Summer travel and river dreams

(VHQN) - Summer rivers in Quang Nam are "painting" portraits of river tourism tours and sketching out dreams on the wharf and on the boat...

Nighttime tourism on the Han River today. Photo: HXH

Appointment with the coconut forest

Luan Phan, my old school friend from Binh Nguyen commune (Thang Binh district), just had a trip to the Bay Mau Coconut Forest, Hoi An city. That day, after a while of boating through many sections of the river, we chose a corner in a bamboo hut to sit and enjoy the cool breeze, fish and chat.

Luan Phan's old hometown is no stranger to rivers, where the Ly Ly River flows through. Returning to the country and visiting the Bay Mau Coconut Forest, Luan Phan has his own passion, perhaps because of the familiar feeling when sitting next to the river of his hometown.

In February 2025, Hoi An City issued a plan to arrange and develop new sightseeing routes to serve tourists at the Bay Mau Coconut Forest Historical Site.

Foreign tourists on a tour to explore Bay Mau Coconut Forest. Photo: HXH

Notably, the plan will divide the routes according to tourists' preferences for quiet or excitement. In addition, there will be two more routes to take tourists to learn about the values ​​of the buffer zone of the World Biosphere Reserve and the Cam Thanh bamboo and coconut craft village.

Currently, Cam Thanh has recorded 1,347 people registering to participate in the service of transporting tourists for sightseeing and experiences by basket boat..., which is enough to imagine how bustling this river area in the lower Thu Bon is. The livelihood of the people is truly revealed.

This is also the reason why Hoi An City authorities are confident in researching and building a profile for the “Best Rural Tourism Village in 2025” for Cam Thanh tourist village. Initially, a representative of the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) assessed that Cam Thanh coconut forest is completely worthy of being recognized as the best tourist village, because it possesses community products of the rural river area.

Awakening the "heritage river"

Quang Nam tourism does not only awaken the downstream Thu Bon area. From the downstream, some tours have been designed upstream. The “small group tours” include a cruise tour on the Thu Bon River and the My Son Temple Complex with departure points in Da Nang and Hoi An.

Tourists enjoy the scenery at Hon Kem Da Dung, upstream of Thu Bon River. Photo: LQ

“Boat up and cruise along the Thu Bon River to see the most beautiful sights in the area. Enjoy the stunning views of the Thu Bon Valley, the Cua Dai River and Hoi An ancient houses from the water…” - a Thu Bon River cruise tour described.

For several years now, the Thu Bon River has been mentioned in the hope of becoming a “heritage river”. In a meeting earlier this year 2025, Mr. Le Thai Vu, owner of Hoi An Silk Village, enthusiastically talked about the plan to restore the mulberry industry in Quang Nam, which he had mentioned in a previous major project.

But perhaps the “heritage river” is still just a beautiful idea, because it needs more time to take shape, especially to synchronize with the silk industry. Obviously, tourism has not “awakened” all the rivers of Quang Nam, especially the mother river Thu Bon, when the destinations are not attractive enough and still monotonous.

Ferry routes such as Truong Giang and Co Co were also interesting suggestions in the past. But dredging and clearing the waterways alone has slowed down the progress of forming tours.

Remember, more than 10 years ago there was a colorful sketch: tourists boarded a boat from the Han River, followed the Co Co River to Hoi An... But until now, the tourist boats still haven't "gone" past Ngu Hanh Son, even just reaching the Tran Thi Ly bridge, they turned back towards Thuan Phuoc bridge.

Han River at night now has only 37 boats taking tourists to see the dragon breathe fire, spray water on Dragon Bridge, watch fireworks... it is already "crowded". So, the idea of ​​500 flower boats that was previously proposed must certainly wait for the expansion of the river space to Hoi An and up to the Cam Le - Do Toa river junction.

“The water is clear and blue, both banks are blue”, the Thu Bon River in the song by musician Nguyen Huy Hung is imagined to be so smooth, but to truly see the boats swaying on the wharf and along the entire long river, we still have to wait. There is still a dream ahead. The brilliant summer can only be “intermittent” on each section of the river, or concentrated in the downstream area…

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/du-lich-he-va-giac-mo-song-nuoc-3156216.html