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Ninh Kieu Pier - Can Tho’s backpacker quarter

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It is said that visitors can’t claim they have been to Can Tho City if they have never been to the city’s Ninh Kieu Pier.


The pier is fast becoming one of the key attractions in Can Tho, known locally as the capital city of the Mekong Delta.

 

Night or day, Ninh Kieu Pier has its own poetic and romantic features made up of rivers and canals.

 

For that reason, it has attracted lots of foreign visitors and gradually become a haven for backpackers.

 

Ninh Kieu Pier can’t compare with the backpacker area in Ho Chi Minh City for the dynamism and variety of tourist services.

 

However, its natural scenery far outshines that of HCMC’s Pham Ngu Lao Street.

 

Musical past

 

The first graceful aspect of Ninh Kieu Pier is its riverside park filled with trees.

 

According to history, in the old days the area boasted lots of singing and music from traders on boats.

 

Legend has it that King Gia Long hid in Ninh Kieu to avoid the chase of King Quang Trung.

 

The music and singing touched his heart and he called it “Cam Thi Giang” with “Cam” meaning musical instrument, “Thi” meaning poetry and “Giang” meaning river.

 

However, the phrase “Cam Thi” was mispronounced and became “Can Tho” as it’s now known.

 

According to the elderly people in the area, the Ninh Kieu Pier of the 1960s welcomed many foreign visitors, mostly American soldiers and officers.

 

Subsequently, no foreign visitors came to the area for many years until 1990 when some foreigners began to visit Ninh Kieu again.

 

In the morning, visitors can see the business of buying and selling by the river and on the boats.

 

In the afternoon, they come and look in silence as if they are meditating.

 

A French tourist Hutk Bonny said: “Ninh Kieu Pier is wonderful. I like the cool fresh breezes blowing ashore from the river, and seeing the boats and ships in the river. I love to look at the simple and peaceful faces of women when they are working on the boats.”

 

Plenty to see

 

One of the interesting things is that the pier for the boats lies in the middle of the park.

 

The boats take passengers across the river.

 

They also take visitors to orchards on islands a few kilometers from the city, to the tourist attraction of Huong Phu Sa on another island, or to the floating markets of Cai Rang and Phong Dien.

 

At one end of the park, Can Tho Market bears the signs of increased tourism.

 

The 200-year-old market has been restored to keep the cultural features existing for many years.

 

The central part of the market has become a large area where souvenirs are sold.

 

In this area are the tourist offices, whilst outside the market are the bustling stalls where trading has been going on for centuries.

 

Usually, Western tourists like to visit ancient pagodas when they travel to Asian countries.

 

It is no exception when they come to Ninh Kieu.

 

For the past 20 years, Ong Pagoda, built by the Chinese in 1894, has been welcoming visitors from America and Europe almost every day.

 

The beautiful works of embossment and interesting and solemn designs of the pagoda, together with the religious customs, offer exotic stimulus for foreigners.

 

Twinkle twinkle

 

When night falls and the city lights up, Ninh Kieu Pier becomes transformed into glistening, magisterial splendor.

 

At this time, the restaurants in the area are full of foreign visitors.

 

The main dishes are local specialties and some Chinese dishes.

 

Recently, the tendency of modernization has gone into the menus of many restaurants with Western dishes included.

 

Most easily found are the Italian dishes of pizza and spaghetti.

 

The most prominent restaurant in Ninh Kieu is the Du Thuyen (Yacht) floating restaurant.

 

The 3-floor restaurant moves up and down the Can Tho River.

 

Customers must take a motored boat ride to go to this restaurant.

 

For the whole evening, the floating restaurant keeps moving slowly along the Can Tho River, so tourists on the restaurant can enjoy looking at the scenery of the river in the dark.

 

Can Tho City sleeps earlier than Saigon so tourists come back to the hotels earlier.

 

Sometimes, however, some visitors want to explore a place that is much different from other cities, so they stay on by sipping a cup of coffee at a street cafe opposite Ninh Kieu Park.

 

At this time, they can enjoy the peace and quiet of the night.

 

Ninh Kieu Pier is not as thrilling as Saigon’s backpacker quarter.

 

Yet the various pieces of the Ninh Kieu Pier experience combine to offer something very inviting for visitors, and that is why backpackers are opting to stay around Ninh Kieu Pier.


Source ThanhnienNews


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