The Co Co River

A boat leaving the landing at Da Nang could reach Hoi An without once touching the open sea. It did not need a road either. Between the two towns lay a calm stretch of water where trading boats passed by day and by night. That water was the Cổ Cò River.

People in the area also call it Lộ Cảnh Giang. The older name sounds like a road made of water. It opened through the land of Ngũ Hành Sơn, the Marble Mountains near Da Nang, before the river flowed on toward Hoi An.

In the days when Hoi An was a busy trading port, the Cổ Cò was its main artery. Boats left the Da Nang landing, followed the river past the foot of Ngũ Hành Sơn, and drifted down to Hoi An to trade their goods. They did not need the open sea. They did not wait for a fair wind. All they needed was the river and the strength of the rowers' arms.

The boats were heavy and made of wood, loaded with silk, ceramics and aloeswood. The banks were probably thick with green trees then, and the shadow of the mountains lay on the water. The boatman knew every bend and every shallow and deep place as well as he knew his own palm.

Then, over the years, the river silted up. Its channel narrowed, and boats could no longer pass. The busy trade route of earlier days became a memory of the land.

But the memory has not been lost. The Cổ Cò is still there, flowing gently between Ngũ Hành Sơn and Hoi An. From the bank, the water lets you picture the golden age of a trade route tens of kilometers long, where two large cities of central Vietnam once held hands through every shipment.

That is what sets the Cổ Cò apart from many other rivers. It is not loud and it is not grand. But its quiet water carries the story of merchants, of trading trips, and of a time when Da Nang and Hoi An were the two banks of one dream.