The hardships of ferrying people along the lake

(Baonghean) - Transporting boats on hydroelectric reservoirs is a job that requires courage from the driver. Because, those in the profession always have to ensure the safety of passengers and goods against accidents that can suddenly happen.

For a long time, because the road had not been opened, the ferry trade was very popular in the mountainous district of Tuong Duong. Photo: Huu Vi

Every job is hard, but ferrying boats on the waves in the middle of a lake is probably the most risky job for people in the highlands. That is the feeling of a teacher teaching in Huu Khuong commune (Tuong Duong).

His house is nearly a hundred kilometers from the school, and twice a week he travels by boat across the thousand-hectare lake. Although he has never driven a motorboat, he said he knows about this profession because he has spent more than 20 years teaching children in communes along the Nam Non River, areas where the river was once the only means of transportation.

Recalling the prosperous and also the most difficult days of his job as a ferryman on the Nam Non River, Mr. Lo Van Tan, who now lives in a resettlement village in Thanh Chuong District, said: “It was a job where every day the workers bet their lives on games. And the passengers on the boat were like riding on the back of a dragon.” The sixty-year-old man wiped the sweat from his forehead as he recalled the days of steering the motorboat, carrying the lives of countless people up and down the river.

Boat along Ban Ve Hydroelectric Reservoir. Photo: Huu Vi

Since the early 1990s, the profession of transporting motorboats along the Nam Non River in Tuong Duong and Ky Son districts has become popular. Motorboats have replaced rowboats and dugout canoes, traditional means of transport that are less capable of overcoming the system of dozens of rapids.

Motorboats have opened up a profession that has made many people rich thanks to it, and also many people have failed miserably because of boat sinkings. That was a period lasting more than ten years before the Ban Ve Hydroelectric Plant dammed, the Nam Non River had many fierce rapids, boat sinkings, and engine breakdowns happened frequently.

Mr. Tan recalls: At that time, almost everyone living along the river had a small boat to go to the fields. Only those who were brave and not afraid of waves and rapids dared to take on the passenger transport business. “Although I was not a man with horns and a beak like everyone else, I still had a 26-horsepower boat. Every week, I carried passengers up and down the river 2-3 times. When going through big rapids, I had to use ropes to pull.

Some people went down the forest path. Only after the waterfall did they get on the boat to continue. So, going by boat was not much easier than walking. The only advantage was that they did not have to carry any goods, so they were more comfortable. Every time they went up the river, it was a difficult journey. Only when they tied the boat to the dock did they breathe a sigh of relief. Both the boat and the people were safe.

The worry continued the next day. But the workers gradually got used to the dangers. The only way left was to overcome them. “But I still did this job for more than ten years, until I moved to the new village. The road was more convenient, so I didn’t need to use a motorboat anymore,” Mr. Tan shared.

The ferry passengers are people living in the upper Nam Non area. For them, the river route is still the only way to get from the commune to Tuong Duong district town. Photo: Huu Vi

In Huu Khuong commune (Tuong Duong), the ferry profession is still very popular. The river route is still the only way to go from the district town to the commune center. Mr. Lo Van Phong currently lives freely in the middle of Ban Ve lake and is one of the people who is still loyal to the profession. Today, most of the fierce waterfalls have sunk into the lake.

The ferryman job is somewhat less difficult. Mr. Tan’s stories are only a distant memory. However, for Mr. Phong, the proverb: “Don’t let go of the oars when you see big waves” is always the motto when holding the helm of the boat. Unexpected waves in the middle of the vast lake are the nightmare of those who work as boatmen on Ban Ve Lake.

Waves can appear suddenly because of a large boat going in the opposite direction or sudden rainstorms. That is when the boatman's courage is required to bring passengers and goods to shore safely. "It may be easier to steer a boat now than before, but just a small mistake can sink the boat and the consequences will be more unpredictable because the lake is now much wider and the water is much deeper than before" - Mr. Phong shared.

On the boat trips up and down the vast lake, people sometimes tell stories about unfortunate trips. Those misfortunes often come from natural disasters, old, rickety boats. Most of all, stories about boatmen. The number of people doing this job today is not many, but most of them who have survived are brave people facing the waves and unexpected uncertainties.

You Wei