Ecotourism in the Coconut Land. Photo: Trung Hieu
Most recently, when leading a group of photographers from Ho Chi Minh City to create a photo collection promoting Chau Thanh district, the 16-seater van carrying us sped through the district, making me feel like I was lost. Every commune had wide, paved roads, all identical, making the journey so enjoyable. Suddenly, I remembered my time working at the provincial radio station; even motorcycles had difficulty navigating the roads, and getting into people's gardens was even harder. Now, people can easily bring their Siamese coconuts, rambutan, durian, and green pomelos to the main road to load them onto trucks and sell them everywhere.
Only when you have the time to travel will you realize that every district in the province has such well-developed roads. From Ben Tre City to Giong Trom and Ba Tri, there are several routes; from Mo Cay Nam to Thanh Phu, there's a road to Tra Vinh; from Mo Cay Bac to Cho Lach, there's a road to Vinh Long ; and from Ba Tri to Binh Dai, travel is very easy, and in a few years, there will be a bridge connecting to Tien Giang. While waiting for the completion of the strategic coastal ring road in the South, Ben Tre has already built quite complete inter-district and inter-commune "ring roads," which have strengthened the links between localities in the province.
Who would have thought that nowadays, people in rural Ben Tre province are growing Siamese coconuts and green pomelos that meet the standards for export to the US and European countries? This primarily benefits consumers there, as they have more opportunities to enjoy delicious and slightly cheaper tropical produce compared to when there was limited supply. Last year, around Tet (Lunar New Year), I took a Canadian journalist to visit a green pomelo processing facility for export in Mo Cay Bac district. He was wide-eyed and amazed for a long time by the hundreds of fresh, delicious green pomelos before taking pictures and immediately posting them on social media with the caption, "The green pomelos we eat over there are from here!"
As for coconuts, I remember once when I was in France, I went to a cafe in the middle of Paris and ordered a glass of coconut water. It cost 7 euros (equivalent to 200,000 VND). I expressed my desire for the cafe to bring out a fresh coconut to show me, and the waiter politely replied, "We only import frozen coconut water from Sri Lanka and thaw it before selling it; we don't import whole coconuts."
Coconut water is both expensive and bland, which is why it's considered beneficial for 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 abundant and diverse in terms of patterns and varieties each year. Perhaps it was his first time seeing this spectacular sight, so he was snapping pictures non-stop, exclaiming, "It's like we've wandered into paradise!"
Every year I make time to go back to Ben Tre to photograph the flower villages preparing for Tet (Lunar New Year). Once, right in Phu Son commune, I met a French couple talking to the gardeners (with an interpreter accompanying them). They said they were there to find artisans to teach them the craft in France, where there are places where bougainvillea grows in forests, and no one knows how to make it as beautiful and vibrant as it is here.
Tourism is also a noteworthy topic in my hometown, and every time I return, I find something new and exciting. Every district has numerous tourism businesses established, all exploiting local products along the Tien, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, and Co Chien rivers, creating three unique alluvial island regions unlike anywhere else in the Mekong Delta.
I think that tourism in Ben Tre only needs to revolve around the main axis of its vast coconut groves, discovering unique cultural values and pristine ecology, and from there, connecting the past with the present, plus friendly and hospitable smiles, to be successful.
A very strange thing that happened recently when I visited the Coconut Land was hearing people talking about land reclamation, part of the province's large-scale eastward development plan. Land reclamation is something many countries around the world have done to build seawalls to prevent coastal erosion; to build seaports, create land for new urban and residential areas; form industrial zones and clusters, develop logistics services and tourism; and develop clean energy...
The "Eastward Expansion" story has probably inspired the people of the three coastal districts of the province: Binh Dai, Ba Tri, and Thanh Phu. I visited and found the people to be "different" than they were 15 years ago, more dynamic in production, and more talkative about the future, as evidenced by their frequent use of the phrase "tomorrow": ...Tomorrow, if you're in Saigon and want to eat fresh oysters from Thanh Phuoc, you only need to wait 70 minutes. Or, if you come back this weekend to swim and buy crabs in Thanh Hai, there won't be any more traffic jams at Rach Mieu bridge, so it'll be much faster. Tomorrow, if you bring a friend from Hanoi to visit Uncle Ho, remember to invite them to Con Nhan islet to eat squid. Oh, how lovely those two words "tomorrow" are!
During a gathering of people from Ben Tre province residing in Ho Chi Minh City, the Chairman of the Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee, Tran Ngoc Tam, announced that in the near future, the province will have a green hydrogen production plant in Bao Thuan commune, Ba Tri district. This project will contribute to the development of Vietnam's green energy sector in general and Ben Tre province in particular, contributing approximately 2 trillion VND per year to the provincial budget and creating jobs for thousands of local workers.
Speaking of which, it's clear that the current generation of provincial leaders is quite unique. Besides inheriting the wisdom of their predecessors to effectively carry out current tasks, they also think about the province's future 30 or 50 years from now. Importantly, they inspire many people, building faith in the future – and with faith, everything is possible. The current generation of provincial leaders has successfully connected the intellect of Ben Tre's people across the country, creating a collective strength to build their homeland.
Huu Vinh
Source: https://baodongkhoi.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/nhung-chuyen-la-o-xu-dua-a141326.html
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