Strange stories in the land of Coconut

Ecotourism in Coconut Land. Photo: Trung Hieu

Most recently, when I led a group of photographers from Ho Chi Minh City to create a photo album to promote Chau Thanh district, the 16-seat car took us all over the district, making me think I was lost. Every commune had the same wide, asphalt roads, so it was a pleasure to drive. Suddenly I remembered the time when I was working at the provincial radio station, it was difficult to drive a two-wheeled vehicle, and even more difficult to get to people's gardens. Now, people can bring coconuts, rambutans, durians, and green-skinned grapefruits to the road to load them onto trucks to sell everywhere, very conveniently.

Only after some time have you realized that every district in the province has built such good roads. From Ben Tre City to Giong Trom, Ba Tri has several routes, from Mo Cay Nam to Thanh Phu there is a route to Tra Vinh, from Mo Cay Bac to Cho Lach there is a route to Vinh Long, Ba Tri through Binh Dai is very easy to travel, in a few years there will be a bridge connecting to Tien Giang. While waiting for the completion of the strategic southern coastal belt road, Ben Tre has built quite complete inter-district and inter-commune "belt" routes of its own, these belts have tightened the connection between localities in the province.

Who would have thought that nowadays, the people in the countryside of Ben Tre have grown coconuts and green-skinned grapefruits that meet the standards for export to the US and European countries. This is beneficial first of all for consumers there because they have more opportunities to eat delicious and slightly cheaper tropical agricultural products than when there was too little supply. Last year, around Tet, I took a Canadian journalist to visit a green-skinned grapefruit processing facility for export in Mo Cay Bac district. He was stunned for a long time by the hundreds of fresh, delicious green grapefruits, then took out his camera to take a picture and immediately posted it on social media with the caption "The green-skinned grapefruits we eat over there are from here, my friends!".

As for coconuts, I remember once when I went to France, I went to a restaurant in the middle of Paris, I tried to order a glass of coconut water, the price was 7 euros (equivalent to 200 thousand VND), I expressed my wish that the restaurant would bring out a fresh coconut to show, the waiter politely said: "Yes, we only import frozen coconut water from Sri Lanka and then defrost it to sell, we do not import whole coconuts".

Coconut water is both expensive and bland, so it is beneficial to consumers in other countries.

On the way, I took my Canadian journalist friend to Phu Son Bougainvillea Village in Cho Lach District. The bougainvillea here is more and more unique every year, more numerous, and more diverse in design and type. Perhaps this was the first time he had seen this spectacular landscape, so my friend took pictures nonstop, saying, “It’s like being lost in paradise!”

Every year, I take the opportunity to go to Ben Tre to take pictures of the flower villages preparing for Tet. Once, right in Phu Son commune, I met a French couple talking to the gardeners (with an interpreter). They said they came to find artisans who had passed on their skills in France, where there are places where bougainvillea grows in forests but no one knows how to make it as beautiful as here.

Tourism is also a matter worth mentioning in my hometown, and every time I return, I find it strange. In every district, many tourism businesses have been established, exploiting local products around the Tien, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, and Co Chien rivers, creating three unique islet lands that cannot be found anywhere else in the Mekong Delta.

I think, Ben Tre tourism only needs to revolve around the main axis of immense coconut gardens, finding unique cultural values ​​and pristine ecology, from there connecting the past with the present, plus friendly and hospitable smiles to be successful.

A very strange thing when I recently came to the land of Coconut was hearing people talking about the sea reclamation, which is part of the province's big plan to develop to the East. Sea reclamation is something that many countries in the world have done, to build dikes to prevent coastal erosion; to build seaports, create land for new urban and residential areas; to form industrial zones and clusters, develop logistics and tourism services; develop clean energy...

The story of “Eastward Advance” has probably inspired the people of the three coastal districts of the province, Binh Dai, Ba Tri and Thanh Phu. I went there and saw that the people were “strange” than 15 years ago, more active in production, talking more about the future through the number of times they used the phrase “tomorrow”:… Tomorrow, if you live in Saigon and want to eat fresh oysters from Thanh Phuoc, you only need to wait for me for 70 minutes, or come back this weekend to swim in the sea and buy crabs in Thanh Hai, there is no more congestion at Rach Mieu bridge so it goes very quickly. Tomorrow, if you bring your friends from Hanoi to visit Cu Do, remember to invite them to Con Nhan to eat squid. Oh, how lovely the two words “tomorrow” are!

During a meeting with Ben Tre compatriots in Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee Tran Ngoc Tam said that in the near future, the province will have a green hydrogen production plant in Bao Thuan commune, Ba Tri district. The project will contribute to the development of the green energy industry in Vietnam in general and Ben Tre province in particular, contributing to the provincial budget of about 2 trillion VND/year, creating jobs for thousands of local workers.

Speaking of this, we can see that the current generation of leaders of the province is also "strange". In addition to inheriting the wisdom of the previous generation to do well the current work, they also think about the next 30, 50 years for the province and importantly, they can convey that inspiration to many people, build faith in the future, and having faith means having everything. The current generation of leaders of the province has connected the wisdom of Ben Tre's children in all parts of the country, creating a force that joins hands to build the homeland.

Huu Vinh

Source: https://baodongkhoi.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/nhung-chuyen-la-o-xu-dua-a141326.html