Duy Hung finds that exploring the West brings a sense of peace, relaxation, and less stress when moving.
Dang Vu Duy Hung, 23 years old, living and working in Hanoi, has many impressions of the West after visiting this place twice.
“Different from discovering the majestic Northwest mountains or the Central Highlands, the West River gives me a feeling of peace, relaxation, less stress when traveling and especially brings a lot of historical value. culture and people,” Hung said.
Before the epidemic, in 2020, Hung had the opportunity to go to 4 provinces of Ca Mau , Bac Lieu , Soc Trang and Kien Giang . This time, he continued to Can Tho , Vinh Long , Dong Thap and Tien Giang . Landing in Can Tho, Hung rented a car to the roads of the river. The trip takes place for 5 days, from June 22 to 27.
Before coming to the West, he always envisioned this as the largest granary in the country, the fields stretching endlessly in the folk song “Dong Thap Muoi storks fly straight”. When he arrived, Hung was even more overwhelmed by the vastness of green fields.
Each place Hung goes to has different values for himself, so he cannot choose the place he likes best in general. However, if the place with the most natural value is divided, it will be Tram Chim National Park , the cultural value is the ancient house of Mr. Xoat in Tien Giang.
Tram Chim National Park gives him the opportunity to admire the typical beauty of the Dong Thap region, which is both a granary, a lotus pond, and a river, making it an ideal place for animals. “Before coming to Tram Chim, I heard reports about encroachment on the buffer zone and core zone of the national park causing a decrease in the number of species and individuals, making me worried and difficult to see them.” However, during the motorboat ride, he was able to see with his own eyes a few species of birds living and feeding.
When going to Cai Be town, Tien Giang, Hung discovered a series of old houses built between 80 and 200 years ago: Mr. Xoat, Ba Duc, Mr. Kiet. He liked the old house of Mr. Xoat the most because of the delicate combination of French materials and Vietnamese culture. Come here, listen to the old lady who is living and is the 5th generation grandchild, the owner is a Nguyen Dynasty mandarin, originally from Hue, came to Tien Giang to see that this place has a favorable terrain, near the river, so he built this house. more than 200 years. In terms of architecture, the old houses in the West are delicately mixed between tradition and modernity, East and West, architectural features that are hard to see elsewhere bring a feeling of both ancient and new.
The interesting thing in his journey as a Hanoian is that Hung had the opportunity to visit the Temple of Literature in Vinh Long. “I can admire the Temple of Literature of the West to compare with the Temple of Literature in Hanoi,” Hung said. In terms of size, Vinh Long Temple of Literature has a smaller area, but in terms of historical value, it is not inferior as a place for scholars and people to gather to discuss and discuss world affairs, at the same time. uphold the sages and educate posterity about patriotism.
Another place that impresses Hung is the ancient pottery village of Mang Thit . Stretching along the banks of the Cai Thay canal and Co Chien river, these old pottery kilns are close together like large mushrooms, glowing red in the sun.
The regret in Hung’s journey to discover the West is the experience of going to the Cai Rang floating market in Can Tho – one of the most famous tourist activities in the West. “In my head, I imagined it was a busy market with countless boats and boats with a variety of goods. But when I arrived, the boats were sparse and the goods were limited. Maybe because of commercial reasons. commercialization but the tradition has gradually lost,” Hung said. He also hypothesized that he was late, but asserted that his arrival time was reasonable, still capturing the sunrise.
“It’s all just a guess, next time I’ll come back at an earlier time, and at the same time experience more floating markets in other provinces to get a more comparative perspective,” regretted Hung.
Some other impressions in the journey are that Hung finds the people of the West extremely lovely. That cuteness is reflected in the voice that is inherently gentle like the voice in the don ca tai tu song . The loveliness is also expressed through friendliness and hospitality. Hung suggests tourists should visit pubs in Can Tho and Vinh Long, get a better feel of the lives of locals through glasses of wine and conversations. In addition, cocktails are also well made and reasonably priced than in big cities.
In terms of cuisine, the food is sweeter than the North. The food is fresh and flavorful. Hung likes the grilled snail with green pepper in Can Tho. “In Hanoi, snails are often steamed with lemongrass and chili or sautéed, but I have never eaten grilled jackfruit snails. The snail’s sweetness is enhanced by the pungent taste of pepper to create a rare characteristic flavor,” Hung described. Western pancakes are also different from Da Nang and Hanoi. Large piece of cake, filled with shrimp meat, bean sprouts and raw vegetables. When eating, cut it into small pieces and roll it with rice paper rolls.
Hung assessed that the West is easy to self-sufficient. You need to pay attention when driving a car along the roads, steady the steering wheel if riding a motorbike because the West has many rivers and canals, so there are many bridges and bridges. When moving over bridge abutments, you need to slow down so that you won’t be surprised when you may be thrown up a bit and fall to the ground if you go at high speed. In addition, due to the characteristics of flooding, the roads in some places are quite bad, so it is necessary to pay attention to the appropriate speed when moving.