March, thinking about the Central Highlands again

I never expected to have the opportunity to return to the Central Highlands when I was in my late 80s, and had just had a “foreign object” implanted in my heart to prevent a blood vessel from malfunctioning. When I was young, when the country was divided into North and South, along with a number of artists, I was fortunate to “follow” a powerful army of writers from Military Region 5 to visit the Central Highlands, led by writer Nguyen Ngoc. More than forty years have passed, but I only remember that the group departed from Da Nang city, on a large van, visiting many addresses, and being warmly and respectfully welcomed everywhere. The group of writers was led by a close friend of the Central Highlands!

The trip to the Central Highlands in November 2022 started from Ba Ria on a huge sleeper bus, running from dawn to dusk to Buon Ma Thuot City. The return trip was the same, the bus ran all night. A trip just for personal reasons, but also an opportunity to test myself after having to "poke my heart", trying out how to ride a long-distance sleeper bus that many people choose! Up to now, through the experience of a round trip from Ba Ria to Buon Ma Thuot of thousands of kilometers, I find that riding a sleeper bus is also fun...

Victory Monument in Buon Ma Thuot.

For me, the most enjoyable thing is the opportunity to freely admire the vast and seemingly endless country. A very different feeling compared to the trips in the narrow strip of land in the Central region - before I could sit comfortably, I could hear the car revving up the hill and over the pass! On this side, next to Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai is a dense urban area, industrial park, vast plains, vast fertile lands. There are no forests and almost no high mountains. The places of Dak To, Tan Canh... appearing behind the car window remind me of the campaigns described in the novels of many writers in military uniforms that I have read before...

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We arrived in Buon Ma Thuot late in the afternoon. Organized tour groups usually aim at “ranked” cultural sites, so it is unlikely that they will have the opportunity to visit the alleys to see the hidden corners of life in a Central Highlands city like me – a “lone traveler” on my own. The car carrying the “groom’s family” was taking us to such a place. The car left the main street, turned into a small, crisscrossing, chessboard-like path – many sections had not yet been paved with concrete, and it was already dark, so we could only see dense trees on both sides. With the bride’s family’s small car leading the way, we almost got lost!

Arriving there, still surprised by the "troublesome" path through the forest to the bride's house, I was surprised by a bright area, bustling with laughter like a festival. A spontaneous art program in the night in the middle of the "forest" recreated on the outskirts of Buon Ma Thuot City, with the "actors" all from the Central region. Tonight there were no gongs or fire, but the scene of my "fellow countrymen" innocently following each other on stage to dance and sing attracted this eighty-year-old man to join in. And someone - it seemed to be a teacher from Quang Binh was singing a special song dedicated to this land. It was the song "If you still love each other, then come back to Buon Ma Thuot" by musician Nguyen Cuong... At this time, the corner of the night forest here truly had the atmosphere of the Central Highlands...

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Of course, if you travel to this Central Highlands city, there are many places to visit: Buon Ma Thuot World Coffee Museum, Trung Nguyen Coffee Village, Dray Sap Waterfall Cluster, Yok Don National Park... But with limited time, we could only spend the afternoon walking around the city, at least to... take a few photos on Facebook to show off that we had arrived in the land of the "king of coffee"! There were also photos taken in front of the Coffee Museum, next to the "Buon Ma Thuot Victory Monument" cluster and in front of the communal house model called "Echo of the Great Forest" in the city center...

That day was the last day of 2022. Not an “anniversary”, but many veterans returned to visit the old battlefield. Yes! To have the opening victory on March 9, 1975, as I know, the strategic plan after 7 revisions, was completed on August 26, 1974 with the main direction of attack being the Central Highlands; then, it was submitted to the Party leadership for approval at a long meeting of the Politburo in October 1974. So it was possible that at the same time I arrived in Buon Ma Thuot, the only difference was that it was in 1974, in the vast forests of the Central Highlands, large armies were loudly and quietly entering the battle, attacking and feinting, so that on March 9, they could have made the historic victory of Buon Ma Thuot…

These things have been mentioned in many books and newspapers. One surprising thing was that I met a witness to get a “perspective” from the other side. He is a native of Quang Binh, an unexpected member of the groom’s family after we arrived in Buon Ma Thuot. Mr. N. has been a citizen of the Central Highlands for more than half a century. His house is on a street near the center. Although they are close relatives, all the groom’s family on the bus knew him for the first time! For me, it was even more so, but strangely, he talked to me openly, without any hesitation. His father was drafted by the French around 1950, when Quang Binh was still a “temporarily occupied” area by the enemy; so after the 1954 Geneva Agreement, he moved his whole family to Hue, then to Saigon, to Gia Lai… Oh my!

The story of several lives, an entire generation, spanning more than seven decades, is too long to tell. Seeing that I seemed interested in finding out about the relics of the battle on March 9, 1975, which opened the 1975 Spring General Offensive, he smiled and without hesitation said: “At that time, I was a paratrooper lieutenant, so I immediately took off my uniform and hid in the forest; the next day, I crawled out and luckily met a North Vietnamese officer, I did not hide anything; and when I said I knew how to drive, he took me in and let me go with him… But when I returned to my hometown, I also had to go to re-education…” His voice was soft. Nearly half a century had passed! But his family knew how to do business, the land favored people, so life was not rich but also comfortable. Is that why, until now, he has never returned to his hometown by the Kien Giang River? Or does he still have some inferiority complex…

My brothers and I advised him not to hesitate, now no one will mention the old story anymore. Just fly to Dong Hoi, call and there will be a car to pick him up and take him home... And happily, the son of Quang Binh who had to leave his homeland reluctantly just returned to his homeland after more than half a century, surprised and deeply moved by the scene of Quang Binh that had changed beyond his imagination... Talking about someone from the other side like Mr. N., I suddenly thought that someone calling them the "losing side" was probably not right. Only the invaders lost, the Vietnamese people were all the "winning side"...

Notes by Nguyen Khac Phe

Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202503/thang-ba-lai-nho-ve-tay-nguyen-2225261/