The lives of life on the top of Thien Cam Son

Cho May (Cam mountain, Tinh Bien district, An Giang province) took away healthy, young women, but in return for their family a piece of rice, the same faithful life with the road to the mountain without the horizon must be up and down the three corners of the horizon.
Market meeting on the “rooftop” of the plain

The market is held at dawn to shine the first rays of sunlight on Cam Son (Tinh Bien, An Giang). The market serves about 500 households scattered on the Forbidden Mountain and thousands of tourists make a daily pilgrimage to the sacred high mountains. It is called a market, but the scene of trade and exchange is peaceful and full of sharing and love between vendors. Because, they all understood each other, were familiar with each other for almost their whole life on this deep mountain cloud market. It is called May market because all year round immense white clouds cover the entire mountain, mandala clouds wrap tangerines under people’s feet. Clouds are rolling dew, clouds hanging around the way … On the first day, May market appeared, Cam mountain had only about 30 roofs. The mountains and forests were still unspoiled, full of snakes and wild beasts. Having grasped the needs of daily life and food products of the households living in the sacred forest, the Cham women at the foot of the mountain bravely carried the goods to sell. May market space encapsulates at the foot of Vo Bo Hong on Cam Mountain. It is also a hard journey to have the bustling sales of goods on May market. Every morning, when dawn was not yet dawn, the business partners had to squirm themselves to climb the mountain. Buyers call it going to the market, but to the sellers, they call it “market climbing”. From the foot of the mountain to the top, May market has 3 sub-points, namely Bai Teo junction, Trai Hom junction and Truong Truong junction. Here, sellers take advantage of resting feet, wiping sweat and serving a few roofs halfway up the slope. Here, there is no concept of defiance. Throughout the fair, there was no more or less haggling. Buyers happily withdraw their money, sympathy for the pain of bringing “market” up the mountain of women and sisters. The path to May market is nearly 10 kilometers long, winding, meandering with successive slopes, cliffs ready to unravel, rolling stones, dark, smoking abyss. Double optical burden, how many years have passed, the day is as fresh as when driving the ball is still a product, a certain weight. A special feature of May market is that it does not sell wildlife like many other mountain markets. They sell simple and familiar products from the mountains and forests such as bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots, chayote, cold rice … Every market has its own rules, at May market, whoever sells any product, is always loyal. With it, buyers are just waiting for their acquaintances to buy. If someone impersonates the May market selling counterfeit goods, it will be immediately discovered and boycotted. Even though it was a business, evil wouldn’t exist in this place. Cho May only holds meetings within 2 hours. Those who have stock will continue to carry to sell along the rock canyons, the paths leading to each house, hiding behind the canopy of the forest. Just like that, their feet ran until they ran out of stock before they returned home. People in May market have a song: “Bring dawn in the morning, bring sunset in the afternoon”. Struggling to make a living At 5:00 in the morning, from Van Linh Pagoda, we heard the resounding voices of greetings coming from May market. The scene of trading in the mist, beside Thuy Liem Lake, at the foot of Vo Bo Hong is like a place in the middle of a fairy tale. The earliest person to go to the market was probably Mrs. Neàng Say La (62 years old). At that age, Mrs. Say La was still diligent every day, persisting with the load of boiled cassava. With her head wrapped in a bandana, wearing a jaggery-braided hat, Say La attracted me and any other crossroads while walking around May market. Her sweet potatoes were hot and smelly, mingling the aromas of the typical soil, rock and water of the Forbidden Mountains. This fish will sell from dawn until sunset. Mrs. Say La was born and lived most of her human life on the top of Thien Cam Son. Her life, the number of times going down the foot of the mountain can only be counted on the fingers. She had never known a city or town in her own region. She said she felt lost in the street, very strange, preferring to live in the mountains. She has been selling goods at May market for only ten years. Previously, she lived with her father on the top of Vo Bo Hon, specializing in collecting free medicines for people in the Forbidden Mountain area. From the day of her father’s death, she moved to a small house at the foot of the Maitreya Buddha statue living quietly with boiled sweet potatoes. Whoever buys as much as she also sells, but at most only 10 thousand dong. Whoever buys more, she smiles and says: “If you eat more, I will give you, no more money”. Her goods are only about 2 hours before they are finished. She turned her burden back, her back cuffs bent to the ground, her stray steps in the wind, for a moment was hidden in the mist. A familiar image at May market is a woman’s pair. Mrs. Neàng Thanh Sao (45 years old) said in a sigh, but did not forget to smile at ease with the profession that has been with her for nearly 20 years. She confided that in rainy days, the way to the Forbidden Mountain was slippery, her Lao sandals were worn out, easy to slip off, she took off her sandals with bare feet, had to press all 10 toes into the rock. Each time she fell to her knees, still trying to balance her load. In times of not being able to support it, both the body and the burden rolled to the ground, cutting them out. People on the mountain see vegetables covered with mud, the more they love, the more they buy. During her pregnancy, Ms. Sao still regularly climbed the market without skipping any session. Also fell, also slipped to the ground, but luckily, the god of the mountain, the god of the forest, loved the child in peace until the day of birth. Ms. Sao said happily that many women who climb mountains are extremely easy to give birth. She gave birth to 3 children, so naturally, none of them had to go to the hospital. This, Ms. Neang Kim San is a living witness. A lifetime of burden of rain 52 years old, Ms. Neang Kim San is still tough, persistent with the profession of “market climbing”. Quang’s burden is always heavy with tea and fruit cakes. In the army, Ms. Kim San belongs to the ranks of village elders with more than 30 years of age. That day, Kim San just got married, had little land, no job, and a poor life. Her husband went to Cambodia to fish, so he was engrossed in the country of Bien Ho, leaving his wife alone and hungry. Tried to do a few things such as collecting water hyacinth, picking crazy flowers in the flooding season but erratic, with no meals, she asked the sisters in the village to let them learn the profession “climbing the market”. Fruits are carried from the foot of the mountain to sell. She chose to sell sticky rice, tea, and bread, because these items are easy to get, popular with all households, and are rare goods in the mountains. In the early days, she felt like her legs fell off, her shoulders were purple, and she hurt her bones. The first week, she was carrying and crying so hard, she just wanted to give up. The sisters encouraged them, each took some of the goods, and together they sold them to help. Sisterhood “climbing the market” has revived her spirit. Every time her husband returns, Mrs. Kim San becomes pregnant. Her first child, she climbed the mountain until the day of birth. After giving birth exactly 1 month, she continued to go up the mountain, her shoulders weighed more goods, her anxiety increased a few parts. Children at home are hungry and cry, the mother is filled with chest tightness, she wants to suffocate. Looking at her, the sisters and brothers were so desperate to sell all of them, and yet they shared them so that she could quickly return to breastfeed. This child has just finished weaning, she is pregnant again. Why are you poor but give birth so much? Brothers and sisters are shy. She said, I miss it, just give birth to this child. But, come on, the 3rd and 4th continue to be born. She gave birth easily, simply and had something miraculous that could not be explained. Ms. San said that when she was 6 months old when she was pregnant with her third child, she fell down a cliff about 10m when she got stuck on a tree. At that time it was still foggy, the visibility was no more than 2m. The left wheel was splashed everywhere, losing both of them to the cliff. Sisters go together in panic to save each other. Pulling her up, her limbs were only scratched on the skin, the rest was unharmed. They quickly called a motorbike taxi to take her down the mountain. Mrs. San came home, felt normal and felt normal, so she did not go to the hospital anymore. The next day, she went to the market again from 3 am. By the ninth month, her pregnant belly surpassed her face and her legs were swollen, but she was still working hard. Going too much, working hard, the baby in the belly “emerged” 10 days earlier than planned. That day, Ms. San got up at 2 am, preparing to take care of the mountain trip, suddenly felt abdominal pain, then ruptured amniotic fluid. Before the midwife arrived, the child was born. Mrs. Kim San’s children were growing up like that, but none of them were sick. She always thinks, children come to me is predestined, to be with me is debt. 34 years old, Kim San is the mother of 4 children. She honestly said that if her husband did not leave to get another wife to find a son, she would probably still give birth. At the age of 44, Mrs. Kim San became a grandmother. The eldest daughter soon “broke the burden” in the middle of the road, then left her two grandchildren behind for her grandmother to take care of. She accepted all, hugged everything in her arms. In this life, she is willing to make sacrifices for her children and grandchildren, according to her philosophy of life.