HA GIANG - After lunch break, Captain Giang Mi Vang and soldier Tan Trung Hieu put on their boots and went up the border to check the border markers, when the temperature was about 5 degrees Celsius.
The cold weather, along with rain and fog for days, made the 2km road from checkpoint 320 in Ma Sao Pho village, Nghia Thuan commune, Quan Ba district, to the border marker slippery. Captain Vang and soldier Hieu had to walk, while riding a motorbike was like on a sunny day.
The two men belong to Nghia Thuan Border Guard Station. This unit is managing 21 km of border with 33 markers from 313 to 339, belonging to two communes Nghia Thuan and Bat Dai Son. The terrain is high mountains, deep ravines, and old forests. On the other side of the border is Bat Bo commune, Ma Ly Pho district (Yunnan, China).
Checkpoint 320 was established by the decision of the Border Guard of Ha Giang province to manage and protect the border, control residential areas and prevent illegal entry and exit. The checkpoint is located near an old trail that residents of both sides often cross.
"If I don't go and see my land for a day, I won't feel secure," said Captain Vang, a Hmong man who grew up in Quan Ba for 45 years. If he meets people, he reminds them not to go near the border fence.
The outpost team consisted of three soldiers, stationed here for a period of time according to the station's assignment. Two went to check the border while the other was on duty. Seeing nothing unusual, Vang whistled to call the dog to follow him back to the outpost. On the way back, he sometimes crossed the stream to pick fern to make salad or to get more firewood to boil water for bathing in the winter.
Captain Luu Xuan Bay, Deputy Political Commissar of Nghia Thuan Border Guard Station, said that depending on the actual situation, the troops will be replaced every three months. The unit will rotate earlier when the soldiers on duty have important matters at home. The station ensures necessities and regularly encourages officers and soldiers on duty.
Captain Le Xuan Luong recorded the daily work diary after the border inspection team returned. For many consecutive days, the team on duty at the checkpoint did not record any abnormalities in the border marker area assigned to them for management.
Taking advantage of the land in front of the shed to grow vegetables, Mr. Vang planted a bed of mustard greens intercropped with coriander, a bed of kohlrabi, two chili plants, a trellis of Malabar spinach and perilla leaves to fry eggs.
Soldier Tan Trung Hieu washes rice to cook. At 19 years old, Hieu finished high school, joined the army and will be discharged in February 2025. He was assigned to the checkpoint in early January.
"The water heater runs on firewood," is what Hieu calls the pot of boiling water for bathing. At 719 meters above sea level, on freezing days, the daytime temperature in Nghia Thuan commune is only 1-2 degrees Celsius, and it drops even further in the late afternoon. Even the strength of young men cannot withstand the cold, so they have to boil water for bathing every day. When it's sunny, they take advantage of the opportunity to bathe at noon.
Hieu is over 1.8 m tall, shaking his head and saying he has never had a girlfriend. His twenties were spent guarding the border and working at checkpoints.
This year is also the first time Hieu celebrates Tet away from home. His two older sisters are married, leaving only his parents to celebrate the New Year in the countryside. To set aside some money for small expenses, Hieu saved 3 million VND from his two-month allowance to send home to his mother for Tet.
The outpost had only three men and two dogs for company. Hieu often called them Vang or Den based on their fur color. When he left the outpost, they followed. Living in a place surrounded by grass and rocks, Hieu sometimes brought a chair out to the porch to sit and watch the monkeys come down from the mountains to look for food. "Listening to them chirping was fun."
The three men’s winter dinner in the cold weather consisted of fried eggs with perilla leaves, fried pork with burnt edges, stir-fried fern, cat cabbage soup, and a plate of banh chung. Their bedtime stories were mainly about family, some gossip or phone calls to their wives and children before going to sleep.
The outpost is simple but fully equipped with basic necessities such as tables, chairs, beds, a kitchen, and a laundry area. Mr. Vang said that after the 23rd of the lunar calendar, everyone will decorate for Tet. This year, he can celebrate Tet at the outpost even though it is only 15 km from home. After 25 years in the army, the Mong captain has celebrated New Year's Eve at his unit more than at home, and his wife and children are used to it.
At night, the temperature drops sharply, the electric light from the checkpoint is the only source of light in a border area. Today, the whole North is still freezing cold, by January 29 it will turn very cold, the average daily temperature is from 15 to 13 degrees Celsius.
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