The mystery of the Stone of the Old Man and the Stone of the Old Woman on the Lam River

Since ancient times, Ong and Mu rocks and Quanh mountain have created a dangerous position for people and boats traveling up and down Lam river when passing through here. Photo: Huy Thu

Looking down from upstream, on the right bank of the Lam River, Quanh Mountain juts out into the middle of the stream, on the left bank is Ong Da Mu rock beach, creating an important and dangerous natural "throat". Photo: Huy Thu

Ong and Mu rocks are actually the tallest rock clusters of a reef. When the river water is normal, people will see this rock cluster, but when it rains and floods, everything is submerged under water. Photo: Huy Thu

Elderly people in Dong Van commune said: In the past, Ong Da Mu rocks protruded near the middle of the river. Nowadays, Lam River water has strongly eroded the right bank and deposited alluvium on the riverbank on the Dong Van commune side, so Ong Da Mu rocks are no longer in the middle of the river, but are getting closer to the shore. Photo: Huy Thu

Ong Da Mu and Quanh Mountain dominate the Lam River. During flood season, the river water flowing through here splits into two streams: one that goes over the reef, swirls into a large whirlpool, and boils in the middle of the river, the other that flows to Ong Da Mu and then loops back to Quanh Mountain, creating a large whirlpool in the middle of the river. If boats passing by are not steered properly, they will be caught in the whirlpool of Quanh Abyss, unable to escape, and sometimes even the raft will be destroyed. As for boats, they do not dare to go near it, for fear of being sucked in. The Ong Da Mu Rock area has been a haunting fear for boats crossing the Lam River for generations. Photo: Huy Thu

In the 70s of the 20th century, due to the requirements of the resistance war against the US, our army and people detonated mines at the foot of Quanh mountain, breaking a section of the reef in the middle of the river so that boats carrying food and weapons could go up the Lam River to supply the Lao battlefield more easily. From here, the danger of the Ong Da Mu rock area was reduced, but it still caused many difficulties and damages to people and boats passing through this section of the river, especially during the flood season. Photo: Huy Thu

The protruding part of the pair of Ong and Mu rocks is not very large. When the river water is normal, the rock protrudes about 3m high, like the head of a crocodile facing Quanh mountain. Photo: Huy Thu

Close-up of Ông Đá Mụ, people will see that Mụ is smaller, lower, and located on the outside, while Ông is larger, higher, and located on the inside (closer to the shore). On Ông Rock, there are many trees and weeds. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son (57 years old) in Tiên Quánh hamlet, Đồng Văn commune shared: Previously, these rocks were far apart, small boats could travel in the middle, but now they are very close. In the past, the French brought engineers and vehicles here to survey, explore and discovered that the area of ​​Quánh mountain, Ông Đá Mụ has a large iron mine. Photo: Huy Thu

On Quanh Mountain, Lam Giang Temple was built nearly 200 years ago to worship the river god. On the Ong Da Mu rocks, people also set up a small altar. These places are considered sacred, fishermen, people who go rafting in the forest... every time they pass by here, they often stop their boats to burn incense and pray for safety. Currently, the Ong Da Mu rock area is still a haunting place for local people, especially drowning accidents. Photo: Huy Thu

The mystery and danger of Ong and Mu rocks have been mentioned by some famous people hundreds of years ago. Pham Dinh Ho (1768 - 1839) mentioned this pair of rocks in "Strange Stories in Nam Duong" (Tang Thuong Ngu Luc). Bui Duong Lich (1757 - 1828) also wrote in "Nghe An Ky": "In the middle of the stream, there are two rocks erected. Local people say that in the past, one was in the South, one was in the North, quite far apart. Boats traveled in the middle. Over time, they gradually moved closer together, as if they wanted to become friends. People called them Ong and Mu rocks". He wrote in Oc Lau Thoai: "The same name was born from the Creator/ Forever tied together in love/ The vast sky and earth are our homes/ Close day and night like shadows...". Photo: Huy Thu