Japanese people are surprised by the 'treasure' in Nghe An

(Baonghean) - Every day, Mr. Katsuhiro Ando, ​​an expert from the project on diversifying livelihoods based on heritage tourism in agricultural and fishing villages of the JICA organization (Japan), comes to the villages of Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) to support the people here in developing community tourism.

Coming from a faraway land, staying and being attached to this place for over a year, Katsuhido Ando has almost memorized every concrete road running between rows of bright red poinsettia flowers in Mon Son, on one side is the smooth rice fields, on the other side is the majestic forest. And when the rice is ripe, Katsuhido Ando wears a conical hat, holds a sickle with the Mon Son people to harvest rice...

Cruise on Giang River (Con Cuong). Photo by Quoc Dan.

Coming to Vietnam, he witnessed buffaloes pulling wooden plows to plow the fields, Thai girls in colorful dresses during the rice planting festival, Dan Lai children splashing in the clear Giang River to catch famous specialty fish...

The pristine scenery of Con Cuong was stunningly beautiful when he sat on a dugout canoe on the Giang River upstream. The blue river water reflected the old forest and at sunset when the boat stood still on the river, he thought he was lost in a fairyland...

Katsuhiro Ando described: “The exciting feeling is hard to describe in words when I started to step onto the boat to see the Giang River, the river like silk thread through the great forest, the precious water that has been caressing the villages for generations with not only fish, shrimp and drinking water but also a path for the villagers to communicate with the outside world. That feeling followed me throughout the journey, especially at the end of the river, where I met a village of the Dan Lai ethnic group where the sense of time no longer exists here, there is no trace of modern life... The Giang River to me is very rare in the world because of its astonishing wildness”.

JICA project (Japan) guides ethnic people in Con Cuong district to do tourism. Photo: Chau Lan

As someone who has traveled to many places and supported tourism development for many communities, Katsuhiro Ando believes that the Con Cuong mountain and forest landscape is very special, the mountains surround the villages, sometimes interrupted, looking at the map you can see all the rivers and streams flowing from the Pu Mat forest. The lives of the people here are closely connected to these rivers and streams, all activities of the people revolve around the rivers and streams, so projects must study this to be successful. "That creates a flesh and blood bond between people and nature, a very good ecosystem" - Katsuhiro Ando commented -

“I have been to Mai Chau - Hoa Binh of Vietnam, a place famous for its stilt houses in the middle of a great valley. But the scenery in Con Cuong is even more attractive because in addition to stilt houses, there are also poetic landscapes such as Khe Kem waterfall, Pu Mat primeval forest.... If the people of Con Cuong know how to promote these potentials, it will be very good for tourism development. For example, foreigners really like to see items made from bamboo, rattan, especially utensils for cooking and meals, specifically banana leaves to wrap sticky rice, pressed rice boxes (sticky rice boxes made of woven bamboo), or baskets for oranges, rice containers made of rattan, bamboo... "

"Japanese experts have also come to teach the people of Nua village how to cook and use natural tools for cooking, supporting bamboo weaving tools for production, helping people restore traditional crafts. And if the people understand the harmony between nature and humans, and take advantage of it to develop tourism, it would be great. My friends who came to Con Cuong were all interested in experiencing homestay tourism, sleeping in stilt houses, enjoying natural foods, being woken up in the morning by the sound of roosters crowing, the sound of flowing streams, watching the sun rise behind the great forest peak. Currently, the good news is that the people of Con Cuong have cooperated very actively to do tourism, travel companies have also brought tourists here..." - Katsuhiro Ando excitedly.

Mr. Katsuhiro Ando and a Japanese friend at Khe Kem waterfall (Con Cuong). Photo: Katsuhiro Ando

The feelings of Katsuhiro Ando - a friend from Japan is also the feelings of many tourists from far away when coming to Con Cuong. Everyone is eager to explore Khe Kem waterfall, take a boat trip on Giang river, watch Pha Lai dam floating in the clouds, originating from the pristine Pu Mat forest with thousands of giant trees blooming in spring.

Located in the buffer zone of the Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve, recognized by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve in 2007, Con Cuong is a district with great potential to attract tourists, especially international tourists. This is also an ancient land, pristine mountains and rivers with a lot of eagerness to explore, the heart of the simple and rich mountain people, cultural customs are preserved and conserved...

Con Cuong is about 330km from Hanoi, 130km from Vinh city, located on the poetic Lam Giang river. Although it is a high mountainous area, the district has a spacious area with fertile green land, the mountains and rivers are charming. Anyone who goes to Ky Son, through Laos, stops here to rest before continuing their journey. That is why Con Cuong is famous for many specialties of the Western region of Nghe An such as salted bamboo shoots, cool fish, catfish, braised river loach, bamboo shoot soup, and water spinach... Restaurants in Con Cuong have long been very developed with dishes rich in local culinary culture.

Con Cuong is thirsty for worthy projects to open. Currently, Con Cuong has been approved as an ecological urban town, an economic and cultural center of the Southwest region of Nghe An. Specifically, the orientation in the period of 2021 - 2025 is to strive to build Con Cuong into an ecological urban area; a dynamic urban area of ​​the Southwest region; having an important influence on the socio-economic development of the province; a hub for trade, transit of goods and commercial services, and eco-tourism in the Southwest region.

Back to Japanese friend Katsuhiro Ando. He and his colleagues continue the project with the hope of a better life for the Con Cuong people, contributing to the creation of ecological gardens for economic efficiency, products to serve the needs of tourists that the Con Cuong people can produce themselves such as orange wine, orange jam, orange soap...

Chau Lan