Awakening the sea of ​​homeland…

(Baonghean) -Nature has endowed Nghe An with great marine potential, nearly 90 km of coastline with beautiful arcs. The poetic, peaceful blue beaches. The shrimp and fish farms that have contributed to the prosperity of many families for generations. The estuaries, creeks, and wharves promise the potential of large seaports and commercial ports not only for the province, but also for the region... In addition to Cua Lo beach which has been put into exploitation - one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam; Nghe An has many clear blue beaches with great potential waiting to be awakened.

Our seas, such as Cua Lo, Cua Hoi, Dien Thanh, Hon Cau, Cua Hien, Nghi Thiet, Quynh Phuong, Quynh Bang... The names of the seas are familiar to our flesh and blood. It is not only the place where many people make a living, but also the sediment of the cheers that stir up the waves of the ships going to the resistance war. The sea of ​​our homeland in our memories is the image of boats with full sails gliding over the waves, every afternoon eagerly docking at Lach Van, Lach Con, with loving anticipation; the purple-shirted, curved-shelled stone crabs that were lucky enough to be found in the crevices of the rocks when the tide was low at Cua Hien; the image of grandmothers and mothers with sweaty shirts in the scorching summer noon giving us the salty salt of Dien Van, or wet shirts sticking to their skin, shivering while scratching clams in the cold autumn wind; is the shell that father brought back from the ocean with so many sounds of memories, is where father and brother boarded the ship with bare feet to bring back the ships full of fish and shrimp, and then thought that in the sleep of mother, of grandmother, there were still startled dreams... In the big waves out there is the desire to struggle, filled with hope. Father carried on his shoulders salt, oil, rice, rocks, pushed the oars to find fish in the "sun, sea, rain of the source". We eat the white rice of the people of the sea as if holding a bowl of jade, a bowl of gold.

That is Quynh Lap, Quynh Nghia, Quynh Bang beaches, especially Quynh Phuong, where the waves crash loudly against the steep cliffs, where there is the sacred Con temple, associated with the folk song "Nhat Con nhi Qua..." of Nghe An, is the Dragon Mountain beach in the north of Dragon Mountain (Nghi Thiet) with a gentle beach and clear water. That is Cua Hien with blue waves reaching to the horizon, the earth and sky blend together in passion, in the distance, each small boat raises a bright red flag like a beckoning hand...

… Cua Hien beach is bordered by Mui Rong and Rong mountain, with many rocky beaches rising above the sea surface. Local people often catch many large fish such as snapper, grouper, grouper, and sardines. Standing on the rocks to fish is a favorite pastime on this beach. Asking an old fisherman here why the beach is called Cua Hien, he said: Because the waves here are very gentle. The sand at the bottom is flat, so the incoming and outgoing water does not know who to "argue" with, no matter how fierce the waves are far out at sea, when coming here the waves are only gentle, maybe that is why people call it Cua Hien?

Cua Hien Beach (Nghi Yen - Nghi Loc).

I came to Cua Hien beach one autumn afternoon. Clumps of foam hit the white rocks, as if My Chau's goose feathers were scattered to "show the way". The winding road around Mo Da mountain, which is said to be the place where King An Duong Vuong killed My Chau and then went down to the sea - leads tourists to a new arc of the sea. There are dozens of thatched-roof shops located close to the sand "waiting" for tourists. Bustling, bustling with people eating, bathing, playing, and having fun, dispelling the sad story of an ancient legend. In the whistling afternoon wind, I heard stories about farmers who dared to think, dared to do, did not accept poverty, and awakened their homeland's sea with their love.

Tran Cong Hung was born into a family of "traditional" fishermen. His father lived almost his entire life with the sea on a fishing boat. On a bamboo boat, but he understood the sea like the back of his hand, so his boat always caught fish. Fish, red-legged shrimp and squid, the trips at sea were filled with the blessings of heaven, creating his stormy life. He was also eager to follow his father to sea, after many years of being attached to the sea, with boats and fish, shrimp, he realized one thing: The seafood he sold was very cheap, but the restaurants sold it very expensive. On the days of sailing out to sea to catch squid and pull nets, he was overwhelmed by the scenery of Cua Hien, especially when the sunset fell on the sea. Therefore, when he had capital, and saw that Bai Lu next door was being exploited, many tourists came to visit.

He thought he had to "pull" tourists to wake up his hometown beach. Then, he boldly rented land from the commune, invested more than 200 million VND, built leaf shops to sell seafood, serving tourists coming to swim. Four years have passed, and it is also the fourth time Hung has invested for new beach seasons. Hung said that this year has the most visitors in all the years, the happiest ones are all visitors from Vinh and Hanoi. There are days when he serves more than 200 visitors. Cua Hien seafood is not lacking, from sea urchins, giant eels to squid, grouper... All are gifts from the sea, caught by fishermen during the day, so they are very fresh. Visitors come to Bai Lu to swim and rest, but then go to Cua Hien to eat and drink, so Hung's restaurant is even more crowded.

Not only Hung's restaurant, but also Mr. Le's and Ms. Dung's Huong Bien restaurant on the other side is also crowded. Mr. Le revealed that on hot days, he serves groups of up to 400 people. There were days when the revenue reached 150 million VND! Ms. Dung sells agricultural products in Dien Thinh, but soon realized the value of Cua Hien beach and discussed with her husband to open a restaurant to welcome guests. Their bold thoughts were rewarded, when the "fragrance" of Cua Hien beach spread further and further. The road combined with the sea dike was solidly invested, like a soft silk strip between the forest on one side and the sea on the other. Mr. Le also spent billions of VND to build a sea wall behind the restaurant, fill in the soil, make a flat surface, and build huts in the middle of the sand to serve tourists. From a pristine beach, Cua Hien now has nearly a dozen restaurants welcoming guests. Shrimp and fish caught from the sea are more valuable. People in Nghi Yen, Nghi Tien (Nghi Loc) and Dien Trung (Dien Chau) also take advantage of seawater to exploit and raise shrimp, earning hundreds of millions of dong each year. A mysterious sea area now shines with new potential.

Unlike Cua Hien beach - where farmers and fishermen boldly provide tourism services, Cua Hoi is known as the "Korean-Taiwanese tourism service village" - where many Nghi Hai and Nghi Hoa people go to Korea and Taiwan to bring capital back to "open the sea". Ms. Vo Thi Lien - Hai Trung block (Nghi Hai) used to have to work for hire in Korea with many hardships. Working as a worker in an electronics assembly factory, she said "the fan rotated slower than my hands", she had to work hard in a foreign land, hoping to earn enough money to pay off her debt and have some capital to do business. In her last years in a foreign land, she worked for a large Korean restaurant with 500 other workers.

The work was too hard, many days she had to run back and forth so much that she fell to the ground, at night she missed home and her children and cried until her eyes were swollen. But she listened to the owner's encouragement: "Ni Lien, try to do well, I will teach you how to make Kim Chi so that you can open a restaurant when you return home." After enduring and working hard, after 7 years of returning home, she saved nearly 1 billion VND, bought land to build a house and opened two tourist service shops at Cua Hoi beach. What she learned while working at a Korean restaurant, she found ways to apply and innovate according to the reality of her homeland. From the way to prepare dishes and "tips" to save ingredients. She recalled the days in Korea, when there were a few spoonfuls of rice left in the pot, the owner instructed her to add water, cook it so that she could eat both the water and the rice, without throwing away any grains. She also put the remaining vegetables in a clean plastic bag to eat the next day. When she opened a restaurant, even though she had enough to eat, she still used the leftover food to feed 3 pigs. Every year with three litters of pigs, she has saved nearly 30 million VND.

Knowing how to make Kim Chi, she works hard, working day and night to serve the restaurant and sell to take-away customers, including Korean customers in Nghe An. Each year during the tourist season, her restaurant only makes a profit of nearly 100 million VND. Her restaurant is opposite Song Ngu Island, it seems like just a few steps away from the island. She wishes she had the capital to invest in a large boat to take tourists to the island.

“Just ask around here, people who went to work abroad like me have opened restaurants, they are very open and friendly” - Ms. Lien said. After finding out, I found out: Hung Mai restaurant, Thai Phu restaurant, Phuc Hien, Thach Hong, Anh Van... all have husbands or wives who went to work abroad and invested in opening restaurants. In the middle of the sea and sky of their beloved homeland, they have built a career and also helped their homeland become more and more beautiful and rich. Mr. Thach, owner of Thach Hong restaurant, who once went to Korea, shared: “This year has the most customers since the restaurant opened. Customers from Hanoi come to Cua Lo and then go to Cua Hoi to eat very crowded. Sometimes they come in groups of cars. We always try to serve delicious - fresh - nutritious - cheap...”. To invest in opening a restaurant, on average each summer, a restaurant pays 42 million VND in land rent to the locality. Not only will people have income and conditions for economic development, but even local budgets will increase if the coastal tourism services of farmers in these coastal areas develop.

If Bai Lu and Cua Lo have been effectively exploited to live up to their “well-deserved reputation”, Cua Lo is the “blue pearl”, Bai Lu is the “paradise of the sea”, then Cua Hoi is still a beach that has not been “awakened”. At the river mouth where shrimp and fish are abundant, Cua Hoi is also the destination of many fishing boats from North to South. On the other side is Song Ngu Island with interesting pebble beaches, Ngu Pagoda, and Ngoc Well. A cable car connecting the mainland and Ngu Island is still the dream of locals and tourists.

Shrimp farming in Nghi Yen commune (Nghi Loc).

As for Nghi Loc, with many beautiful beaches such as Mui Rong (Nghi Thiet), Hien beach (Nghi Yen), Lu beach (Nghi Tien)... tourists can not only swim in the sea, but also visit small handicraft establishments and craft villages. Trung Kien shipbuilding craft village was established more than 700 years ago, has a long-standing brand, and has built ships without numbers. Currently, the village is creating jobs for over 800 workers; seafood exploitation and processing in Nghi Quang, Nghi Yen, Nghi Thiet, rattan and bamboo weaving in Nghi Phong, Nghi Thai, Phuc Tho... Phuc Tho village with green coconut groves lying peacefully on the banks of Lam river before the river flows into the ocean... The whole Nghi Loc district has 14 km of coastline with an area of ​​722 nautical miles, with 6 coastal communes, and owns 3 enchantingly beautiful beaches! Of which, only Lu beach (area of ​​52 hectares) has been exploited into a high-class resort.

In Dien Chau, with 25 km of coastline passing through 9 communes of Dien Trung, Dien Thinh, Dien Thanh, Dien Ngoc, Bich, Van, Kim, Hai... to Dien Hung, it forms a concave arc into the mainland like a small bay. But Dien Thanh beach has just been put into exploitation, other beaches such as Hon Cau beach (Dien Hai), Cua Hien beach... are still very wild. Many people also say that Nghe An only has Cua Hien beach (Dien Chau) which is the only place without Lao wind! Dien Chau people are dynamic, affectionate, and are working hard with the sea in exploiting, processing seafood and doing tourism. But the dream of investing in long-term stable infrastructure at sea is still very difficult.

In recent years, economic development from sea tourism in Nghe An has been increasingly focused on. The number of visitors to the beaches has increased. In 2012, there were over 3 million visitors, of which Cua Lo alone had over 2 million visitors each year. However, there are still not many visitors staying for a long time, and the combination of tours and Cua Lo with famous places such as Nam Dan, Uncle Ho's hometown, King Mai's tomb, Truong Bon, Khe Kem waterfall, Pu Mat National Park, etc. has not been exploited. Business is still seasonal, in winter and spring the beach "closes" and lies sadly. The labor force is also scattered, so that the following year restaurants and hotels are scrambling to find workers.

Services on the beaches, such as ATMs, post offices, banks, etc., are still very limited. There are not many seafood storage and dining facilities right on the beach, or even none. People dare to think, but investment potential is still weak, so "difficulties limit intelligence". Where the sun shines and the wind sings, Nghe An sea still has red sails, groups of people wringing their hands to pull nets at dawn. That wild beauty is attracting many tourists, but that "pull" is not enough to wake up the beaches. I suddenly remember the image after a big storm at Cua Hien beach, the thatched roofs of many restaurants flew down, causing the "farmer" owners to feel sorry. Or like in Cua Hoi, after a fishing season, people had to pry up all the bricks, so that the next fishing season they could continue to invest in "assembling" them. The pearly sea and ivory sea still yearn to open up...

Article and photos: Chau Lan