Hundreds of foreign tourists enjoy boat ride in HCMC canal

By Bich Phuong November 14, 2023 | 08:16 pm PT

Foreign tourists sit on a boat along Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal in downtown HCMC, Nov. 14, 2023. Photo courtesy of HCMC Department of Tourism

Over 200 foreign tourists went on a one-hour boat tour Tuesday on the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal in downtown HCMC, one of its newest river tourism products.

It took the visitors past nine famous bridges.

A highlight of the trip was releasing of fish in the canal to improve the water quality and enhance its ecosystem.

The visitors also had the opportunity to listen to don ca tai tu, a traditional southern music genre, while being served tea and sweet cakes.

The tour costs VND250,000 (US$10.31) for adults and VND150,000 for children.

Nguyen Thi Vuong, executive manager of Nhieu Loc Boat Company, said more than half the visitors were foreigners.

HCMC currently has 20 river tours, which also include to its outlying Cu Chi and Can Gio districts and longer ones to the Mekong Delta and Cambodia, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of its tourism department said.

Before 2025 another 10 are expected to be developed to further diversify the water tourism experience, she added.

Foreign arrivals in the city numbered 4.12 million in January - October, or 82% of the target of five million.

Until a few years ago the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal was the most polluted in the city, but they have been cleaned up.

It runs nearly nine kilometers through Districts 1, 3, Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh, and Binh Thanh before joining the Saigon River.