It was early afternoon in the midst of the murky rocky mountains. The moon of January 13 has appeared at the top of the mountain. Uncle returned to border marker 108, in Cao Bang territory. Before Uncle was Mr. Le Quang Ba. Behind Uncle was Mr. Phung Chi Kien. Mr. Vu Anh went to the place to welcome Uncle. “It seems that Uncle had a lot of self-restraint – Mr. Vu Anh recounted – to keep his appearance calm. Whatever you see, Uncle always looks passionately.” Here, new corn fields sprout. Here, the rice field harvested during the year, is burning stubble. White bougainvillea flowers, looking like clusters of chili peppers, radiate fragrance. In the evening, when you reach Coc Bo cave, you have to go upstream to near the source, cross the other side, then climb up the rocky mountain to have a way to climb up the cave. The path is narrow, with many thorns, crisscrossing vines, and old reeds with white and silver flags cover the path. When I got there, I sat down to rest and found that Uncle’s luggage was empty. Only a small suitcase, no more than three gangs long, containing documents and a Baby typewriter, sent to Uncle Ho from Hanoi when he was still in Kunming. “The Flame of Pac Bo” by artist Nguyen Nghia Duyen. Photo: Vietnam Photo Newspaper. At the foot of the mountain is Pac Bo village, lying in the middle of rocks and mountains. In the past, usually at night, parents had to carry their children to sleep in a cave, to avoid bandits coming to rob and the West station to patrol. From 1937, there were brothers Le Quang Ba, Hoang Sam and Quoc Van to start the first phase. Through blood injection and swearing, knowing exactly who you are, the movement gradually spread. The village organizes a meeting for mutual aid and good solidarity. Every month, wherever you go, you will be on time for the Association’s activities. Since mid-1940, for some reason, those good cadres have gone, no one knows. The old man, surnamed Duong, from Nung Giang, remembers that night well, there are two more nights until the Lunar New Year. The Duong family is sitting around the fire on stilts. Out there, border night, full of secrets. Gusty. There was the sound of gunfire from the West station in Soc Giang. Suddenly there was the sound of someone rustling leaves around the house, the sound of rattling up the ladder: – Where is Dai Lam? Out to welcome guests – the stranger spoke up. Dai Lam stood up. Two silhouettes of men appeared in front of the oil lamp. It turned out to be two brothers Le Quang Ba and Hoang Sam. The whole family rejoiced. Wine and meat served. After chatting for a long time, Le Quang Ba called Dai Lam to the corner of the house and whispered: – Dai Lam, where can I borrow some clothes, a mat, a few bowls, a pair of chopsticks and pots and pans to bring to the cave. Because he was not the head of the family, Dai Lam had to tell his father the truth. The old man dismissed: – It can not be. For Tet, why go to the cave to stay. It was freezing cold, I slept in a cave, I couldn’t stand it. The two comrades insisted on asking permission to return to the cave. The old man, surnamed Duong, gently asked: – Or if you have something you don’t like with the villagers, just tell me. Mr. Le Quang Ba had to tell the old man that he had a strange comrade who came back, had to keep it a secret, and it was not convenient to go down to the village. Mr. Duong took things on loan, but kept muttering all night: “It’s so cold to go to the cave to suffer. It is clear: Good people have many misfortunes”. That was the first night Uncle Ho slept in a cave. The next morning, it was cold and rainy, the wild chickens had not yet woken up, Uncle got up, went out to practice climbing, walking, then went down to the stream to bathe. Then Uncle Uncle entered the cave, gathered the brothers, assigned tasks, chose a corner of the cave by himself, brought documents and typewriters to work. Mr. Vu Anh recounted: “The first day he returned home, Uncle immediately started working in a normal way. We thought that Uncle had been in this cave for a long time.” That day, Dai Lam’s father and son went to the fields to cultivate spring corn to the wild Lung Min upland. There, luxuriant rocky mountains, large gnawed forests have not been discovered by axes. A gentle old man came over: – Happy New Year, good luck. Wishing you all a very happy new year. Dai Lam’s father and son saw the old man for the first time, but they were like themselves. The two old people got to know each other, the story was awkward at first, because the one who spoke Nung Giang and the other spoke Kinh, were not fluent in each other’s languages. Finally, use Cantonese, speak fluently, occasionally write Chinese characters, draw words on the ground with a stick. The story is more and more bold and intimate, the new old friend named Thu Son – Gia Thu. The next day, when he went to the countryside, Mr. Duong told his eldest daughter-in-law to arrange a basket full of wine, meat, banh chung, and tea. The daughter-in-law understood, and asked her father-in-law to go to the cave to see the old man’s face. Arriving in Lung Min, he told Dai Lam and his eldest daughter-in-law to bring Tet gifts to Coc Bo cave. In the distance, behind the thorns growing in the rocks, many people are sitting and working with two black bearded old men (Uncle and comrade Cap). The older man, whom I met yesterday, was agile, wearing wide-sleeved indigo clothes, and came out smiling and greeting. The eldest daughter-in-law put down the gift basket in front of Gia Thu, then raised her head to say hello, asking permission to come down to work as a farm. Mr. Duong and Dai Lam who stayed were invited to have lunch with their comrades. In addition to the food provided by the house, there was also cabbage soup and salty fried meat with fish sauce. Spring wine meal, several times Mr. Duong begged: – Inviting you and your comrades to come down to celebrate Tet for fun. It’s strange, just go down, there are locals to worry about. Old Thu said: – I still want to, but I can’t get down yet, old man. The eyes and ears of the empire are many. The secret revolution is to keep the people alive. Then Gia Thu turned the story in another direction: – I’m old and still working for the revolution. He’s old, but he can still do revolutionary work. Uncle Duong struggled: – I can’t do it as a revolutionary. – The revolution is a lot of work, old man. Depending on talent, according to strength, whoever can do what can do it. They kept secrets for the revolution, helped protect cadres passing by in their villages, took care of the family work so that their children and grandchildren could be free to go to revolutionary activities and support the revolution. But these are the jobs you are doing. Uncle Duong was so happy to hear that, he nodded. – Well, what do you think, I can do it like that. At that time, on the cave was opening the first military cadre training class – attended by Mr. Dam Quang Trung – in order to foster a higher level of leadership and command for the key comrades in the region, to serve as a framework for military personnel. later part of the guerrilla movement. Anthropology about bases, a student asked: – Dear comrade, in the mountains, the mountains and forests are used as a base. What about in plains without rough terrain? Old Thu laughed and said: – If there is a mountain, rely on the mountain. If there is a river, it depends on the river. If there is no mountain, if there is a river, people will be the mountain river Gia Thu again mentioned four Chinese characters: “Human mountain, human sea”. And further explain that wherever there are people, there are mountains, forests, and seas. We must organize and mobilize the people’s strength into forests and seas to rely on. Knowing that Uncle had to live in a cave, the grassroots families in Pac Bo village loved him more and more, in their hearts of unease. One day, the old people – including Mr. Duong and his father-in-law Le Quang Ba – invited each other to bring wine and snacks to invite Uncle. Then borrow a cup of joy, express the wishes of the villagers, invite Uncle Uncle to come down to the village, when they search, hide in the forest. Uncle said goodbye and said: “Now that the revolutionary movement has developed well, everyone in the country loves cadres and is ready to help and protect them. Loving each other, helping each other make a revolution like that is good, not just staying together. Besides, each person has a job: People work in the fields, we do other jobs, I’m afraid it’s not convenient to go down to the village. Moreover, in this position, it is better to keep it a secret.” From that drink, Gia Thu mobilized the elders to establish the old patriarch to save the country. The old ancestor soon expanded rapidly into the surrounding areas.

Like a wholesale market of forest products Unlike the markets in the Northwest that usually only meet on one day and then dissolve, the Saturday night Tua Chua market is busy from dusk on Saturday night until almost the end of Sunday afternoon. In the mornings from Monday to Saturday, Tua Chua market has people selling groceries, clothes, food… in cages, but there are few buyers. At noon on Saturday, the market began to gradually crowded with people from the Mong, Thai and Dao ethnic groups in the district bringing goods down to prepare for the fair, the most crowded being the Mong ethnic people. Just bought the orchid from the people, the “mixed touch” person offered to sell it right away On the way from Hanoi to the Northwest and Northeast highlands, people below have never seen a market with a lot of wild orchids, wild ginseng, herbs like at Tua Chua market on Saturday night, like a market. The clues of these goods come from the mountains and forests. Small traders at Tua Chua market said that before, the market was only held on Sunday mornings behind cage houses, the Mong ethnic people went to the market to sell chickens, ducks, underarm pigs, home-grown agricultural products, and herbs exploited in the forest. then buy clothes, farm tools, household appliances. People who buy and sell wild orchids from natural places gather in Tua Chua to hunt orchids of local people to exploit forest orchids or grow wild orchids at home and then sell them. They dated people to buy and sell wild orchids on Saturday night at Tua Chua market. It is always convenient for the Mong ethnic people to go to the market to sell orchids on Saturday night and then stay at the market on Sunday morning. So Tua Chua market has had a Saturday night market for more than 3 years now. The front of Tua Chua market looks very popular, unlike the vibrant scene in the back At first, Tua Chua fair market on Saturday night only had people buying and selling wild orchids, later on, people also brought wild ginseng, special agricultural products of the highland such as small root ginger, black turmeric, cardamom, and herbs. pharmacy… Buyers see many things below that they don’t have or have but are not as good, so they can buy more to use, as gifts. Guests spread the word about the interesting, unique and strange things they bought, making the Saturday night Tua Chua market noticed. However, Tua Chua is far away, not everyone has the conditions and time to come, so orchid hunters make contact with local people, asking for help buying and sending. Seizing the opportunity, some local people became collectors, collectors of business, Tua Chua market on Saturday night became a wholesale market of wild orchids, forest ginseng, precious agricultural products, and highland herbs from Vietnam. when no one knows. It can be said that this is the only night market selling wild orchids and ginseng in Vietnam so far. Mobile technology pervades Those who specialize in buying forest orchids, ginseng through rocks, herbs at Tua Chua market on Saturday night are mostly Kinh people in other localities but living in Tua Chua; a few are young people from the Mong, Thai, and Dao ethnic groups from Sin Ho (Lai Chau), Quynh Nhai (Son La), Tuan Giao, and Muong Cha (Dien Bien). Wild orchids are the most sought after item. Every Saturday, they gather at Tua Chua market to pick up people from the villages to bring orchids to the market. Bought a lot are rare orchids such as scallops; Orchid with beautiful flowers are popular as paint daffodils, kim scallops, square kieu, purple kieu, yellow kieu, royal lap, Hoang Thao, jade point … The price of orchids is high or low depending on each orchid, orchid bush. People in the village who are honest but buy and sell many times also know that they shouldn’t be in a hurry to sell, but just put it out there for buyers to see, tell the price, whoever pays more will sell. “Mixed trim” sells wild orchids Unlike wild orchids, the types that are considered precious from the mountains such as rock ginseng (rock ginseng), three-kid tubers, herbs are almost the same purchase price, the only difference is large, small, and quality. How fresh and dry. At dusk, Tua Chua market on Saturday night began to be bustling. Those who come for the first time will be amazed with the light from the flashlights mounted on the seller’s head and the light from the many smart mobile phones that are directly transmitting images for sale. Perhaps even the big cities in Vietnam do not have a market where the “hybrid touch” sales force is as large as in Tua Chua market far away in this Northwest highland. Buyers who gathered enough goods, began to “mix and trim” to sell online. Each person has 2-3 phones working at the same time, just transmitting pictures of each orchid, introducing, trading, and selling prices continuously: “Is there anyone who closes the ceiling of the earth orchids, is it beautiful? glass is always, beautiful bag, always coffee”, “Mr. Tran Phuc, the price of bare berry is 480,000 VND, is it OK for my sister?”, “Brother Le Trung, please give me the phone number above. Please finish off the overseas spring rolls, price 150,000 VND, please”, “This application for painting daffodils is closed for Mr. Tu Cuong, what is the address in Hue, bro”… The buyer side also responded: “Sister, look at the orchid here, let me see how the orchid is, but 50 million or 5 million dong?”, “50 million, but how can 5 million dong get you, orchids? it’s rare”. Closing any order, the seller immediately took the phone number and address written on the small piece of paper attached to the orchid that had just had a buyer. For precious orchids, the seller “hybrid touch” does not set a specific price, but gives the starting price of each tree for those who love that type of orchid to auction. The highest bidder wants to own that orchid but is far away, must ask an acquaintance at Tua Chua who has knowledge about orchids to check the tree and receive the goods immediately. Unlike the orchid sellers who have booths, sit on the spot “hybrid touch trim”, those who “hybrid touch trim” to sell ginseng and herbs mostly do not have stalls. They walk around the market, holding a tree with 2-3 smartphones, and carrying a small bag with a notebook on their shoulders. Seeing the place of ginseng and herbs of the villagers that are beautiful, the “mixed touch” people put the phone in to introduce, price immediately without asking the villagers how to sell. “Today, my family has ginseng piercing stone cool liver, good health for both men and women, very nice products. The price of big ginseng root is 80,000 VND per pound, small root is 60,000 VND per kilogram. Please order quickly”, “Hey guys, is this ginseng beautiful, put it in glass glue soaked in wine, it looks very nice, it’s good to drink”, “If you like stewed chicken with ginseng, this ginseng is great very”, “Brother Nam in Hanoi 2 pounds right? Sister in Saigon 4 pounds give me the address, phone number too”… After finishing the order with customers online, those who “mix and touch” will ask the price, pay the price with the villagers and weigh the goods. They pay but are not in a hurry to pick up the goods to free their hands to go to another “hybrid touch” to continue. At the end of the night of the market, each person “crossed and touched” sold at least 20-30 kg of ginseng, some people managed to lock up to a hundred kilograms. Closing the order, the person who “preliminarily trims” records the ticket immediately Know “hybrid touch”, sell more goods Ms. Mi Sen and 3 Dao people are all from Sin Ho (Lai Chau province) selling at this market for only one year. They buy ginseng from local people to collect in the forest and then bring it to this market to sell. At first, the girls sold it to a few people who specialized in “hybrid touch trim”, gradually learned how people did it, and then also “hybrid touched trim” sold their own ginseng, only reaching the level of “hybrid touching trim” on one phone. only phone, but the sales are more than before. A teacher from Thai Binh came to Tua Chua to teach, and every time she went to the fair, she went to the market to sell ginger, black turmeric, and cardamom to earn extra income. She said that ginger and black turmeric grown in the highlands are more spicy and fragrant than those grown in the lowlands, so they are very popular. Usually customers close orders of at least 5 kg of ginger or turmeric, at least 1 kg of cardamom. She bought it, packed it, called the “Giaohangtietkiem” party to pick it up and deliver it for her, the “cyp” money (delivery fee) was paid by the customer, for every 5 kg of ginger, the fee was about 30,000 – 40,000 VND. The teacher speaks Hmong, so she has the advantage of fast transactions with the Mong people who go to the market to sell goods compared to other “mixed touch” people. Those who “hybrid touch” work until 23 o’clock, then temporarily stop, bring the goods to pack to deliver in the morning to the “cyp” carrier for the customer. They sleep on the spot or rent a motel to take advantage of a few hours. Around 5-6 am on Sunday morning, this force again went to the market to hunt for beautiful forest orchids, good ginseng penetration, continue to “mix and trim” to take advantage of closing more orders. Over a Saturday night and a Sunday morning, mobile technology has brought goods from Tua Chua market to many buses to all regions. On Sunday morning, returning to the market, the Mong and Thai people saw us handing over our phones to take pictures and videos, and they asked again: “Did you just come here?”. At dusk on Saturday night, the Mong ethnic people bring their goods to the market Meeting day If you go to the provinces in the Northwest and Northeast, if you meet on the right day of the fair, all lowland people will like it. The fair for the highlanders is like a festival to meet each other, trading is simply selling what they can grow and raise in the village or go to the forest to earn and then buy what they need. These very rustic images allow people below to walk up and down the market to learn many unique cultural features of each ethnic minority community.

Isolated in the middle of the forest Panting, I followed Lieutenant Ho Van Giang, an officer of the A Vao Border Guard Station (Quang Tri), crossing steep slopes to find the 8-house village. Giang is good at going to the forest, crossing slopes, so his feet are always pounding, sometimes even making jokes. I don’t make up for it, sometimes my heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. “Ba Lin village is the most remote and most difficult area of ​​Quang Tri province. But in Ba Lin, the place with the most things must be this 8-house village” – Lieutenant Giang said, while his feet were still fast. mountain pass. The road to the village of 8 houses is just a small path, enough for one person to go. There is a passage through the reed grass and myrtle forest that is in full bloom. The distance to the village is about 3 km, but it took us more than 1 hour to arrive. That’s right, the steep slopes to overcome have consumed all of my time and energy. A corner of the 8 house version Kitchen corner of the people of the 8 house village The people of the 8-house village swim and catch fish in A Tang stream The 8-house version now includes 10 roofs with nearly 50 people. Standing from above, looking down, the village is picturesque with close-knit houses on stilts, thatched roofs with dark thatched grass. The village is located right at the foot of A Le hill, upstream of A Tang stream. In this place, the summer is cool but the winter is bone-chilling because of forest dew and mountain air. Mr. Ho Van Sau, nearly 60 years old but his muscles showed no signs of slackening, welcomed us into his house. While the two- and three-year-old children saw a stranger, they rushed into the kitchen, nestled in the gap in the door and looked out. They may squeal if strangers try to get close, even if their faces widen in goodwill. Old Ho Van Sau and his son reported the situation of the border and milestones to border guards A student from the 8th village carried him back over the mountain after a day of studying Pouring water to invite guests, Mr. Sau said that people’s lives here are almost self-sufficient. In the rainy season, the spring water rises, this place is completely isolated from the outside. In the village, people do not use money to transact. Only when going out, do people use money to buy food and reserve food. “Here, the grid system and phone signal are still not available. The way to become people’s life is separate from the outside. Our relatives mainly live in the forest, fearing the Giang (heaven) and old age. All children are united in one heart,” said Mr. Sau. Ong Sau was one of the first two people to enter the A Tang valley to build a house and make a village. It was 1991. At that time, he and his brother went through the forest to find land to build a village. The forest is immense, it takes 3 days to reach A Tang valley – where many species of birds and animals live. Seeing that the land was good, they offered a posthumous ceremony to ask Giang to establish a village and settle down to this day. Drink roots, eat “specialties” In the dry season, people in the 8-house village go up the hill to burn, hoe, and chop. In the rainy season, they go to the forest to find cardamom and hunt wild animals. In addition to upland rice cultivation, they grow pumpkins, potatoes, and cassava to eat. During the year, they rarely bring goods outside to exchange. Sometimes, hunting wild animals, catching big fish or getting a nest of wild bees, they bring them outside to sell or exchange for food. In the whole village, only the head of the village, Ho Van Au, has a motorbike but posted it outside the center of Ba Lin village. Because the road becomes different when someone is sick, the boys in the village have to take turns going to the military medical station in Bali for treatment. The sick, after being cured, cross the mountain to return. Everyone is like that in the past. I went to all 10 rooftops in the village, seeing that almost every house invites guests with a bowl of crimson water. Is it new or is it the water cooked from the roots of a forest tree called “blood tonic”. Throughout the year, people drink water cooked from the roots of this tree. According to the people, the root of the tree tonic blood is very good for health and cures many diseases. In the A Tang valley, just tiptoe into the forest to find this root species. Step out of the door to see the forest. The forest is very primitive, with trees so big that some people can’t hug them. It is home to many rare species of wild animals. Three years ago, people also saw the footprints of a bear by the A Tang stream. Footprints are bigger than adult feet. “Tigers and leopards don’t exist, but wild boars, gills, chamois, and weasels are abundant. They often drag their herds to clear fields to plant rice, corn, and potatoes. In the season, people have to put a lot of effort into barricading the fields. trails from the forest and keep watch through the night,” said Mr. Sau. The day I went to the village, the young people caught a flying weasel about 2 kg. Asking to know that they set traps on trees, disguised discreetly, so they tricked it. One sister, when she returned from the upland, still dragged along with her a black tiger snake, as big as an adult’s wrist. She smiled and said that she went to work in the field and saw it lying in the sun in the middle of the road, let’s catch it! In the forest, there are countless holes and deep waterfalls along the A Tang stream. This is an ideal place for eels and cool fish to live. These two species of fish are now specialties in the lowlands and although the price is very “expensive”, now looking for red eyes can’t find it. “Sometimes people catch eels that weigh more than 10 kg, and those that weigh more than 3 kg are often. When they catch fish, they divide and eat. Too many people can’t eat it all, they cross the mountain and bring it outside to sell or exchange rice.” – Mr. Ho Cu Chang – 35 years old, a “fisherman” in the 8th village – said leisurely. Let’s keep the milestone together In village 8, the house has 2 main roads. That is the road to the village and the path to the national landmarks on the Vietnam – Laos border. The village is located between 3 national landmarks 627, 628, 629. In which, the nearest landmark is about 2 km from the village. Among the 10 national landmarks that the A Vao Border Guard Station is managing, these are the landmarks with the most dangerous and craggy terrain. Veteran Ho Nhat (79 years old), white hair like clouds on the top of A Le hill, said that every day when going to the fields or looking for honey, the villagers still often pass through national landmarks. From men to women, from young to old, everyone has the spirit of protecting borders and landmarks. “We always tell each other when crossing a border marker to stop to observe. If you see high grass, you have to break it, if a tree falls, you have to clean it up, if you see a mold that’s chipped, you must report it to the official immediately. border guard” – veteran Ho Nhat confided. Senior Lieutenant Ho Van Giang affirmed that the people here are very responsible in patrolling and protecting the borders and landmarks of the Fatherland. Among them are typical examples such as father and son Ho Van Sau, village chief Ho Van Au or veteran Ho Nhat. “The evidence is that every time we go on patrol, we see that the national landmark area is cleared by people. If there is anything at the border, they also send people to cross the mountain to report,” said Lieutenant Giang. Difficult words On the way to leave the 8 house village, we met a lot of students returning from a day of study. The children go in groups, sometimes the older child carries the baby over steep slopes. According to the head of Ba Lin village, Ho Van Nhien, because of the bumpy roads, children’s education in the village is interrupted and they do not reach their destination. In the village, no one studied until grade 10 and many children dropped out of school very early. Stopped learning so the pickaxe, the machete, therefore, “sticks” tightly to the hand.