|
Can Tho is
located in the center of the 11 provinces of the Mekong Delta, 170 km
from Ho Chi Minh City, south of the Hau River. The Hau River is
considered a benefactor of this region, since yearly floods deposit
large quantities of alluvia to the rice fields. The climatic features of
this area are similar to the other provinces of the Mekong Delta. The
temperature rarely falls under 15°C and the rainy season lasts from
May to November.
It is
wonderful to take a boat trip along the riverbanks on fine weather days.
On the east bank of Hau River is Ninh Kieu Wharf, which is well known
for its beautiful location. Not too far from the wharf is a floating
restaurant connected to the bank by a bridge. Visitors travel along the
waterway to the floating restaurant to taste eel dishes, a specialty of
the region. Can Tho University accommodates approximately 2,000 students
in the fields of agriculture, medicine, and teaching. Take a trip down
the watery network that surrounds the Cuu Long Delta’s Can Tho and
you’ll see why locals have a special name for it.
To them the miles of inter-connecting canals and rivers are simply "the
green lungs of the Mekong." Self-praise indeed, but a half-day gently
putt-putting round the Hau River on an ever-bobbing motorized canal taxi
might have you agreeing. Can Tho, over its 200 years as the main town,
now the city of the province, and once known as Tay do, or Capital in
the West, may have had many names, but has clung determinedly to its
identity. The 150,000 population city is the hub of the main Con Son and
Con Au waterways which nurture the local rice and fruit trade. But it’s
not just agriculture that fuels the area: an art and cultural centre, a
university, and a museum dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, have seen visitor
numbers increase. And for those who have never made it to the area, it’s
a sure bet they will have experienced its flavour in its Cau Duc sweet
pineapple, its sweet potatoes and taro, and the coconuts of the U Minh
Jungle, which have spread its reputation as a fruit basket region far.
The marshy Lung Ngoc Hoang mangrove f orest,
strategically placed to escape the natural clutches of the occasionally
threatening Hau River and the waters near Bac Lieu, also offers a
shelter for wildlife. There fish, crabs, tortoises, and yellow boas and
snakes, seek their seasonal shelter at a place where war-time troops
often sought strategic refuge. Experts are looking at whether the area,
and especially its river water ecosystem, could sustain the accolade of
National Reserve. It’s those water courses that are the life-blood of
the area and the favoured route of transport for goods bound for its
legendary floating markets. On land the fragrance of frangipani trees
wafts around the city’s communal house and its 72 columns of black
hardwood which commemorate the making – or the saving – of the area.
Locals will
joke that "the soil is plentiful but the people aren’t" a reminder of
those who were forced to leave after a succession of heavy floods made
earning a living impossible. The endorsement of a general, revered in
that communal house, was seen as instrumental in saving the life of a
special envoy of the Court, dispatched in 1852 to
check the plight of the Hau River dwellers, but whose flotilla was
swamped by a cyclone. He found shelter in a small waterway and survived
to dub it Binh Thuy, or Quiet Water, and asked King Tu Duc to favour the
area. Success and prosperity followed, the communal house became a more
solid structure and is still revered widely, especially in two annual
ceremonies.
But
visitors are ever-fascinated by the area’s bustling floating markets up
the Hau River at Con Khuong, Con Son and, further a field, Con Tan Loc
in the more prosperous Thot Not District. Other areas hope to bask in
that economic upturn as part of a five-year rolling program by local
officials involving boosting the use of the waterway system. Cai Rang is
the largest floating market in the Mekong and the traders are more
motorized, but the markets at Phung Hiep and Phong Dien are more relaxed
and less crowded. And in the Year of the Snake, Phung Hiep’s fortunes
are delicately balanced.
Can Tho is
a province which enjoys fertile soil conditions. It is located in the
middle of the Mekong River delta. It is thought of as a great bowl of
rice in Vietnam. The province is 168 kilometers south of Ho Chi Minh
City.
Climate: There are two distinct seasons: the dry and the rainy seasons.
The province is endowed with sunshine all year round with a high
humidity. There is almost no storm shitting the province. Average
temperature is 26,9 degree Celsius. The province is inhabited by the
Kinh which is the majority group. Other ethnic groups include the Hoa
and the Khmer.
|
