Da Nang has the "billion-dollar road"; the potential of Lap An - Lang Co - Chan May cluster is, in my view, not inferior. However, for Hue, that is not all.
The bus down Hai Van Pass to Hue was blocked near the foot of the pass by the unit putting the beam for the bridge leading to Hai Van Tunnel 2 under construction. The waiting time was quite long, so tourists on the buses got out to relax and admire the scenery. They were called tourists because most of them chose the pass path to travel by tourist bus so that they could both experience the "road in the clouds" of the pass ranked the most spectacular worldwide and visit the Hai Van Quan (Hai Van Gate) relic famous as "Thien ha de nhat hung quan"(The World’s First Gate) more than 500 years ago.
Lang Co Beach viewed from the back of Hai Van Pass. Photo: Dien Thong
From halfway Hai Van Pass, we overlooked Lang Co. Its beach was so beautiful that tourists could not but take a few souvenir photos. It is no exaggeration because apart from normal humans, nearly a decade ago, together with Nha Trang and Ha Long, Lang Co, which has caught the eyes of Worldbays (Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World), was voted by the organization as one of the 30 most beautiful bays in the world. And not only later, Lang Co has long won the heart of anyone including the kings that accidentally set foot on. Over one hundred years ago, just a few months after coming to the throne, Khai Dinh, the 12th emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, came and felt ecstatic at Lang Co’s beauty. When returning, he ordered the establishment of Hanh cung Tinh Viem (the stopover for the king on an excursion). The stone stele has been there so far.
A corner of Lang Co. Photo: Dien Thong
For all its beauty and fame, unfortunately Lang Co has been so quiet until now. The situation is totally different from Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa, Phan Thiet - Binh Thuan, Cua Dai - Hoi An and so on. Before stopping on Hai Van Pass just for one day, we went on a journey through Hoang Sa-Vo Nguyen Giap-Truong Sa route connecting Da Nang City with Hoi An Ancient Town and spent one night experiencing at a resort on this route.
More than two decades ago, this was a far-off and sparsely- populated coastal area, but at present, with the bridges crossing the Han River, with the invested route boasting the well-known Ngu Hanh Son (Marble Mountains) in the middle, and with Hoi An Ancient Town recognized as the World Heritage, Da Nang’s whole strip of coastal land becomes vibrant with the luxurious hotels, villas and resorts up to 4-5 stars’ standard. Da Nang Department of Tourism estimated that the set of high-end hotels, villas and resorts has generated the annual revenue of VND trillion for the city's tourism industry. Hoang Sa-Vo Nguyen Giap-Truong Sa route dubbed "5-star road", “billion- dollar road" is no exaggeration.
Back to Hue's Lang Co, the information got showed that this dreamy beach was discovered very early, located right on the north-south thousand-mile road. In front of Lang Co is the sea, behind is Lap An Lagoon. It leans against the majestic Bach Ma (White Horse) Mountain with the well-known upland resort called "Da Lat of Central Vietnam". To be fair, Lang Co should have "taken off" before, but the status quo is evident to everyone.
Lang Co Town should not have been so “simple” like this. Photo: Dien Thong
Does the cause lie in the lack of investors? This is part true, part untrue. It is true because if Lang Co was invested, it would have a new appearance. It is untrue because the list of investors that registered investment in Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone, according to the press reports early this year, has reached 30. Sadly, many projects have not been implemented for dozens of years.
Canh Duong Sea is so peaceful. Photo: Đăng Tuyên
In early 2018, in an exchange with the press, Phan Thien Dinh, Director of Planning and Investment, said that under the guidance of the Provincial People's Committee, his unit will coordinate, review the projects to propose logical solutions for removing deplorable stagnation and arrogation. Calling for investment is not easy, but eliminating the dishonest investors is also a must. Otherwise, they will inhibit growth. Resources are always finite, but investors are of many sorts. Gone are the days of rampant calling for investment; we have to start with the choice. That is the general trend of the country, so are Thua Thien Hue and even Lang Co.
Scores of tourism projects in Lang Co progress at a snail’s pace. Photo: Dien Thong
Da Nang has the "billion-dollar road". The potential of Lap An - Lang Co - Chan May traffic cluster is , to my mind, not mediocre especially when Hai Van Tunnel was cleared, now the tunnel No 2 is being opened whereby the distance between Hoi An - Da Nang - Hue is substantially reduced; when Hai Van Quan (Hai Van Gate) was recognized as a relic - although it has been unexploited, tourists flood in every day; when Phu Bai International Airport was given the decision to continue to be upgraded and expanded.
For example, right at Chan May - Lang Co Economic Zone, as far as Cu Du Hamlet, where Laguna Integrated Resort of Banyan Tree Group (Singapore) is located, just after five years of operation, it has confirmed the international level of the brand and has just been approved by the Government to increase investment capital to USD 2 billion. Further northwards, also in Phu Loc District, the 5-star Vedana Lagoon Resort & Spa at the foot of Mui Ne Pass, invested in 2009, now magnetizes a lot of tourists and is rated the most money-worthy in Hue. Let alone the nice and convenient sites like Lang Co Beach and Lap An Lagoon. Good “clearance”, the red carpet for potential investors and honest business undoubtedly lead to success.
The beautiful and peaceful Ham Rong (Dragon’s Jaw) Beach (Vinh Hien) is awaiting "exploitation". Along Thua Thien Hue’s coast are a lot of beautiful beaches like this. Photo: Dien Thong
Talking about sea tourism, Lang Co - Chan May is not unique. More than 120km of coastline of Thua Thien Hue from north to south include Phong Hai, Quang Cong, Hai Duong, Thuan An, Phu Thuan, Phu Dien, Vinh Thanh, Ham Rong - Vinh Hien and Loc Binh- all these are potential beaches calling for investment. Sometimes I sit ... dreaming of a budget investment in a first-rate coastal road, then adding a few byroads connecting with National Highway 1A to “pull” the sea closer to the city. The beaches will surely heat up.
"Hue has sea and everything ...” That word always obsesses me. Going through the "billion-dollar road", I was even more obsessed. Let's make drastic changes from Lang Co, from sea tourism to awaken the other potential of Hue. With the rich, beautiful and immense sea, with the vast lagoon system abounding in Southeast Asia’s most famous aquatic products, with Bach Ma (White Horse) National Park of "illusion in the clouds", and with Ngu (Screen) Mountain, the Huong (Perfume) River boasting 5 World Heritages and so on, the land cannot resign itself to “the poverty fate” forever.
Dien Thong