Travelling on boat along canals is very popular in many cities around the world, such as Venice, Paris, London and Vienna. Although this tour has just begun operations in Ho Chi Minh City one year ago, it has attracted a growing number of both domestic and foreign tourists.
Phan Xuan Anh, CEO of Saigon Boat Company Ltd., did his own forms of trailblazing with this tourism form. He stated that for the last few years, there were not any new city tours in Ho Chi Minh City so the tour on the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal is a breakthrough, luring tourists to the city. He drafted the project which was then submitted to Ho Chi Minh City’s authority for granting licenses and the company invested about 10 billion dong for the first stage of operating the tour.
Phan Xuan Anh, CEO of Saigon Boat Company Ltd., did his own forms of trailblazing with this tourism form. He stated that for the last few years, there were not any new city tours in Ho Chi Minh City so the tour on the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal is a breakthrough, luring tourists to the city. He drafted the project which was then submitted to Ho Chi Minh City’s authority for granting licenses and the company invested about 10 billion dong for the first stage of operating the tour.
 From a seriously polluted canal, the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal has become the most beautiful canal of the city with a tour attracting a large number of tourists to Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Thong Hai  Foreign tourists enjoy the canal boat tour. Photo: Thong Hai  Tourists go sightseeing while enjoying folk music on phoenix boats painted with white and blue on the canal. Photo: Thong Hai  During the tour, tourists can visit Hai Duc Pagoda on a bank of the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal. Photo: Thong Hai  Tourists go sightseeing on the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal at sunset. Photo: An Hieu  The canal has changed for the better and provided a new tour for visitors in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Thong Hai  Foreign tourists take photos of the locals’ daily activities on the two banks of the canal. Photo: An Hieu  Each boat can carry from two to six tourists. Photo: Thong Hai  Ttourists will travel along the 4.5km-long Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal through districts 1 and 3, Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan. Photo: Thong Hai |
To go on the tour, tourists may buy ticket at the price of 220,000 dong at two stations in District 1 and District 3 on Hoang Sa Road. Then, tourists will travel along the 4.5km-long Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal through districts 1 and 3, Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan to admire the beauty and the bustling life of locals while listening to sweet melodies from harmonicas and other traditional Vietnamese music. During the trip, tourists will also visit the pagodas of Chantaransay and Phap Hoa and historical relics with the guides speaking in Vietnamese and English.
After listening to the introduction about the history and the drastic change of the canal, Kavin Nguyen, an overseas Vietnamese, said with great astonishment: “What a wonder and how interesting! It seems like a trip to behold the beauty of Venice”
Story: Nguyen Oanh - Photos: Thong Hai & An Hieu
