Where the land reaches out to the sea

(Baonghean) - Quynh Lap is a special and strange land strip in the shape of lying completely to one side of the northeastern coast. People call Quynh Lap the "headland" of the coastal strip of Hoang Mai and Quynh Luu. Over the years, this land has developed rapidly with the times, but still has many wild and mysterious features...

View of Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town). Photo: Facebook Quynh Lap my hometown.

From National Highway 1A, going down, following the road stretching to the East, passing towering limestone mountains, endless green pine hills, until reaching the coast... then stopping, that is Quynh Lap commune. The first place of "around Nghe An" suddenly becomes both remote and difficult to find.

Perhaps that is why Quynh Lap was chosen to be the site of a leprosarium in the past, to isolate the Hansen bacteria that had haunted so many people. Before the sea, after the mountains, the leprosarium contained so many cruel fates, so many tragic lives, tears of loneliness and sorrow seeping into the sand, flowing into the sea, salty. Indeed, I do not want to mention that painful time, but the first thing that many people from far away know about Quynh Lap is the name of the leprosarium.

And we must not forget, because people from far away have considered Quynh Lap as their homeland, between the boundary of life and death, they have come together, connected, loved, and shared. Over the years, the pain has melted into the waves. Smiles have also bloomed when healthy children were born, grew up, and became true Quynh Lap children, contributing to the change of their homeland.

Quynh Lap rock beach. Photo: Sach Nguyen

The Dong Hoi - Quynh Lap asphalt road was completed, Quynh Lap developed much more: trade and seafood were transported faster. People say, if you want to know if a place is developing or not, go to the market. The market is held right next to the road to the commune headquarters, there is fresh seafood, processed, semi-processed, dried seafood. The richness, diversity and bustle of the market located next to the commune center, made us happy because of the change and prosperity of Quynh Lap.

Fresh water well. Photo: SN

Following the concrete road leading to the seaport, the atmosphere becomes even more bustling and bustling. Large boats dock and unload fish, shrimp, and squid. The sound of buying and selling, the sound of trucks importing seafood to transport to different places, on the other side, the sound of ice crushers rumbles, and people load ice onto boats to prepare for a new trip to sea. Quynh Lap has about 500 workers earning from 3 to 4 million VND/month from fishing services, and has a large fleet of modernly equipped ships, including 146 ships with a capacity of 90CV or more. In the first 6 months of 2016 alone, the total production value is estimated at 285.9 billion VND, reaching 105.8%; of which agriculture, forestry, and fishery reached 168.5 billion VND.

Quynh Lap has risen out of the shadow of a small, isolated fishing village in the past, becoming a rich land thanks to the hands and minds of people. This land still has a lot of potential for development, and a desire to grow even stronger, but is still facing difficulties. "The biggest difficulty for Quynh Lap now is the lack of land to implement rural infrastructure planning, economic, social..." - Mr. Le Ba Van - Chairman of Quynh Lap Commune People's Committee said. Up to now, the road in the commune is winding around, bumpy with potholes that have not had time to grow up next to the houses that are being built higher and bigger. Difficult rural infrastructure planning is like a restraint, a constraint on the economic and social development of the locality. Especially the tourism potential - something that makes anyone lucky enough to come here, both amazed by the pristine beauty of the sea, rocks, sand... and regretful because if only there was some motivation, strong enough to awaken the hibernating bear.

We followed the winding path, weaving through the coastal village with houses crowded together on the flat land, then gradually went up the hill. Until it seemed like the mountain had reached the end of the road, then looking down, the deep blue sea suddenly appeared, with golden sand and rocky outcrops of various shapes lying still among the white waves. I remembered what my younger brother had always said to me: "Come to my hometown, I will take you to some... wild and remote places".

Indeed, as the “locals” said. It turns out that, besides the hustle and bustle of the economically developing land, tourism is pristine, deserted and surprisingly beautiful. There are large, horizontal rocks, and there are also small rocks lying close to the waves, each time the tide rises, they hide under the water. Following the coast, one is even more surprised by the vertical rocks, facing each other, half as a challenge, half as a companion for thousands of years. The rock surface has grooves, the wear of time, of silver waves hitting the shore every day the tide rises and falls, and sharp, tightly attached mussels and oysters.

The rocks have many shapes: the shape of a turtle lying down looking at the fishing village, the shape of a sail going out to sea, the shape of a majestic lion's head, and even the footprints of Mr. Dung carrying soil from years ago that are still preserved to this day. According to legend, when the earth and sky were in chaos, there was a giant (popularly called Mr. Dung) who specialized in carrying rocks and patching the sky. He was so big that his steps were hundreds of miles long. When he walked across this land, a strand of hair got stuck in his face, he leaned on his foot to remove the hair, leaving footprints that remain until now: a right footprint at Con Ngoai temple (Quynh Phuong commune), and a left footprint at the stone beach of Quynh Lap commune.

The rocky beach is also home to many types of seafood. In the morning, people often carry baskets and small hammers to chisel around the rocks to find oysters, mussels, and clams. The children have no time to relax, but in the hot summer, they jump into the shallow pools of water created naturally between the shore and the large rocks. They often catch crabs with two large, hard claws, or crabs that are still alive.

Vung Nhim. Photo: SN

There is a special place that children tirelessly invite each other to explore, Vung Nhim. “There is no road to get there, you have to climb over the hill to get there. The scenery is beautiful, but few people bathe because of the rocks. There is also a fresh water well, every morning, people often get up to get water, or do exercise”, the boys who were inviting each other to go out introduced to me. I also tried to climb up the hill, to see Vung Nhim with my own eyes: it is another rocky beach, consisting of many round rocks “rolling”, scattered all over the coast. On a large rock, people planted a bright red national flag, fluttering in the wind. Below, are the words Hoang Sa, Truong Sa, with an arrow pointing out to the sea…

Looking down from above, Quynh Lap rock beach looks like a unique and majestic natural painting, with some black slabs, some silvery white, and some yellow. The sea water is clear and blue. Sea squash flowers and Guanyin flowers bloom in the sun, and the green maple trees grow on the dry rocky mountains. In the distance, boats line up to set nets out to sea. Making a living at sea is still a traditional profession that feeds people and enriches them. Maintaining the profession is maintaining life, maintaining the homeland, and maintaining the sovereignty of the country's sea and islands. On a large cliff jutting out into the sea, there is a small temple built by local people. On the 15th and 1st of the lunar month, people come to burn incense and pray for favorable weather and safe sailing for fishermen.

Until now, around Quynh Lap rock beach, there are only a few spontaneous shops serving mainly the villagers. The owner, Mr. Ho Sy Luyen - is open and honest, urging customers to sit at the table. Are there many customers? - Usually, it's crowded on weekends, less crowded in the middle of the week. It seems that the man is not impatient or hasty with his business. The seafood is fresh and delicious, but the price is cheap: Sell to the people, do business all your life, how many times do you meet! He is leisurely. Tourism services have not yet developed in this place, or both the landscape and the people of Quynh Lap are still keeping their sincerity, simplicity, and respect for people and customers.

Perhaps, it is unfortunate for Quynh Lap that there are many difficulties and obstacles to tourism development like the neighboring ward of Quynh Phuong, but fortunate for those guests who want to quietly relax and be still with nature, with the sea, the pristine water color and eroded rocks. Majestic, mysterious as if containing a certain feeling...

Lake Lai