The high mountain

Step on stone

Early in the morning, the cool weather of Bay Nui caught the morning sunlight through the gaps between the leaves under the forest canopy. From the foot of the mountain, we prepared for the journey to conquer Ket Mountain (Tinh Bien Town). We walked heavily up hundreds of steps, our whole body exhausted, because of climbing the steep slopes. However, in front of us were porters carrying ice blocks, walking quickly up the high mountain. Trying to take a deep breath, we tried to run behind and asked, only to find out that they were hired to carry ice up Ket Mountain every day. Mr. Nguyen Van Doc (45 years old) was the fastest person. He specializes in carrying and carrying goods up the mountain to serve tourists .

As we walked and talked, my legs gradually became weak. Looking up the steep slope of Ket Mountain, the porters kept walking quickly without any rest. Ice melts very quickly in the air, so Doc had to climb quickly to deliver it to the shop owner on time. If he climbed slowly like the tourists, a 40kg block of ice would melt to just a few kilos. Doc said that when he first started carrying ice up the mountain, he encountered many steep slopes and had to rest constantly. When he reached the top of the mountain, a large block of ice melted to a tiny size. "That time, carrying ice up was both laborious and I sold it at a loss to the shop owner because the ice had almost melted," Doc said.

Vo Bo Hong is the highest place on the top of Cam mountain.

At Ket Mountain, there are 3 porters who specialize in carrying ice, necessities, and fruits up the mountain. They even carry sand, rocks, and cement up the mountain when people need it. Mr. Khon (who specializes in carrying necessities) said that in the past, this mountain was still wild, and the road up the mountain was dangerous. Later, people needed to hire porters to carry materials up the mountain to build stairs for tourists to climb easily. Every time they carried cement up the mountain, everyone was bored. "Slowly, we got used to it, each bag of cement weighed 50kg, and it took about 30 minutes to carry it to the top. Like that, every day we carried 5 bags" - Mr. Khon recalled.

The joy of having income

Leaving Ket Mountain, we continued our journey to conquer Thien Cam Son. Today, the roads up this mountain are paved with smooth asphalt, making it easy to travel. The branch roads through the cliffs and power lines under the forest canopy have also been expanded and paved with straight concrete by the local people. To transport people and goods conveniently, the mountain people have "modified" the chains and sprockets so that their "iron horse" can run smoothly up the mountain. Living in hardship, they have known how to create means of transportation to serve their daily life on the mountain. The day we climbed the mountain, we witnessed the men driving passenger and cargo vehicles up the steep slope very strongly. If a motorbike running on the plains were brought to this mountain to circulate, the mountain people would "give up defeat", because the vehicle could not climb the slope!

On the day we explored the cliffs, temples, shrines, and caves on Cam Mountain, we climbed over Bo Hong cliff, the highest point here. Currently, the road to Bo Hong cliff is quite wide. But after only about 1km, the car stops at an empty area. To conquer Bo Hong peak, visitors must continue to walk up each vertical step, because there is no dedicated road for motorbikes to go up the mountain. Continuing to climb each step is very tiring, along the road are motels and shops close together. The goods here are brought up by porters to the shop owners to serve visitors from afar. Going on the full moon day of the fourth lunar month, there were many visitors climbing up Bo Hong cliff.

Weaving through the crowd, we met Chau May (37 years old) carrying a box of fruit up the mountain. We found out that he was carrying it for hire for shop owners on Bo Hong cliff. At dawn, when the fog was still hanging on the mountain top, Chau May and his neighbors came here to carry goods for hire. Every day, Chau May carries goods 7-10 times up the mountain. “From morning until now, I have carried 7 boxes of fruit for people. For each trip, I receive 30,000 VND. From morning to noon, I earned 210,000 VND. After that, I will continue to carry goods for hire for shop owners to earn more income,” said Chau May.

In the middle of the hot noon, the weather on the top of Cam Mountain was still cool and pleasant. The porters sat down to rest next to the small camp, quickly eating the bowls of rice they had brought early. They ate and chatted on the high mountain. The crowd of people passing by grew larger and larger, we saw Chau Son carrying a bucket of mineral water, dragging his heavy feet up the steep steps. Chau Son has been a porter for more than 20 years on Cam Mountain. In the past, the mountain roads were very difficult to travel, mainly climbing trails and steep slopes...

At the age of 17, Chau Son started working as a porter, carrying goods for hire up Cam Mountain for the locals. To bring the goods to the top of the mountain, Chau Son had to wake up at 2am. However, the hardest part was carrying ice for the locals. From the foot of the mountain to the top, each ice block was paid 100,000 VND. "In the past, each ice block, the locals on the mountain bought for about 200,000 VND" - Chau Son recalled. Previously, Cam Mountain area had more than 50 porters who specialized in carrying and carrying goods for hire. Nowadays, the roads are easy to travel, vehicles carry necessities to the destination, so there are only about 10 people left working as porters.

Most of the goods and necessities on Bo Hong cliff are carried by porters. Mr. Nam Tuan, the owner of a refreshment shop on the top of Cam mountain, said that without these porters, people on the mountain would have a hard time selling goods and serving tourists. “It is very difficult to walk up the steep steps, let alone carry heavy objects. Therefore, every day my family has to hire porters to carry mineral water, ice, fruit, rice, sugar, etc. to serve tourists,” said Mr. Nam Tuan.

Afternoon falls, mist covers Thien Cam Son. The porters quickly descend the slope to return to their families after a hard day's work. This rustic image is quite familiar to the people of the mountain town, creating a colorful picture on the highlands.

LUU MY

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/cuu-van-non-cao-a421293.html