Immense on the most beautiful road in western Nghe An

(Baonghean) - The Western Nghe An route, nearly two hundred kilometers long, connecting Que Phong to Ky Son, is considered the most beautiful road in the border region of Nghe An, passing through three of the poorest districts in the country.

The road, now marked 'National Highway 16', is the most beautiful road in the Western part of Nghe An. I realized this perhaps a little too late. In more than 5 years and hundreds of trips to this land, this was the first time I traveled its entire length. Every hamlet, village, mountain, and stream had bright and quiet colors as the sky and earth turned to summer.

We chose Tri Le commune (Que Phong) as the starting point for our trip to explore the most beautiful road in Western Nghe An, which is also the first milestone of the national highway. The feeling of fatigue from the first heat wave of the season, which the hydrometeorological agency measured at up to forty degrees in some places, seemed to have passed with relief. Just one day later, the temperature had dropped to almost half. The rains came and went in a flash. Just two days later, the sky turned bright and sunny again. The weather in this land is also fickle, capricious, and unpredictable to the extreme.

Red leaf road connecting Xop Tu village, My Ly commune (Ky Son). Photo: HV-HP

The sudden sunshine and rain seem to be a “medicine” to support the rice fields. Just two days ago, the rice on the terraced fields was still green, but now it has begun to show ears. As the Thai people call it, the rice is in the “com lam” stage. The scent of rice powder makes the midday air fragrant. It is really pleasant. Tri Le is one of the border communes that grows the most rice in the western part of Nghe An, with a tradition that can be traced back hundreds of years.

Every time I pass through this land, I remember the story of Mr. Vi Phuc, originally from Mon Son commune (Con Cuong). This is also a border commune with several hundred hectares of rice fields. However, the story of this village elder who once held the position of District Party Secretary is not about rice cultivation. He said that Tri Le used to be called Muong Che Le. This was the stopping point of many Thai families when they migrated to the mountainous region of Nghe An from the Northwestern and Western provinces of Thanh Hoa. From here, they spread out in many directions. The farthest stopping point was Mon Son commune, where more than 80 years ago, his Vi family contributed to the uprising in response to the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement and the establishment of the first Party cell in Western Nghe An. Tri Le today has become the most multicultural area of ​​Que Phong district, home to three indigenous ethnic groups: Thai, Mong, and Kho Mu. Muong Che Le also only remains in a half-true, half-false legend.

It took the “iron horse” more than an hour to “carry” the two of us across Tri Le land. Summer had just begun, and the bamboo forests on both sides of the road were in bloom. This plant only blooms once and it was also its last glorious days before it withered. In the eyes of the photojournalist, bamboo blossoming was a rare moment, even though he traveled almost all year round to the villages in the mountainous areas, but he rarely had the chance to see it.

Passing through the Tri Le Heaven Gate and also the last Mong village of Tri Le. "We are about to reach Nhon Mai commune (Tuong Duong)", my friend's voice echoed in the whistling wind. At this time, we had just passed the Heaven Gate and started to go downhill. The asphalt road wound along the deserted mountainside as if it was leading us into a deserted land. Very rarely did we meet a motorbike going in the opposite direction. The mountains and forests were deserted and wild but not monotonous at all. Every now and then, we had to stop in front of clumps of bright red cassia. This season, the cassia changes its leaves, the forest turns red, just a breeze passing by and clumps of leaves scatter and fly away, leaving behind each bare branch. Only about a month later, after a few summer rains, new shoots will sprout on the seemingly withered branches. Nature is truly amazing!

Since the road that the government used to call the Western Economic Road was built, the appearance of the villages along it has changed in a strange way. Village names like Na Hi and Co Ha, which were very remote, have now become easier to travel to. The road to Huoi Co, the most remote village in Nhon Mai commune, can now be traveled by motorbike. People no longer have to spend 2 days to get to the provincial center like before. If you want to go to "Ban Vinh" (the way the highlanders call Vinh City), you can now take a bus. Something that no one would have dared to think of just five or seven years ago.

Na Hi village is a green and quiet picture. Each small stilt house along both sides of the road seems to be carved into the mountainside. Next to the village are green terraced fields. In just over a month, when passing by here and the rice season is fully ripe, many people will feel like they are lost in a miniature Cang Chai rice field, enchantingly beautiful.

White Bauhinia flowers bloom on Pha Bun mountain range. Photo: HV-HP

The smooth road took us through Nhon Mai, Mai Son, Tuong Duong district, then through My Ly, Huoi Tu, and Pha Danh communes. Ta Ca commune (Ky Son) is the last point of National Highway 16. Each kilometer is an interesting experience of natural scenery. That is the road with the bright red color of the leaves of the Sang Le and the leaves of the Poinsettia tree in Xop Tu village, My Ly commune. The white clusters of Ban flowers bloom on Pha Bun mountain range, Huoi Tu commune. Ban flowers and the white color of the reeds evoke a feeling of melancholy and lightness like the clouds that cover the top of Pha Bun mountain all year round.

How strange, on the colorful road passing through remote villages, the hardships of making a living suddenly disappear like the morning mist. Then when I sit facing the wall of my house or when I close my eyes waiting for sleep to come, the colorful pictures appear in my mind...

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong