Autumn at the "heavenly gate" of Muong Long

(Baonghean) - Located on a mountain peak 1,485m above sea level, in the middle of the majestic Truong Son range, Muong Long (Ky Son district) was once considered a drug hotspot. But in recent years, through support programs and projects from the Party and the State, Muong Long has changed a lot. People no longer grow opium poppies and trade drugs, but have become conscious of staying on the land and in their villages to develop the economy. Many families have escaped poverty. This fall, we climbed the slope to Muong Long - considered the "gate to heaven" to witness the change.

After several days of rain, many landslides appeared on Highway 7A in Ky Son district. At one point, passing Khe Tang village in Chieu Luu commune, the mud on the mountain collapsed, creating a quagmire. At one point, the dirt and rocks buried half of the road. While we were struggling with the quagmire, a mountain girl riding a scooter passed by, laughing. I was no stranger to highland girls riding their motorbikes through winding, slippery, muddy roads with ease.

When we started to climb the slope from Muong Xen Town to Muong Long, it started to rain again. The old man from Keo Lac village (Pha Danh commune) smiled and said: You guys just put on your raincoats and go. This season, waiting for the rain to stop can take a whole day. Okay, let's keep going. The car carried people and revved the engine. Luckily, when we reached Huoi Tu commune, there was sunshine. The sun was floating on the clouds. The sun was weak and gentle. The Muong Long basin appeared silently in the misty fog. Since the end of 2012, the asphalt road has reached the commune center, Trung Tam village has gradually become a city. The once deserted market has gradually become bustling. Every day there is a bus going up and down, at noon passengers and goods from Vinh City, from Muong Xen Town and the outlying communes have arrived at Trung Tam village, in the afternoon they return downstream. With the road, the face of the center of Muong Long commune changes every day.

The gathering to prepare for the new school year of students in Muong Long commune.

The new school year has not yet started but students have officially gone to school. The sound of the school drum resounds in the mountain wind, making people's hearts excited. In recent days, students from Huoi Khun, Loong Keo, Tham Hoc, Tham Han, Tha La villages have been carrying their books, rice, salt, blankets and mats back to school. Every school year, students from remote villages have to prepare for their new season of learning, in such a meticulous and arduous way. This afternoon, there were still groups of students with "lu co" instead of school bags on their backs, entering school. The female students were shy in front of the camera lens, while the male students were laughing and joking confidently. Mong boys are inherently bold, in the past, at the age of 14 or 15, they knew how to throw pao and catch wives. However, things have changed now. In recent years, there are roads, new schools, and the State supports the cost of education, so boys and girls in Mong - Muong Long villages can go to school with peace of mind.

When we arrived at the commune people's committee headquarters, a rainstorm came. Despite the rain and wind, the key officials still packed up and headed back to the district for a meeting, leaving only the Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, Va No Vu, behind. Deputy Secretary Vu said: "At this time, the commune officials are preparing with teachers for the new school year and the study session of the 7th Central Resolution. The Mong people here are never short of work. As soon as we finish harvesting peaches and pineapples, we immediately go to the fields to weed the rice. After the weeding season, we wait for the rice in the fields to ripen, then harvest corn and squash."

Through a conversation with Deputy Secretary Vu, it was learned that Muong Long has 13 villages, nearly 4,300 pure Mong people, who have been accustomed to growing rice and corn for thousands of years. In the past two decades, Muong Long has planted peach and plum trees, which help people earn more income. Muong Long valley is bone-chillingly cold in winter, and the highest temperature in the summer is only above or below 30 degrees Celsius. Peach and plum trees are planted just waiting for the day to pick fruit, rarely needing the care of the people. However, these crops cannot help people escape poverty, for a simple reason that is also the root cause of hundreds of thousands of difficulties: there are no roads. Peaches must be picked and carried on the backs of people or horses to the market to sell. How can people and horses carry enough when every household grows peaches and plums, and then the fruit ripens and falls. The Mong people are hard-working. Seeing ripe peaches and plums falling in the fields makes them feel sorry.

By this summer, when the asphalt road was completed, Muong Long peaches were present in the markets in the center of Huoi Tu commune, Bac Ly intersection, Muong Xen market. Buyers praised the sweet peaches and juicy plums. Muong Long specialties are different! Peach and plum growers were delighted. So this land has not failed those who have contributed. But we must thank the road. With the road, the heads, necks, and backs of people and horses will be less tired. The sadness will be less on the faces of Mong - Muong Long women.

At dusk, the rain suddenly stopped, we visited the boarding house of Mong children from far away villages who came to study. From afar, we could see smoke coming out of the wooden kitchen. This house used to be a classroom, but in the 2012-2013 school year, a new school building was built, more spacious and safer. The wooden house became a communal kitchen for dozens of students from far away villages Huoi Khun, Tham Han, Tham Poc... The new school was equipped with ceiling fans and neon lights. But these devices are waiting for the national grid. Currently, the new power line reaches Huoi Tu commune, another 16 kilometers from the central village of Muong Long commune.

The kitchen suddenly became more crowded when the reporters appeared. The children were both curious and unfamiliar in front of the camera lens. After a while, everyone returned to their work. Some lit the stove, cooked rice, others picked vegetables, and chopped firewood. The children were in a hurry to finish cooking before 7 o'clock so they could go to their evening classes. The electricity from the turbines placed along the streams was enough to light the compact lamps so the children did not have to use kerosene lamps to study. When asked: "Are you full? What does the meal consist of?" - Va Y Gio and her students chopped firewood and answered softly: "We mainly eat rice to be full, there is very little food." In the corner of the kitchen, in large and small pots, there was only white rice, vegetables, bamboo shoots and a little fish sauce.

This year, Y Do is in 8th grade. For the past 2 years, his daily meals in the boarding house are just like that. As for student Va Ba Ca from Huoi Khun village, he said: After school on Saturday morning, students in the village have to rush home to get rice and food for the next week. The house is about 15 km from school, it takes 4 hours to walk. If they are late, they still won't be home by dark. I asked: "Have you ever thought about dropping out of school?", Ba Ca immediately said: "You have to go to high school and university."

The night fell, the Muong Long basin was quiet, and the cold of the highlands also rushed in with each gust of wind. Tonight, we stayed in the wooden office room of the Chairman of Lau Giong Cai commune. Sleep came very gently. The singing of the commune police officer woke me up. Dawn had passed through the gate of heaven to the basin. On the mountain roads, groups of children called each other to go to school, making the atmosphere of the Mong village more bustling. We found our way to Sa Lay village. We had heard that this was one of the villages that had previously resolutely eradicated opium poppy.

The road to the village is only about 3 km but it is muddy so we had to leave our motorbikes in the commune center and walk into the village. This small village of 95 households, with over 400 people, has done another thing that makes Mong villages near and far admire. For the past 2 years, there has been no cigarette smoke in the village. According to Mong customs in Muong Long, on occasions of meetings, festivals, funerals, young people or descendants offer their elders a cigarette. Currently in the village, there are only a few young people who maintain this custom, the older people only hold the cigarette out of courtesy and put it on the tray, not lighting it up like before.

Village chief Lau Xong Gio said: "Nowadays, the Mong people of Sa Lay village only work in the fields, raise cows, grow pineapples, and grow squash. Knowing that tobacco can cause lung cancer, they are not allowed to smoke anymore. Anyone who wants to smoke must go outside the village." Then the village chief added: "In the village, there is Mr. Lau Giong Cai, who is both a villager and the commune chairman, and is also a pioneer in developing livestock. Mr. Cai has a herd of over 20 cows, the largest in the village. In the village, there is also Mr. Cu Giong Xenh who also has nearly two dozen cows. All are released on the fields. Mr. Xenh is a hard-working person, so he works in the fields with his wife and children all day long.

Sa Lay village is in the weeding season, so there are more people living in the fields than in the village. The children have also gone to school early. The houses are closed and facing the small stream. Village chief Lau Xong Gio showed us the houses near the stream, adding: The land in the village is sloping, so some houses are facing the risk of landslides. The government has planned to relocate, but these households do not want to move because they are afraid of being far from their relatives, their fields, and fields.

After noon, we crossed the Heaven's Gate back to the district center. Now the road to the Heaven's Gate has been paved, not as difficult as before. When saying goodbye, we always remembered the words of Vice Chairman of the Commune Vu Ba Lenh, one of 600 young commune chairmen who was born in his hometown of Muong Long and aspired to return to serve his homeland. He said: "After 5 years, whether or not he is recruited into the civil service, he still feels happy. The important thing is that the youth have been given the opportunity to express themselves and we are trying our best to contribute to the development of this land with many difficulties."

Forestry engineer Vu Ba Lenh knows that nature has given the Mong Muong Long people a precious land, but they have not yet known how to develop it. Fortunately, the day has come when young people with knowledge have been given the opportunity to awaken this land full of potential.

Vu Ba Lenh believes that the day Muong Long changes and overcomes difficulties is very near.

You Wei