The old horse-drawn carriage route in Can Tho

“The jingling of horse-drawn carriages in the mist / Those returning to Binh Thuy, let's go together,” this old folk song evokes countless memories of a time when horse-drawn carriages were common in Can Tho. The image of horses pulling carriages with curved roofs, carrying passengers along the roads from the countryside to the market, remains etched in the memories of long-time residents of Can Tho. On the occasion of the Year of the Horse (Binh Ngo), a journey back to the old horse-drawn carriages of Can Tho brings back a few things to cherish and remember…

A horse-drawn carriage from the old days. (Archival photo)

Mr. Nguyen Phu Tan (Ba Tan, residing in Area 11, Binh Thuy Ward) pointed towards the intersection of Tran Quang Dieu and Dong Ngoc Su streets, right in front of his house, and said: "Before, there was a wooden bridge here, so this area was also called Cau Van (Wooden Bridge). In the 1960s and 1970s, this was still the horse carriage station of Mr. Ba Duong, which operated for many years, running from Cau Van down to Can Tho ."

In Mr. Ba Tan's memory, the Cau Van horse-drawn carriage station had become much quieter by the time he knew it, with almost only Mr. Ba Duong's carriage, with its two warhorses taking turns running, remaining. Mr. Ba Tan lived with his maternal grandfather near Highway 20 (now Nguyen Van Cu Street) and often visited his grandfather's garden in Cau Van. He frequently rode Mr. Ba Duong's carriage from Cau Van to the Lo Te intersection, then along Vo Duy Tap Street (now Cach Mang Thang Tam Street) back to Highway 20. The carriage, with its wooden wheels covered in rubber, ran on the stone road. Besides a few passengers, it mostly carried fruit and vegetables to the Can Tho market. Although Mr. Ba Tan was only a little over 10 years old at the time, the memory of riding in the carriage remains vivid even now, at nearly 70 years old. "The carriage left at dawn, its clattering sound instantly recognizable. There was a kerosene lamp hanging on the carriage. Recalling it makes me remember it so well," Mr. Ba Tan reminisced.

According to the recollections of teacher Le Phuoc Nghiep (residing in Ninh Kieu ward), who moved to Can Tho to live and work in the mid-1960s, horse-drawn carriages still existed but were becoming less common due to the appearance of pedal-powered and motorized rickshaws. Horse-drawn carriages were mainly found in Binh Thuy, used to transport goods to the Can Tho market area. They usually gathered and unloaded goods at the Hang Ba Dau bus station (now Nguyen An Ninh Street) or the station on Saintenoy Street (now Ngo Quyen Street); sometimes they gathered near the Lido Theater (now Le Thanh Ton Street). Most of the carriage owners in Can Tho lived in gardens, so after driving their carriages, they would take their horses home to care for them. There were no horse bathing facilities like in other localities.

Looking back at the "Can Tho Gazetteer" (Can Tho Provincial Party Committee, Can Tho Provincial People's Committee, 2002), there is a passage stating that: Around 1913, in the inner city of Can Tho and some surrounding markets such as Binh Thuy and Cai Rang, the main means of transportation were horse-drawn carts, ox carts, and hand-pulled carts: "Most horse-drawn carts in Can Tho were 'tho mo' carts. These were also two-wheeled carts pulled by horses. The cart body was long and wide, with a round roof, unlike regular horse-drawn carts which could only carry a few passengers. 'Tho mo' carts were used to carry more passengers and were very convenient for transporting goods. The horse cart station used to be located on what is now Tan Trao Street." However, surveys of many elderly people in Can Tho show that most believe that people in Can Tho rarely use the term "tho mo" cart, but rather informally call them "horse carts."

Modern-day open-top horse-drawn carriages. Photo: DUY KHÔI

To illustrate the charm of horse-drawn carriage rides in Can Tho, consider issue 51 of the newspaper Gió Nam, published on December 5, 1962. In his multi-part report "Gió Nam's Journey," journalist Duy Viet recounts his experience riding a horse-drawn carriage from Can Tho to Rach Gia and Ha Tien. He recounts visiting the famous Thầy Cầu garden on Cong Quynh Street (now Huynh Thuc Khang Street, Ninh Kieu Ward), where he hired a horse-drawn carriage to Rach Gia. According to his account: "This journey is long, taking three days and changing carriages frequently, but you'll get to observe interesting sights and admire the beautiful scenery along the way." Recalling the Can Tho horse-drawn carriage journey with enthusiasm, the author recounts: “Leaving Can Tho province at dawn, sitting in the carriage, right next to the coachman, I freely asked questions and chatted to learn about the people and the southwestern part of the Western Capital region. The sound of the horse's hooves mingled with the sound of the wheels, and before long the carriage had crossed the Tham Tuong Bridge, Dau Sau Bridge, and Cai Rang Bridge spanning the Can Tho River, before stopping at Chau Thanh district town.”

Like many other places in Southern Vietnam, horse-drawn carriages in Can Tho were originally modified versions of the two-horse carriages, popularly known as "glass carriages," imported by the French. Southerners simplified these carriages to a single horse, with a simple carriage body. Some had a retractable fabric roof, but most had a wooden roof. The carriage body was spacious; according to Mr. Ba Tan, it could carry 5-6 people plus goods. The manuscript "Can Tho, a Time of Horse-Drawn Carriages" by Mr. Le Ngoc Mien in Binh Thuy states that most people who owned horse-drawn carriages in Can Tho at that time were well-off, buying them for work, similar to how people buy cars for service today. Some who owned two or three horses hired people to care for them, cut grass for the horses, and even hired a driver. Mr. Ba Cu in the Nga Tu New Market (Binh Thuy) had the ingenious idea of ​​converting four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages into two-wheeled ones and was also the first to replace wooden carriage wheels with car wheels.

According to Mr. Le Ngoc Mien's documents, after the French completed the main roads in Can Tho, the region had three horse-drawn carriage routes connecting the countryside to Can Tho market, running daily. The Binh Thuy - Can Tho route had the most horse-drawn carriages, as Binh Thuy was a major fruit and vegetable growing area, requiring transportation to the market for trade. Many people on this route, such as Mr. Ba Cua in Rach Mieu; Mr. Sau Trung, Mr. Bay Chanh, and Mr. Bay Phong in the new Nga Tu market, made a living driving horse-drawn carriages. On the Lo Te - Cau Van route to Can Tho, besides Mr. Ba Duong, there were many others who earned their living driving horse-drawn carriages, such as Mr. Hai Thoi and Mr. Ba Nho. Many invested in beautiful carriage bodies with luxurious velvet curtains, some even having hammocks for sleeping. The Cai Rang - Can Tho route had owners like Mr. Bach, a Chinese man from Cai Rang market; Mr. Cua in Ba Lang; and Mr. Muoi Day in Rau Ram, Cai Son. These horse-drawn carriages, traveling from the suburbs into the city center of Can Tho, would initially gather at a dock near the Bui Van Sach pharmacy to unload their goods, before later moving to Le Thanh Ton Street, next to the Lido Theater (these locations are near the area of ​​Ninh Kieu Wharf today).

Mr. Ba Tan pointed to the location of the old wooden bridge and recounted the story of the horse carriage station at Lo Te - Cau Van. Photo: DUY KHOI

Around the late 1950s, horse-drawn carriages in Can Tho gradually disappeared, mainly being used to transport goods. The Cai Rang - Can Tho route was the first to be phased out, as it was a main national highway and was being contested by lorry-trucks, which drove aggressively, scaring the horses and causing carriage accidents. From the mid-1960s onwards, other routes also gradually saw the disappearance of horse-drawn carriages, replaced by rickshaws, motorized rickshaws, then cars, three-wheeled Lambrettas, Daihatsu cars, and so on.

Time flies like an arrow; for more than half a century, Can Tho has been silent, without the sound of horse-drawn carriages, the clatter of wheels rolling on the cobblestone streets fading into memory… The more one contemplates the past, the thicker the memories become; those images, those sounds, are not easily forgotten in the minds of those who love Can Tho. Anyone who has ever ridden a horse-drawn carriage in Can Tho, once traveling to Lo Te - Cau Van, will surely not stop dreaming of the old scenes and people of the past: the clatter of the carriage on the cobblestone streets awakening the dawn, the coachman urging the horse to release the reins… But perhaps, what is most memorable are the days leading up to Tet, in the cold mist of late winter, riding in a horse-drawn carriage from the garden to the market, watching the bustling crowds of the spring market. Oh, it was as beautiful as a film framed in the colors of time.

Can Tho is now bustling with traffic everywhere, its streets lively and vibrant. In the nostalgic memories of the elderly, the image of horse-drawn carriages from a bygone era still lingers. Such is the law of time, the law of development; what remains is the nostalgia of "the old paths, the horse-drawn carriages, the soul of autumn grass"...

DANG HUYNH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/loi-xua-xe-ngua-can-tho-a198852.html