One-day tour along the Red River has become popular with people eager to escape for noisy city and get back to nature. The tour takes you to villages beside the two banks of the river, to ancient temples and to vast maize fields.

One-day tours on the Red River offer tourists several choices. They can go by boat, motorbike or bicycle. The boat trip is the most popular taking visitors to the Dam and Dai Lo temples in Thuong Tin district, the Chu Dong Tu temple in Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province and the Bat Trang ceramic village in Gia Lam. Nguyen Chi Thanh, Deputy Director of the Red River Tourism Company says: “The one-day boat trip along the Red River is very popular. Tourists visit 3 temples- Dam and Dai Lo temples which are dedicated to the Mother of Goddess and Chu Dong Tu temple. The tour also includes Bat Trang, a famous ceramic village. This relaxing tour explores cultural relics along the Red River”.

At 9am, after two hours on the boat, tourists reach Dam and Dai Lo temple. A beautiful road leads to the temples charming tourists with the peaceful beauty of a Red River delta village, amazing close to the city. After visiting the temples, tourists often have a cup of tea and enjoy local specialties like sticky rice cakes. “The peaceful atmosphere here refreshes me. I have taken a lot of beautiful photos of the well, the yard and the small roads. I feel really peaceful”, said An, a visitor.

After a half - hour walk around the village, tourists are taken to Khoai Chau district to visit the Tien Dung- Chu Dong Tu temple, which sits on the Red River bank. The legendary love story of Tien Dung and Chu Dong Tu inspires many tourist. Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh says: “Chu Dong Tu temple is associated with the Chu Dong Tu-Tien Dung legend. We call this place the temple of love because of the love story between poor Chu Dong Tu and princess Tien Dung. This is part of the Vietnamese culture. The temple sits on in a beautiful open space. Tourists feel relaxed here”.

Mr. Thanh says his company has offered tours along the Red River for ten years. These tours have been expanded to include new destinations on the Duong river like Phat Tich pagoda and Do temple in Bac Ninh province. Tour prices range from 15 to 30 USD.

Lan Anh