Retracing the path of the salt grains of yesteryear.

The old salt grain route evokes memories of the winding paths through the mountains of yesteryear, when people from the highlands carried their produce down to the coast to bring back salt. Today, many people have retraced the old stories and paths to discover and experience the salt grain route.

Many people are following the old legend to experience the salt-grain road of yesteryear.

The story of salt in the memories of the elders of the Co Ho, Chu Ru, and Ede ethnic groups in the mystical Central Highlands surely remains vivid. It recounts the long, narrow paths that cut through the forests, allowing people from the highlands to carry their produce down to the coast for trade, and to bring back grains of salt, eagerly awaited by their fellow villagers. Through countless cycles of carrying salt, love stories, both bitter and salty, have blossomed and borne fruit to this day.

Inspired by the melodies of Hoàng Vân's "Love Song of the Central Highlands," I wandered along the legendary southern Central Highlands, retracing the old stories of the roads where "the salt of yesteryear was eagerly awaited." Without prior arrangement, I visited the Đưng K'Si village of the Cơ Ho people at the foot of Bidoup Mountain in Lạc Dương district, Lâm Đồng province . Even after more than 70 farming seasons, the memories of elder Ha Vương remain vivid. He recounted: "In the old days, stepping out the door meant encountering the forest; people would trek through the forest to reach the sea. During the dry season, the strong men of the family would carry forest products down to Ninh Thuận to trade for salt."

The sun rose. Bidoup peak drifted through the clouds, the mountains and hills layered one upon another. A vast, carefree expanse of forest birds filled the air. Following in the footsteps of Sa Lem, a young man from the mountainous region, the interpreter for Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park recounted: "Salt was very important to the people of the Central Highlands in the old days. Sa Lem remembers that his maternal grandfather, Sa Han, and other men from the village used to go to the sea together. Every few months, they would carry back betel nut roots, reeds, rattan vines… Later, I learned they were trading them for salt."

To learn more about the story of the salt grain, we continued our search with the elders in the village of Đưng K'Si. Looking towards the distant mountains, and noticing strangers asking questions, village elder Sa Nga began: "In this area, there are two old routes our ancestors used to take to 'lòt drà' (go to the market) after the harvest. It's called 'lòt drà,' but in the old days, there were no markets in the highlands."

To trade or buy goods, people had to go all the way to Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa to find markets, and the salt was carried back to the villages in baskets by the local people. "Back then, the roads were very difficult. People had to go to trade salt from early morning before dawn; until sunset, they had to stop and build shelters in trees to avoid wild animals. They would trek through the forest for days, sometimes even a week, just to bring back a few kilograms of salt to the village," old Sa Nga recounted.

In the memories of the Co Ho ethnic people here, recalling the arduous journey of carrying salt up to the mountains evokes a haunting feeling. They recount that each time the men of the family went down to the coast, their mothers and wives at home would anxiously wait, their eyes red with worry. But they couldn't do without salt. "Salt is a sacred product, so it's always present in the rituals of the Central Highlands people. In the old days, salt was reserved for the sick or used as a precious gift," recalled elder Sa Nga.

Through countless journeys of exchanging goods, the people of the highlands and coastal regions naturally formed a sense of community. They shared and exchanged what they lacked and needed but could not produce themselves. The salt trade route has forged many relationships. And the faithful, salty love of the elderly Sa Nga, a Raglai man, and his wife, a Co Ho woman, also originated from this salt trade route. Following the matriarchal customs of the Co Ho people, Mr. Sa Nga moved to the mountains to live as a son-in-law and became a son of the southern Central Highlands.

In stories told by the elders of the Central Highlands, it was revealed that in the past, the ethnic people there rarely engaged in trade; they usually exchanged their products. And, the salt trade route of yesteryear forged deep bonds between ethnic groups of different languages.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/tim-ve-cung-duong-hat-muoi-nam-xua-231455.html