Heartbroken over the rivers

1. Suddenly, I remembered my first migration. Everything came back to me like a slow-motion film.

That year, I was 10 years old, taking a canoe from Vang wharf in Le Son village to Minh Cam wharf (Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh province). It was also the first time I saw the Gianh River flowing through beautiful villages and its winding bends, the river nestled against majestic limestone mountains. (Later, as I grew older, I thought that the image of the river nestled against the mountains was like a girl with flowing hair leaning against the strong chest of a young man)...

2. “…Cruising on Russian rivers also takes you to places difficult to access by road, such as the ancient town of Yaroslavl, a symbol of the architectural development and style of the Tsarist era. Or the strange city of Uglich with the stone house of Grand Duke Dmitry, built in the 15th century… Located on Lake Onega, Kizhi Island will captivate you with its unique wooden architecture, most notably the two wooden churches that still retain their pristine beauty, built in the 18th century…” These are the glowing descriptions of a travel company about a river tour in the land of the White Birch.

Gianh River during the festival. Photo: Quang Binh Tourism Promotion Center.

But the real-life experience was even more magical when I took a 10-day trip on the rivers of Russia in 2014. When the boat stopped at a village along the river, it was as if we were encountering a "scene" with characters from centuries ago stepping out of Russian literature. There were women wearing floral headscarves selling salted fish and raspberry jam by the riverbank next to apple trees laden with fruit. Or a man sitting in a wooden boat fishing, with a forest of golden trees behind him. Then, suddenly, we saw a garden full of flowers, a woman with a floral headscarf pushing open a wooden gate, a wooden ladle in her hand… At each stop, tourists are immersed in the memories of the land with different, fascinating stories about the characters and history of that place, making them reluctant to leave.

What we harvested ashore made most tourists no longer feel any inconvenience in the tiny cabin on the boat during the long trip. During that trip, we, a group of journalists from Vietnam, and the Chairman of the Board of Focus Travel, Mr. Dang Bao Hieu, the organizer of the trip, had many informal conversations about the dream of river tourism in Vietnam. This also laid the groundwork for us to jointly organize the "Stories of the Rivers" competition ten years later (from March 2024 to September 2024).

3. We—nearly a hundred people (including writers, journalists, tourism businesses, and cultural and tourism management officials from several southern localities)—had two trips "wading" the Mekong River on the La Marguerite boat of Focus Travel Company.

The La Marguerite cruise ship sails on the Co Chien River, through the Vinh Long province.

Unlike our trip to Russia, our impression was limited to the beautiful ship in the middle of the river, inspired by the famous movie "The Lover," rather than the stop on the shore.

Sadly, most of the tourists on these beautiful 5-star cruise ships on the Mekong River are not Vietnamese. “The journey is heartbreaking because this ship spends more time in Cambodia than in Vietnam. It spends 5 days on the Cambodian waterway and the remaining 3 days in Vietnam,” lamented Mr. Dang Bao Hieu. His efforts to connect with localities along the Mekong River are his way of finding solutions to increase the length of his cruises within Vietnam, with Vinh Long being a prime example.

“Regarding the Mekong River, promoting the development of riverside products to revitalize tourism requires connecting localities, ensuring synchronization, and having someone to lead. If not at the national level, then at the regional level,” – With 17 years of experience in the tourism industry, including 7 years as Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee in charge of tourism, Mr. Tran Huu Binh (writer Binh Ca), former Vice Chairman of the Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee, shared his invaluable experience.

4. If you visit Ho Chi Minh City during these last days of the year, it won't be difficult to notice the unexpectedly vibrant banks of the Saigon River. The beauty of a "Riverside City" with over ten million inhabitants must begin with the not-so-far-fetched dreams of the city's leaders; and also with daring and resourceful entrepreneurs like Nguyen Kim Toan, director of Thuong Nhat Co., Ltd. (the investor of the Saigon Waterbus waterway tourism service chain), who is considered a pioneer for waterway transportation in Saigon and the whole country.

Mr. Dang Bao Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Focus Travel: The Quang Binh River is short and steep, so investing in luxury cruises like those on the Mekong River is not feasible; more suitable options are needed. Quang Binh needs unique stories, landmarks, and local cuisine so that tourists can not only experience the tranquility of the river but also feel the imprint of the local culture.

The rivers of Quang Binh province have the potential to become heritage rivers, cultural rivers, transportation rivers, and economic rivers, bringing benefits to the locality if the water surface, riverbanks, and riverside land are properly exploited. To expand river tourism to the wider market, the province must develop long-term plans, remove bottlenecks, and implement appropriate policies to attract and invite investors.

On a speedboat trip from Bach Dang Wharf to Can Gio, crossing the Long Tau River, listening to Toan recount the early days of the river bus service, we suddenly remembered the image of Ho Chi Minh City leaders sitting on a boat on the Seine River (France) in 2022, right after the Covid-19 pandemic ended. Since then, the Saigon River has undergone significant changes every day. Mr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Institute, shared: Ho Chi Minh City leaders have made field trips to learn about models and experiences in developing waterway transportation and tourism in advanced countries with famous rivers flowing through them, in order to develop appropriate policies to exploit the advantages of the river. Currently, a comprehensive plan along both banks of the Saigon River is being formed.

During my journey from Bach Dang Wharf to Can Gio, I—a migrant over half a century old—as I watched the bustling activity on the docks and followed the large ships leaving the river mouth for the sea, gazing out at the endless horizon, once again dreamt of traveling along the Gianh River in my hometown.

5. In the book "Stories of Rivers" (comprising 56 selected works from nearly 500 entries), more than a dozen rivers in Quang Binh are featured, associated with renowned writers and journalists. The Kien Giang, Nhat Le, Gianh, Long Dai, and Son rivers—the rivers of their homeland—appear through poignant writings, flowing like their ever-present love for their birthplace.

Following the "Stories of the Rivers" awards ceremony at a riverside hotel in Saigon, a group of journalists from Quang Binh Newspaper traveled downstream along the Mekong River to participate in a discussion about the tourism potential of Vinh Long, an upcoming stop on the La Marguerite boat trip (thanks to the natural connection of the competition program). Their article, "Awakening the Rivers," published in Quang Binh Newspaper afterward, served as encouragement and support for me—someone who has always been concerned about what I can do to connect the flow of my homeland's rivers to the open sea.

“Each river in Quang Binh, with its rich history, is a story full of emotion. There are legends about the Nhat Le River through the ups and downs of history, the Gianh River as the dividing line during the Trinh-Nguyen conflict, or the Son River with the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, a World Natural Heritage site…” – it seems that day, I shared with the local journalists a great deal of my passion about how to transform Quang Binh’s rivers into unique tourism products.

The conversations between the group of journalists and the experts on the boat, recorded in two installments of this article, if listened to and continued, might one day alleviate the suffering of the rivers of Quang Binh.

Luong Thi Bich Ngoc

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/dat-va-nguoi-quang-binh/202501/dau-dau-nhung-dong-song-2224080/