Writing Contest "Inviolable National Sovereignty": Silence at the Border

In the summer of 2020, I went on a one-week backpacking trip to Binh Lieu. I wanted to witness with my own eyes the beauty of this borderland, where my brother - a border guard - spent the best years of his youth protecting the important northern border of the Fatherland.

As a mountainous district in the Northeast of Quang Ninh province, Binh Lieu is about 270 km from Hanoi and has nearly 50 km of border with China. Binh Lieu is famous for its wild, majestic and original beauty. That year, with a backpack on my shoulder and a motorbike, starting from Ha Long, I followed the Mong Duong - Tien Yen - National Highway 18C route to Binh Lieu on a cool, sunny day in June.

During that trip, there were things that I encountered once but remembered for a lifetime. I met Mr. Hoang San, the owner of the homestay where I stayed, in Hoanh Mo commune, Binh Lieu district. Until now, I still cannot forget his eyes - eyes filled with thoughts, half worried, half yearning to do something great.

That evening, over a cup of fresh tea, I asked him why he had been a teacher for 11 years, with a stable income, but chose to branch out into tourism ? He wittily said: "If I didn't work in tourism, would a city person like you ever set foot in this remote border area in your life!...".

His words made me silent. Hoang San is not like a pure businessman, he is a teacher who does business. Instead of choosing to leave like many young people in the village, he is determined to stick with his homeland. At the age of 35, his dream of becoming a teacher carrying letters back to his village has come true. Now, he longs for his remote border land of Binh Lieu to be known and visited by more people. This is not only his dream but also the desire of the whole community where he lives.

Bài dự thi cuộc thi viết — Teacher Hoang San and his students in the highlands. (Photo provided by the character)

He agreed to be my special tour guide for 3 days. The first place he took me to was a road parallel to the Vietnam - China border, more than 10 km long. In the distance on the Chinese side, I saw a barbed wire wall about 5 m high, running close to the edge of endless green forests. This was the first time I saw the shape of the "border". The two of us stopped the car and walked leisurely, then he pointed down the road where we were standing, sighing: "The road is not traveled, the road is full of weeds". I understood his concerns, but perhaps the desire to welcome 200 - 500 visitors to the border land of the highland teacher each month is still a difficult and challenging journey.

The next morning, we continued to wander on the beautiful, poetic roads filled with white reeds to visit four important milestones 1300, 1302, 1305 and 1327. Mr. Hoang San said that if we come to Binh Lieu and do not "check-in" at these milestones, it is considered that we have not arrived.

Stopping at any border marker, he meticulously wiped each line and number on the stone tablet with his sleeve. He cherished and respected simple things. He also thoughtfully reminded me many times during the journey not to camp or pitch tents in the border marker and border area because this is a sensitive area. I cherish and am grateful to him. I am proud that in a remote border area there is always a native who is dedicated to preserving the sacred things of the nation.

The last stop on the journey to explore Binh Lieu was Hoanh Mo border gate. This place was not much different from the border gates I had been to. But that day I had a very strange feeling, a heat running down my spine, I cried. Standing under the shadow of the national flag fluttering on the top of the border gate, looking to the side and meeting the pained but radiant eyes of Mr. Hoang San, I felt "how beautiful peace is".

On the last day in Hoanh Mo, I chose to stay at the homestay to have a chance to chat with him more. Hoang San homestay is simple but cozy. At that time, he had just built a 2-storey stilt house in the middle and 2 rows of rooms for overnight guests. In addition, he also did business in tent rental and camp organization. He confided that he and his wife had spent all their savings from 11 years of teaching to invest in this project. The multi-tasking teacher also made wine, raised pigs, chickens and grew vegetables to provide local specialties for tourists. I will always remember the home-raised pig dish at Hoang San homestay, although a bit salty, the pig was raised with wine yeast so the meat was fragrant and sweet.

Hoanh Mo - Binh Lieu has everything ready for a quiet and leisurely life. The only thing lacking is the connection with the bustling world outside. However, Mr. Hoang San is trying every day to maintain that connection.

I said goodbye to Hoang San on an afternoon when he was teaching. In the highland teacher's classroom, the students were engrossed in their studies, reciting in unison the poem "Talking to my children" by Y Phuong: "...Living on rocks, I don't mind the rough rocks/Living in valleys, I don't mind the poor valleys...".