The last ferrymen on the Lam River

Ferryman "for passion"

For decades, every morning at 6am, Mr. Ngu Van Nghia (46 years old, Thanh Chi commune, Thanh Chuong), has been rushing to the bank of Lam River to do his familiar job of ferrying passengers across the river. Mr. Nghia is the last ferryman at Nguoc ferry, connecting Thanh Chi and Ngoc Son communes.

Nguoc ferry is located right at the foot of Nguoc hill, just a few dozen meters down from Highway 46. In the past, Nguoc ferry was quite busy. But since Ro bridge was built about 4km downstream, the number of ferry passengers has gradually decreased.

Mr. Nghia said that his family has been ferrymen for three generations. Born on the river, at the age of 15 his father gave him a ferry to carry passengers, and Mr. Nghia has stuck with the profession ever since. He knows every wave of the Lam River that passes through this area.

People in Thanh Chi who want to go to Thanh Chuong town have to go around Dung bridge or down Ro bridge, about 11km. They can also take a shortcut through Nguoc ferry, only about 3km. Currently, Mr. Nghia has about 20 customers every day, including what he calls "important" customers, which are 5 students in the hamlet studying in Thanh Chuong district town.

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“The children all take the electric car, so if we go around the bridge, there won’t be enough electricity. For me, serving the children is the most important thing, so I have to wake up early every day to take them across the river. I don’t calculate any profit for these guests, but only collect 500,000 VND from each child each year to buy fuel.”

Mr. Ngu Van Nghia (46 years old, Thanh Chi commune, Thanh Chuong)

“My point of view is to serve people first, never let customers wait. So I carry even one customer. On average, I carry about 20 customers per day, earning about 200,000 VND. But minus the fuel cost and 30,000 VND in fees paid to the commune People's Committee, I only earn 130,000 VND. That's not including the cost of repairs and regular boat inspections. Many people may not believe it, but I do this job because of my passion. I love this job.ferryman"This," Mr. Nghia shared.

Because customers are too few, in order to have more income, Mr. Nghia applied to bid on the riverbank alluvial land for farming. While waiting for customers, he will take the opportunity to go to the alluvial land to do farming. "Nowadays, there are customers who take the ferry just to find old memories. They are children far from home, every time they return they go by ferry," Mr. Nghia said and shared that although he loves this job, in a few years, when the ferry's license expires, he will also quit his job. At that time, Nguoc ferry will probably only be a memory.

"Joy of unemployment" of ferrymen

More than 10km downstream from Nguoc ferry is Phuong ferry, connecting Thanh Giang and Thanh Yen communes (Thanh Chuong). This is the only ferry on Lam River that is still bustling with hundreds of passengers every day. That is why this ferry has 16 ferrymen taking turns working.

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Previously, Thanh Yen commune had one ferry, Thanh Giang commune on this side of the river also had one ferry. However, in recent years, the demand for ferry passengers has not been high, so Thanh Yen commune's ferry has had to "stay on the shore". The ferrymen of Thanh Yen commune have switched to working on Thanh Giang commune's ferry.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Head of Phuong Ferry Team of Thanh Giang Commune

“Every day, we assign 2 people to work on the Thanh Giang side, and 1 person on the Thanh Yen side. The Thanh Giang ferry crew collects the fare when passengers go from Thanh Giang to the other side, while the Thanh Yen crew collects the fare for the return trip. That’s why there are always 3 ferrymen on the ferry, sometimes 3 people serving 1 passenger. Our point of view is to serve the people first, not to make anyone wait, so we carry as many passengers as we can,” said Mr. Hung.

Having worked as a ferryman in Phuong for over 10 years, Ms. Tran Thi Hien (47 years old) said that because the team has many people, it is only her turn to work every 5 days. On the remaining days, she sells groceries on the shore. Doing this job is just a side job, the main purpose is to serve the people, because the monthly salary is not much. What we want most is to soon have a bridge so that people can travel more conveniently. Although unemployed, for ferrymen like us, everyone is excited, everyone is looking forward to it.

One of the ferrymen at Cung ferry, connecting Cat Van commune (Thanh Chuong) with Trung Son commune (Do Luong), Mr. Nguyen Van Hop (64 years old), could not hide his joy even though in a few days, he will be unemployed after more than 40 years of being a ferryman. "Doing this job, my dream, like that of thousands of people here, is to have a bridge to make traveling more convenient. Now that dream has come true, and ferrymen like us will switch to fishing," Mr. Hop said with a smile, pointing to the majestic Cung ferry bridge that is almost completed.

Mr. Tran Van Thao - Chairman of Cat Van Commune People's Committee, said that in the past, there were 4 ferry piers in the area. Over time, the ferry piers have stopped operating one after another. Last year, Gia ferry piers also stopped operating due to too few passengers, now only Cung ferry piers remain. Currently, workers are completing the final items of Cung ferry bridge. It is expected that during Lunar New Year, people will be able to cross the bridge, by then, there will be no more ferry piers in the area. That is also a joy for the locality.

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"In addition to the Cung ferry bridge, which is about to be completed, the locality has also recently surveyed to build a bridge at Phuong ferry in the coming years. We are planning to propose including Phuong ferry bridge in the key medium-term public investment project for the period 2025-2030."

Mr. Trinh Van Nha - Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee

Mr. Phan Huy Chuong - Deputy Chief Inspector of Traffic said that on Lam River, there are currently only 4 licensed ferry piers operating. They are mainly concentrated in Thanh Chuong district including Phuong ferry, Cung ferry and Nguoc ferry. In addition, there is also Tao - Linh ferry (Anh Son district). Of these, only Phuong ferry is still bustling. The other ferry piers have very few passengers, and perhaps will no longer exist in the coming years./.