Effective exploitation of Lam River route

(Baonghean) -To develop the tourism economy, the Lam River Road was invested in and completed by Nghe An Province in 2010. The Lam River Road is 57km long and has two 4.8km long branches, connecting Cua Hoi to Nam Dan District, passing through a series of historical sites and famous scenic spots. However, in recent times, the tourism industry of Nghe An Province has not yet fully exploited the tourism advantages of this road.

The route connecting history and legend

About 5km from Cua Lo along the beach is Cua Hoi - where the Lam River flows into the open sea and is also considered the starting point of the Lam River coastal road. The wide, flat asphalt road lies peacefully next to the river mouth and the fish market. Cua Hoi fish market has been the same for hundreds of years: When the sun is still hiding behind the sea mouth, it is the time when the faithful ships and boats, not letting down the people waiting, return to the dock to rest, bringing with them the products of the mother sea. The dawn also brings the salty breath of wind and waves, the fish market is noisy and bustling, life awakens with the sounds of sellers and buyers. From the coastal road, looking through the waves, on the other side of Lam River is Nghi Xuan - Ha Tinh with the ancient fishing village of Hoi Thong, Giang Dinh wharf, Tien Dien, the hometown of the great poet Nguyen Du, Ngan Hong pine trees associated with the childhood of Confucian General Nguyen Cong Tru... Turning to this side is Cua Hoi eco-tourism area hidden under the casuarina forest.

Winding along the Lam River route are hamlets and villages. The clouds and sky blend with the mountains here, creating a beautiful ink painting that reminds us of King Le Thanh Tong, Lord Tao Dan riding a dragon boat on his way to conquer Champa across the Lam River, leaving behind many verses such as "Thanh Long dynasty flooded with water and iced sky" or "Immense clumps of water dyed blue" in the poem "Vinh Lang Che"... The coastal road runs through Nghe An Port under construction; runs to Hung Hoa commune - a countryside that has experienced many historical and cultural events and is now creating a highlight for Vinh city with the Ban forest by the river where many types of Tram birds live when spring comes and autumn comes; Ba Co Temple worships the ancient Princess Que Hoa, who was conferred the title of goddess three times by King Thanh Thai, Duy Tan and Khai Dinh... At night, the modern high-pressure lighting system of the Lam River Coastal Road blends with the light of countless lamps on hundreds of shrimp ponds, illuminating the entire riverbank and countryside.

The riverside route passes through the southern gateway of Vinh city at the Ben Thuy intersection, intersecting with the North-South highway. Here, Vinh under the French colonial period, was one of the largest industrial and commercial cities in the country, a city of workers with tens of thousands of workers, the cradle of the patriotic movement, the place that ignited the revolutionary climax of 1930-1931 Nghe Tinh Soviet, marking the activities of many Party General Secretaries such as Tran Phu, Ha Huy Tap, Le Hong Phong, Le Duan, Nguyen Van Linh during the days of secret activities against the French.

The Lam River Road from Vinh to Hung Nguyen was built on the basis of the old Lam River dike - the dike that was built to protect many generations of residents living in the Lam River Delta. The road has a very high road level so visitors can easily observe the green corn-potato alluvial plains along the river, the riverbed is submerged and exposed, on this side of the dike are villages with bamboo banks, jar ponds, and red tiled roofs. Located next to the Lam River Road is "Mo Hac Linh Tu" - Ong Hoang Muoi Temple worshiping a famous general of the Le Dynasty, built in 1634. The temple is a national historical relic, and opens every year on the 15th day of the 3rd lunar month, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to attend the festival.

Continuing along the coastal road to the West for less than 10 km is the Lam Thanh mountain relic complex, Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen district. Some ancient books record this mountain as Dong Tru mountain "where the Eastern Han general Ma Vien erected a bronze pillar on the mountain"; "During the Ly dynasty, kings who went to the South to fight the enemy often stationed troops here". During the Tran dynasty, at the foot of the mountain there was Yen Quoc pagoda, a large Zen monastery, at the same time as An Quang pagoda in Phu Thach, the south bank of Lam river; This is also the place where King Quang Trung stopped for a day to train his soldiers before marching to the North to make a great victory in the spring of Ky Dau year 1789, etc. Currently, on the mountain there are still traces of the ancient citadel built at the end of the Tran dynasty; Tuyen Nghia Vuong temple worships Thai Phuc - a Ming general who defended Nghe An citadel and surrendered to Lam Son army, but was killed by the Ming king when he returned, so King Le Thai To conferred a title and built a temple to worship him.

Passing Lam Thanh mountain, along the coastal road, visitors can still see the Phu Thach reef on the river, sometimes submerged, sometimes surfaced. And if from the coastal road, turn to the provincial road... just less than 3km, visitors will visit the homeland - the memorial site of General Secretary Le Hong Phong; and if continuing straight, they will reach Nam Dan district - a land of spiritual and talented people with dense historical relics, the homeland of many famous people of the country and the world. The route along Lam river ends at Nam Dan district town, Dun mountain. This is the homeland of Phan Boi Chau "The hero - the angel - the one who sacrificed himself for independence..."; is the ancient capital of Van An including the temple complex and tomb of King Mai Hac De; is Vu Nguyen waterfall (colloquially called Bo Dai stream) where the prophecy "Dun Son divides, Bo Dai loses his voice, Nam Dan gives birth to a saint" is considered to be by Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem; is Ben Sa Nam entering the song of Vai ward...etc...

Need to "clear" soon

With only less than 60km, the Lam River route can connect hundreds of historical sites and different scenic spots in Nghe An province. It is not an exaggeration to call this a road connecting history and legends, an important spatial axis to create momentum for economic development of the province. Decision No. 38/2005 of the Provincial People's Committee on "profitable" land criteria also identified this as a potential route, containing many exploitation advantages, including tourism services. However, in recent times, while other advantages of the route have been fully exploited to contribute to generating revenue, attracting investment, accelerating the urbanization process, ensuring a special ecological environment along the river, protecting Ta Lam dike and national security and defense facilities for Nghe An province; the exploitation of the route for tourism services has not brought about efficiency...

According to the Nghe An Province Tourism Promotion Center, although the provincial tourism industry has formed a tourist route along the Lam River, the number of visitors choosing this route is very small, not worth mentioning. Ms. Le Thi Thanh Thuy, Head of the Tourism Promotion Information Department, said: Previously, the Center had formed two tourist routes on the river and the road along the Lam River. Regarding the river route, due to the terrain and currents not allowing to ensure safety conditions, after a few trips, the industry had to abandon this route and not put it into operation. Regarding the Lam River route, the reason why it is "picky" about tourists is because most of the visitors in the province know about these tourist attractions, so not many people go; as for visitors from other provinces, the length of stay is not much, so they only choose to go to two places: Cua Lo and the Kim Lien relic complex. Therefore, this program had to be temporarily postponed.

In essence, the reason why this potentially profitable route is forgotten and "criticized" by tourists is due to the following reasons: First of all, there is no complete planning, full formation of tourist itineraries with specific destinations as well as no attention paid to propaganda and wide promotion of these attractive tours and routes; Second, investment in relic sites, scenic spots, and resorts is not synchronous, and there is a lack of rich accompanying services; Investors, local authorities, and people have not been called upon to participate in socialization and investment in tourism development; Existing facilities do not meet tourists' requirements well, and the forms and contents of tours are not diverse; The tourism environment is still polluted (due to construction, transportation of materials by people, mining, etc.)

Realizing the above limitations, recently the People's Committee of Nghe An province has requested the Department of Construction of Nghe An, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to build this route into a sustainable tourism route, invest in infrastructure construction, accelerate the planning of the route, tourism development roadmap and call for investment. Up to now, the planning of the route along Lam river has been completed by the Nghe An Institute of Architecture and Construction Planning in phase 2 from Cua Hoi to Ben Thuy. Tourist facilities include: Cua Hoi coastal resort is organized in the form of ecological resort, combining tourism exploitation with the protection of coastal casuarina forests. The architecture is mainly low-rise houses, the model is a high-class resort; Hung Hoa riverside eco-tourism area is an important tourism exploitation highlight along the entire route, with a system of hotels, entertainment areas, and mangrove ecological forest sightseeing areas; Rao Dung sluice gate area in Phuc Tho commune has favorable natural conditions: near the riverbank, near the mangrove forest, with convenient traffic connections from many directions, can combine eco-tourism and visit traditional fishing villages; Along the entire route, small tourist clusters will be organized to exploit the riverside landscape system arranged in Nghi Hai ward, alluvial land of Hung Hoa commune and Hoi Trai bridge of Phuc Tho commune. On the road along Lam river, wharves will also be built. A bridge over Lam river connecting the eastern road of Vinh city to Nghi Xuan town center - Ha Tinh will be built; Building a riverside tourist area next to the new Ben Thuy port and tourist boat dock.

Based on the planning approved by the province, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also established projects for restoration and new construction such as the Project for conservation, restoration and promotion of the value of Ben Thuy intersection with items such as restoration of historical lampposts - relics of the anti-French period, construction of new monuments - symbols of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement 30-31; Lam River Road Tourist Area Project; Re-survey, establish detailed tourist routes along Lam River by river and road... However, according to the Tourism Promotion Center, in addition to the provincial budget and the funding source of the national target program on culture, the current capital sources of investors are still "secret"... It is thought that such preparations to develop tourism along Lam River are not redundant because with the preferential, open and transparent investment policies of Nghe An province (being implemented in the first 4 months of the year, attracting over 50% of the capital target to be achieved), tourism projects along Lam River will quickly be filled, at that time, the route along Lam River will become an important economic axis of the province and the tourism industry.

Thanh Chung