Rambling along rivers, visitors wallowed in the flow of the Northern water rice civilization’s culture.
Left in them after two days in Hai Duong were special imprints of peaceful villages with rich heritage.
Cultural flow
A group of river tourists arrive in Thanh Hai commune (Thanh Ha)
Marie Walker (American) put her small binoculars into her bag while her face was filled with joy after watching a 1-hour water puppetry show in Thanh Hai commune (Thanh Ha). The over 60-year-old woman who loved travel very much excitedly told me that she was completely pleased with the trip.
“I love the idea of traveling along rivers because it suits my age. The life and culture of people living near rivers are often long-standing and very unique. For example, the water puppetry show we have just enjoyed is a product of Vietnam’s rice growing villages. Enjoying it here is very different from watching performances in the theatre or another less natural space,” said Marie.
Marie was one of the visitors participating in an 11-day trip on rivers running through six provinces and cities of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Ha Noi, Phu Tho, and Hoa Binh organized by Insight Asia Travel JSC.
The journey in Hai Duong lasted two days with the destinations of Thanh Hai (Thanh Ha) with water puppetry, ramie cake trade village in Ninh Giang, and stork island in Chi Lang Nam (Thanh Mien).
“Traveling along rivers is not a new way of tour organization because our company has implemented this kind of tour on the Mekong river from Ho Chi Minh city to Siem Reap (Cambodia) for 12 years. However, not until 2015 did we develop the tour in the North and find it satisfactory. All participating tourists appreciated the tour’s quality as well as destinations throughout the journey. In which, Hai Duong left many deep impressions,” said Nguyen Viet Trinh, CEO of the company.
To wet rice civilizations, rivers are particularly important because wherever there are rivers, populous, rich, and fertile lands are generated. Sailing down major rivers, one can see the flow of history and culture of clans.
There is no exaggeration to say that when coming to deltas, tourists only need to follow rivers to be able to penetrate into locals’ life and most typical values. That is the idea forming the attractiveness of the tour and shown quite clearly at the destinations in Hai Duong.
A cruise ship docks in Ninh Giang district town
Boating down the Luoc river, the tourists had a chance to visit a traditional village and see how people manually make bamboo baskets, familiar items in Vietnamese families.
In Thanh Hai commune, the tourists enjoyed water puppetry, a unique folk art associated with the living and production conditions of farmers. Ninh Giang ramie cakes, a specialty imbrued with Vietnamese villages’ characteristics with simple but subtle ingredients, adorned a sweet aftertaste for the trip. The famous stork island in Chi Lang Nam was a different highlight with the natural landscape characterizing Northern delta villages and home to many rare bird varieties.
“In just two days, we both enjoyed a performing art and culinary culture and contemplated many creatures only in the countryside of Vietnam. It really was a party with a lot of flavors that we must open all senses to feel,” a tourist from Canada commented.
Not only the destinations were attractive to the visitors, but river sceneries throughout the journey also brought exciting experiences about the rivers really characterizing Vietnam.
Richard, an Australian tourist taking part in the tour, joyfully said: “We watched the sun rise and set over rivers and lush bamboo rows planted by dykes reportedly to prevent waves. The air was fresh and peaceful. At night, I heard the sound of frogs and insects. I was flooded with relaxed and relieved feelings from the beginning of this journey.”
Travel mainly on rivers gives visitors quiet spaces to feel experiences more deeply. That is an advantage that road tours hardly can do.
Value connection
After more than two months of opening, 13 trips of the river tour have been organized. All tourists were foreigners, mostly from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, etc. 70% of the arrivals were elderly people, did not want to move too much on the road, and had much time for a leisurely and peaceful trip.
To successfully organize the tour, Insight Asia Travel JSC. has received enthusiastic advice and support from the Provincial Center for Tourism Information and Promotion. The schedule of the two-day trip of the visitors in Hai Duong was designed by the center. The center is also a bridge for travel enterprises in and outside the province to coordinate with each other for successful organization and promotion of multilateral development.
VIET HOA
Unique river tour Related image(s)
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