14 billion VND, an increase of 440% over the same period.

However, the weakness of Nga Bay tourism is that visitors hardly stay, so the revenue is low. According to the report of the City Department of Culture and Information, previously, tourists in the city only spent from 100,000 VND to 200,000 VND.

Currently, each tourist has spent nearly 500,000 VND, meaning they have stayed. That shows that the potential of Nga Bay tourism is very large. The local government really wants to promote the tourism values of the city.

Another weakness is that local people do not know how to do tourism. The city has craft villages such as weaving bamboo, building boats, making souvenirs such as cups, mugs, etc. that can be sold, but at present they have not been exploited.

In June 2024, the city will hold a workshop to assess the potential, hear more from experts, and help people understand how to do tourism. In addition, in this event, there will be a train company taking visitors to tourist destinations in the garden.

The predecessor of the pagoda was a small hermitage built in 1940 and now owns 180 statues that many local people ordered artisans to make as offerings. Each statue is a masterpiece associated with a legend, a thrilling story that visitors can listen to the monks here tell all day long.

We moved to the Floating Market Pier, where many ships carrying agricultural products from the city's river branches were gathering goods onto trucks to transport to Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces.

Here, visitors can take souvenir photos of the birthplace of the famous song "Love of a Mat Seller", or walk a few hundred steps to enter the bamboo weaving village, or stop at this pier to sip coffee and watch boats going back and forth, or visitors can rent a boat to start exploring the seven mysterious river branches.

The tourist boat driver took us to visit Nga Bay floating market. The West has many floating markets, but it can be said that Nga Bay floating market was once the best in terms of scale, prosperity, reputation and power.

In 2016, the market was moved about 3km from the old location, and is no longer as bustling as before. The Nga Bay city government is restoring the floating market at this pier.

Sitting on the floating boats, we were taken by the boatman to the ends of Tan Thoi Hoa, Chanh, and Cat capes, which are more than 1km long, to learn about the once prosperous traditional craft villages such as boat building villages, charcoal making villages, etc. While cruising on the river, visitors can also enjoy banh xeo with all kinds of garden vegetables, specialties of freshwater fish, natural snails, etc.

Fascinated by the fruit-laden strawberry gardens

Currently, Nga Bay has many garden homestay tourist spots and over 20 garden tourist spots that produce fruit almost all year round (strawberry, rambutan, durian, mangosteen...), enough for tourists to visit and enjoy the fruits in each season, concentrated near the center of Nga Bay city and the new rural commune of Tan Thanh.

Những vườn trái cây trĩu cành sẵn sàng phục vụ khách tham quan khi về Ngả Bảy - Ảnh: HIỆP VÕ — Fruit gardens full of fruit are ready to serve visitors when they come to Nga Bay - Photo: HIEP VO

Just a bridge across the national highway from the craft village, Thien An strawberry garden is 5 hectares wide, considered the largest fruit garden in Hau Giang province, with many different fruits but the most are Ha Chau strawberries, Siamese strawberries...

Những vườn trái cây trĩu cành sẵn sàng phục vụ khách tham quan khi về Ngã Bảy - Ảnh: HIỆP VÕ — Fruit gardens full of fruit are ready to serve visitors when they come to Nga Bay - Photo: HIỆP VO

Coming here, visitors will be surprised by the vast mulberry trees with 2/3 of the trunks covered in the golden color of mulberry clusters. Visitors can easily pick and enjoy the sweet ripe strawberries. Ms. Le Thi Kim Thoi - a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City - said that her family chose to travel to Nga Bay because it is convenient for transportation and can combine a visit to Ca Mau Cape during the trip.

* Dr. Tran Huu Hiep - Vice President of Mekong Delta Tourism Association:

Need to restore and promote the value of the floating market of seven converging rivers

From a tourism perspective, in my opinion, Hau Giang province in general and Nga Bay city in particular need to do some things to make Nga Bay tourism truly breakthrough, bringing the unique features of the land of "The Mat Seller's Love" to attract tourists more strongly.

Firstly, it is necessary to build and develop the Nga Bay brand by restoring and promoting the value of the floating market and the seven converging rivers. Secondly, it is necessary to form tourist routes connecting Lung Ngoc Hoang, waterway tourism with Hau River, garden tourism, craft village tourism, creating unique tourism products. Thirdly, it is necessary to summarize the resolution of the Standing Committee of Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee in the previous term on the orientation of building and developing Nga Bay city, in which tourism is chosen as a breakthrough development.

At the same time, the family wants to go to the riverbank where the traditional song "Love of the Mat Seller" was born and let the children learn about these seven unique branches.

"Moreover, when coming here, my children can ride bicycles, fish, catch fish, bathe in the river, and enjoy delicious rustic dishes," said Ms. Thoi.

Not only attracting tourists with rivers and fruit gardens, Nga Bay also has traditional craft villages for tourists to have an unforgettable experience. The bamboo weaving village is located along the Cai Con canal, stretching about 2km, is a traditional craft village of weaving bamboo by hand of hundreds of households in area 6, Nga Bay ward.

Coming to this craft village, visitors will feel the rustic character of the people here.

Although busy, some split bamboo, whittled bamboo strips, others weaved bamboo, others made straps... to complete products to supply to the market, visitors will be welcomed by the locals with a warm smile, and they are ready to "hold hands" to help visitors try their weaving skills.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hau Giang province - said that the province prioritizes the development of tourism at Nga Bay floating market to build and develop a community tourism model.

"Invest in the construction and development of a number of key projects such as: an observation tower for seven river branches from above, the restoration of Nga Bay floating market, and the construction of a system of embankments at Nga Bay to serve the development of river tourism. Upgrade the wharf, embankment, and model boats at the restoration site of Nga Bay floating market," said Ms. Ly.

* Place with many thrilling stories

Nga Bay - Phung Hiep, a place with many special things, full of interesting and thrilling stories. In the early 20th century, to serve the colonial exploitation, the French dug a canal combined with opening a road (there is a canal below, there is a road above). Seen from above, the seven canals converge like a seven-pointed star, with the names of the canals: Cai Con, Mang Ca, Lai Hieu, Bung Tau, Muong Lo, Xeo Vong, Xeo Mon. Therefore, the French also called it "Phung Hiep Star".