If Hue looks ancient and bashful like a charming and graceful girl, Tam Giang Lagoon, about 15 kilometers from Hue City, is endowed with pristine and handsome features like a would-be suitor.
With 22,000 hectares of water surface, Tam Giang Lagoon is the dating place of three big rivers, O Lau, Huong and Bo, before they run into the sea through the Thuan An estuary. To get to the lagoon, travelers can take a 30 minute ride along O Lau River then pass through Bao Vinh ancient town and finally to Vinh Tu wharf.
From there, travelers can depart on a fishing boat with locals to explore the mystery of the lagoon.
The most beautiful moments on the lagoon are at sunset when it turns purple. A few fishing boats return home late with lines of casuarinas running with the skyline separating the water from the sky, with the whole lagoon’s surface shaking in the breeze. These are images that visitors have to capture.
Tam Giang locals survive due to catching fish and shrimp. Men go fishing offshore. Before the sun breaks over the eastern horizon they get up to collect fish and shrimp from traps. And at dusk, they reset traps and nets. Meanwhile, women toil to catch oysters and clam as they have to soak their body in water for some hours to finish their work.
Under the final rays of sunshine, some kids in old costumes frolic in the shallow water as others tie their father’s boat and go for a swim.
Endowed by nature, Tam Giang is spoiled with its biodiversity and rare and valuable marine products. Every day, large volumes of fish caught at the lagoon are then sold in local markets or to wholesale traders. Some locals keep some of the goods to make fish sauce.
The lagoon is also home to a number of birds’ species and a variety of fauna and flora species.
The lagoon is also like a giant air-conditioning area, contributing to present storms in Hue City. People call Tam Giang-Cau Hai an unopened treasure.
Coming to the lagoon, tourists never leave without sampling fresh seafood in cottages along the lagoon such as fish, squid, clam, crab or shrimp.
