I had an appointment with some young men, so even though it was almost the end of the year and work was quite busy, I still took the opportunity to take a trip to the South. The first stop was Can Tho, also known as Tay Do, considered the capital of the Southwest region.
Cruise ship at Ninh Kieu wharf - Photo: PXD
Ninh Kieu Wharf
In the Central Coast and many places in the Central Highlands, there were reports of rain and floods, but when the plane from Hue landed at Tan Son Nhat, the sky was calm, the clouds were white and the sun was golden. When I got off the plane, I bought a bus ticket to Can Tho. It has been exactly 10 years since I returned to this land.
The taxi driver was a cheerful, open-minded local like many people in the West, driving and chatting animatedly. He asked me if I knew Can Tho, I replied that I had the opportunity to stay here for a few days so I knew enough about this land, not too unfamiliar. He exclaimed and said: "So you know six sentences...". Wow, the sentence is very normal, very familiar in the West, but it has been a long time since I heard it again and it was uttered by the people here. The West is like that, no high-level theories, no long-winded words. Whoever knows something, understands a certain land... just calls it very briefly, simply, and easily understood: "Know six sentences...". The six sentences here are six vọng cổ sentences, because the people in the West are most addicted to vọng cổ songs, whether happy or sad, singing them in ceremonies or festivals, like eating and drinking, like the air they breathe every day. So it seems that everything is compared to the story of six vọng cổ sentences.
Taking a room right next to Ninh Kieu wharf has become a subject of poetry and music. We went for a walk on Sunday night. Ninh Kieu night market with its impressive signboard attracts quite a lot of tourists. Along the river are colorful tourist boats with electric lights, looking very splendid. Occasionally, a rather large cruise ship passes by, echoing the singing of river music on the weekend. The young friends who went with me seemed to enjoy the liberal style of Western music. Continuing along Ninh Kieu park, we will see a map marking the history of Vietnam's sovereignty over the sea and islands. The young people stopped to take pictures next to the map. We continued to come across an open-air music program organized by a group of young people. The way it was done was simple, with one person introducing, two musicians and the singers from the audience. The audience stood in a circle around, full of excitement. There was both old and new music, in the Southern style it was called "tan co giao duyen". This type of activity is similar to the one around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi.
After walking a hundred meters, I saw a group of about 4 or 5 young people sitting on the floor playing guitars and singing to each other. There are several groups like that along Ninh Kieu wharf. This type of cultural activity is healthy, quite civilized, historical, comfortable, free, and does not bother others. That is a new thing that I think needs to be encouraged, especially for the young generation after 10 years of returning to Ninh Kieu.
Go to Cai Rang floating market
Even though we slept late the night before, the four of us still woke up early at 4am the next morning to catch the first boat to Cai Rang floating market.
While the whole city was still sleeping, the night had not yet ended, the wharf and the boats were bustling, tourists were standing in line waiting, the female voice of the boat owner was heard directing the boat driver to the shore. After reminding the passengers to wear life jackets, the driver started the engine and the boat cut through the waves. The captain, who was under 40 years old and named Vo Trung Hiep, was steering the boat while saying: "We will go through 4 bridges, stop at Cai Rang floating market, passengers can have breakfast, drink coffee right on the boat, then visit a craft village and return...". Even though I had been to this floating market before, I still love to travel, especially to experience the feeling of welcoming the sunrise on the river from the boats moving very skillfully. The boat was running, a bridge appeared in front of us with the brand promotion words, clearly stating: "Cai Rang floating market" flashing continuously. The three young men were so excited, they shouted: "So cool!" and took the opportunity to take pictures and record a clip as souvenirs. Captain Hiep explained again in the sound of the engine: “The boats that look like houses on the shore belong to people who have been trading on the river for many years, people call them merchants. The boat is divided into 3 parts, the first part is the most important for worship, the middle part is for sleeping, the last part is for drying clothes, living, bathing”. Traveling along the West, what you see on the shore, you see exactly the same thing in the river. There are gas stations along the river for boats to refuel, even the boats that look like floating houses have addresses like houses on land...
Here it is, Cai Rang floating market, bustling with boats. Here, each boat has a bamboo pole a few meters long, hanging the food of their boat, the locals here call it "hanging what you sell", for example, hanging sweet potatoes, selling sweet potatoes, hanging coconuts, selling coconuts... At that moment, the boats selling breakfast and coffee were around the boats carrying tourists, happily inviting them. We, some ate noodles, some ate crab vermicelli soup, then drank coffee, not forgetting to invite the captain to have breakfast with the guests. The young men praised the food as delicious and really liked the way of eating on the river. Looking around, many foreign tourists were equally excited to have interesting and unique experiences.
Then, everyone was invited to the craft village. Anyone who was there for the first time would be curious to see the locals introducing how to make noodles. Next to the blazing furnaces, the flexible hands of the artisan-like workers made many viewers admire and marvel.
On the way back, we saw boats continuing to go to Cai Rang floating market... This unique cultural area still welcomes visitors from near and far every day.
Pham Xuan Dung
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