Rowing boat, going up Lam river hundreds of kilometers to establish village

(Baonghean.vn) - After a week of rowing hundreds of kilometers upstream and establishing a village, the fishing community has changed their lives.

That is the story of 25 years ago of a group of people living right on the river junction, where the Nam Non and Nam Mo rivers meet and create the Lam River of Nghe An.

From Highway 7, where the Nam Non and Nam Mo rivers meet, we crossed the river by a suspension bridge leading to Van Temple. From here, we crossed a muddy stretch and continued on a low hill range, following the Nam Non stream with dense bushes to reach the fishing village.

Small fishing village at the confluence of Nam Mo and Nam Non rivers. Photo: Dao Tho

The hamlet was strangely quiet. There were only 3 houses with people left in the hamlet. A man around 50 years old was sitting weaving nets. He still had a flashlight on his head. Even in the middle of the day, this man needed the extra light from the flashlight to weave the small meshes. That was Mr. Nguyen Viet Ha. Through conversation, we learned that he was one of the first residents of this small hamlet by the river. They all had their hometowns in hamlet 1, Lang Son commune (Anh Son district).

Pouring a cup of fresh tea to invite guests, Mr. Ha talked about the early days of going to the mountains to make a living. He still clearly remembers that in 1992, a woman in the same village married a man from Cua Rao village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong) and came back to visit her hometown. Through her story, everyone learned about the land with mountains on one side and rivers on the other, where shrimp and fish were abundant. The story evoked a "promised land" for those familiar with fishing while the Lam river through Lang Son commune was depleted of shrimp and fish. At first, only one or two families in the family came to survey, then settled down. After a few years, 6 households moved up to live, forming a fishing village at the river junction. Up to now, the residential area has 11 households with more than 30 people.

Life in the fishing village here still depends mainly on fish farming in cages. Photo: Huu Vi

“We paddled the boat for a whole week before we got there.” – Mr. Ha recalled the days of going upstream on the Lam River to establish the village. At that time, his wife was pregnant with their first child. It was the longest trip in the life of this fishing family. When he arrived, Mr. Ha realized that the land was not as easy to live as he thought. The new village of the fishermen was quite isolated from the outside world. Three sides were covered with mountains and reeds. “They will have to leave, at best they can stay for 3 months. How can they stand the malaria?” – the local residents at that time said with both disdain and concern.

In his spare time, Nguyen Viet Ha weaves nets both for his own use and to sell to earn extra income. Photo: Dao Tho

Then the worries of the local residents became true. One by one, they fell ill with malaria. “Luckily, everyone survived,” Mr. Ha recalled. It took two years for those who traveled hundreds of kilometers by river to set up a village in the mountains to escape the situation of living on boats. Although they had to transport materials by river, gradually everyone was able to build a house to live in.

“Despite the remoteness, once you overcome the initial difficulties, life here is still easier than in the countryside” – Mr. Ha continued the story. Back then, the river at the confluence of Nam Non and Nam Mo was still abundant in shrimp and fish. Every day, a person could catch hundreds of kilograms of fish. Species such as catfish and eel were countless. Life flowed smoothly like that, and the fishing village gradually escaped from its difficult situation.

Currently, most households in the fishing village have solid houses behind Van temple. Photo: Huu Vi

Mr. Phan Van Thiet, a family who rowed a boat more than 100 km to settle here in the early days, also sadly recalled: His family carried their small child in a bamboo boat, traveling day and night, and it took a long time to reach this land. A few years ago, there was no bridge across the river, a nephew got chicken pox, Mr. Vo Van Vinh and Ms. Nguyen Thi He (Mr. Ha's wife) rowed the boat across to get medicine from Hoa Binh. Unfortunately, just as they crossed the river, the hydroelectric plant released water, and there was a strong wind, the boat capsized, and Mr. Vinh's wife was swept away. It was extremely painful.

Now life is better, that small fishing village has joined the life of the locals at the river junction with the sacred Van - Cua Rao temple.

Dao Tho - Huu Vi