Society

New Expectationsin Cao Veu

Tien Dong • DNUM_AHZAIZCACE 15:25

Located close to the Vietnam - Laos border, right in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park, when mentioning Cao Veu, people often think of a "deep mountain, remote valley" place, hidden deep under the canopy of the old Truong Son forest; Cao Veu is also known as a place where wild elephants often come to wreak havoc... Now, Cao Veu has changed with a new look, promising to become an attractive community tourism destination of the mountainous district of Anh Son.

Fertile buffer zone

We arrived at Cao Veu on an early autumn day, when the first rains of the season had begun to pour down the eastern slopes of the majestic Truong Son mountain range, creating silver streams flowing downstream along the streams and creeks.

Accompanying us were Mr. Dao Anh Tan - Deputy Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Anh Son district and Mr. Phan Van Duc - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuc Son commune. From the administrative center of Phuc Son commune, located right next to National Highway 7, we followed Provincial Road 534C straight to Cao Veu border gate. The road connecting from National Highway 7 to Cao Veu border gate is about 40km long. From km20 onwards, the cluster of 4 Cao Veu villages including: Veu 1, Veu 2, Veu 3, and Veu 4 are distributed along both sides of Road 534C up to the border gate. These are the farthest villages of Anh Son district, sharing a border with Laos, stretching over 6.9km, from milestone number 7 to milestone number 9.

"Cao Veu this season is no longer as bustling as in early summer, when people from all over flock to bathe in waterfalls and streams. This season, the only specialty is... forest rain, it's a bit difficult to travel!" - Mr. Phan Van Duc said happily when we started our journey.

After nearly an hour of struggling with the rocky, rocky 534C road and many pieces of asphalt peeling off due to long-term erosion from wind and rain, we finally reached the banks of the Giang River, which is considered the gateway to the Veu region. Crossing the Giang River is now easier with a permanent concrete bridge across it.

Giang River is a tributary of Lam River, originating from Pa Lon Mountain at 1,300m high, belonging to the Northern Truong Son range - the core area of ​​Pu Mat National Park. Giang River is 150km long, flowing through Con Cuong, Anh Son, Thanh Chuong districts and then joining Lam River at the junction between Phong Thinh and Thanh Tien communes of Thanh Chuong district. Phuc Son is the only commune of Anh Son district that has Giang River flowing through it with a length of 8.3km.

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The Giang River does not flow through Cao Veu. This land has the Veu River originating from the eastern slope of the Truong Son mountain range flowing through it, then joining the Giang River right at the But valley.

Mr. Phan Van Duc - Vice Chairman of People's Committee of Phuc Son Commune

Located in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park, Cao Veu has a slope from high to low, stretching along the border to the downstream. Here is Cao Veu mountain (also known as Veu mountain), up to 1,342m high, the highest mountain in the Anh Son mountain forest area.

Cao Veu mountain forest, along with some localities of Con Cuong and Tuong Duong districts, is located in the 86,000ha buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park. This is home to the majority of Thai ethnic people and is considered an area of ​​high biodiversity with many rare plants and animals listed in the Vietnam and World Red Books that are still protected. The most prominent of these are wild elephants.

Due to the narrowing of the living space and food sources of wild elephants, in recent years, wild elephants often appear to destroy the sugarcane of Cao Veu people. To solve the "conflict" between elephants and humans, since the beginning of 2016, an elephant-prevention trench has been built in Veu 1 and Veu 2 villages. The trench is 5km long, surrounding the production area of ​​the people with the natural forest.

However, sometimes wild elephants still find a way to cross the moat to destroy people's crops. Therefore, an Elephant Conservation Group in Phuc Son Commune (mainly in Cao Veu) was established with 12 members, to protect the wild elephant herd as well as minimize the damage when wild elephants encroach on human living areas.

According to Mr. Duc, the herd of elephants in Cao Veu used to have 6 elephants, but in October 2023, an adult male elephant died in the forest in the communes of Hanh Lam and Thanh Duc of Thanh Chuong district (bordering Cao Veu). Due to the nature of elephants, there is usually only one male leader, so when an adult male elephant appeared, it could have caused a conflict, so this elephant separated from the herd, moved and lived alone in the forests around Cao Veu. Meanwhile, its herd still lives in nearby forests.

Potential of community tourism

To better understand the changes in this land, we decided to go deep into the most remote villages of Cao Veu. At noon, the first rain of the season stopped and then stopped completely. The fog gradually cleared, the clouds were torn apart and drifted over the mountain tops, revealing a large valley surrounded by the winding Veu River.

Mr. Dang Dinh Lam - Head of Veu 2 village welcomed us and took us on a tour around the village. Veu 2 village is located entirely on the right bank of the Veu River, with 91 households and 330 people, mainly Thai people. Because this is the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park, it has rich and diverse natural resources and many unique natural landscapes such as streams, hills, forests, etc.

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The Thai people appeared in Cao Veu hundreds of years ago. Many Thai clans originated from Con Cuong district, some from Thanh Chuong district. After arriving here, they settled along the rivers and streams...

Mr. Dang Dinh Lam - Head of Veu 2 village

In recent years, implementing the national target program on socio-economic development for particularly difficult villages, the economic, cultural and social life of Cao Veu people in general and Veu 2 village in particular has had many positive changes. Currently, in Veu 2 village, many households have become well-off and rich thanks to building stable economic models.

We stopped by Mr. Lo Thanh Tam's house in Veu 2 village. Mr. Tam's family moved from Con Cuong down here in the early 90s of the 20th century. After a while in the new land, his family had a stable life with 3 children reaching adulthood. Mr. Tam also invested capital to build an electric milling model to serve the people in the village and to raise buffalo and cows in his family.

Most notably, with favorable natural conditions, in recent years, the policy of developing community tourism associated with preserving and promoting national cultural identity has been implemented. In the Cao Veu area, a number of homestays, eco-tourism spots, and community tourism sites have appeared that are known to tourists from many places.

Among them, the eco-tourism area of ​​Vuc But beach, in Veu 4 village, has been completed and put into operation in recent years. The Sung tree beach in Veu 1 village, with its many-year-old fig tree casting cool shade on the Veu river, has become an attractive tourist destination for visitors in the region.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien - owner of an ecotourism business in Veu 2 village, shared that although the economic and social life of the villages in Cao Veu still faces many difficulties, nature has given Cao Veu conditions that few places have. That is the clear Veu River winding through the primeval forests with a not-too-high temperature, an ideal place for ecotourism and relaxation. Realizing these favorable conditions, more than a year ago, Mr. Chien boldly invested in building an ecotourism site right on his family's land next to the Veu River.

According to Mr. Dao Anh Tan - Deputy Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Anh Son district, developing eco-tourism and community tourism is one of the orientations that the district is building in Cao Veu. In recent years, the district has been actively attracting investment from businesses and project programs to build infrastructure for tourism such as restaurants, green, clean and beautiful community tourism houses.

Currently, in the area of ​​4 villages of Cao Veu, 8 community tourism spots have been built, beaches along the Veu River and places with beautiful landscapes. In addition, from the support fund of the National Target Program, Phuc Son commune is currently choosing a location to build a community tourism center of the commune in Cao Veu with a support cost of about 1.7 billion VND.

In particular, exactly 1 year ago, the project to repair and upgrade provincial road 534C to Cao Veu border gate was started in Veu 1 village, with the end point at landmark M8 on the Vietnam - Laos border. This project was built not only to ensure traffic for people, helping to connect the central area with villages in remote areas of Anh Son district. But it is also a bridge to help develop tourism economy in Cao Veu area. Especially developing eco-tourism, discovery tourism associated with border gates, border lines, landmarks. At the same time, promoting economic - trade cooperation, building a sustainable friendship with Laos.

The good news is that currently in 4 Veu villages in Phuc Son commune, a number of projects under the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the period 2021-2030 are being implemented, of which phase 1 is from 2021 to 2025. Specifically, the Project to Solve the Shortage of Residential Land, Housing, Production Land, and Domestic Water; the Project to Invest in Essential Infrastructure to Serve Production and Life in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas and Public Service Units in the Ethnic Sector; or the Project to Support Research, Restoration, Preservation and Promotion of Intangible Culture of Ethnic Minorities at Risk of Loss... This is the driving force and expectation to help the 4 Veu areas develop further.

Leaving Cao Veu, we brought with us a joy about the changes in this land. It was the joy that the distance between the "remote mountains and valleys" and the center of Phuc Son commune had been shortened, not as far and lonely as before. It was the expectation of a community tourism destination with ancient Thai villages that still retain their wild and attractive features.

But, for Cao Veu to truly make a breakthrough, in addition to the constant efforts of the people themselves, it still needs the attention of authorities at all levels and the entire community...