Located about 13 kilometers from the center of the former Nà Bủng commune, Trên Nương village is home to over 160 households and more than 1,000 residents. Life here is already filled with hardship, and poor transportation makes economic development even more difficult. By the end of 2024, nearly 89% of the village’s households remained classified as poor or near-poor.

Giàng A Thề, head of Trên Nương village, shared: “Although a road for cars has been built all the way to the village, it’s just a dirt road, so in the rainy season only motorbikes can get through. During prolonged rain, many sections become landslide-prone, sunken, and muddy, making the village nearly isolated. To travel, villagers have to get creative, placing materials to reinforce the road or attaching makeshift tools to their motorbike wheels for better traction. During peak rainy days, people only travel on this route if absolutely necessary.”

To prove his point, Thề pointed to motorbikes with chains wrapped around their tires and explained: “The more it rains, the softer and more unstable the ground becomes. Even the most experienced riders struggle, someone has to push while another steers. Wrapping chains around the tires helps grip the road and prevents slipping in the mud.”

Leaving Trên Nương, we headed uphill toward Sín Thầu commune to report on Tả Ló San, a highland village known as one of the most disadvantaged in the commune. Despite being established 16 years ago, Tả Ló San still lacks access to the national power grid. Of the nearly 40 kilometers of road from the village to the commune center, only 25 kilometers are paved; the remaining 13 kilometers are dirt and gravel.

However, upon arriving at the commune, we were informed by Đàm Văn Cường, Vice Chairman of the Sín Thầu commune People’s Committee, that the road to Tả Ló San was currently blocked due to landslides and fallen trees. Machinery and personnel had been immediately deployed to clear the obstruction, but access would not be possible until the following day, as multiple landslide points had been reported along the road.

In recent years, Tả Ló San has received support in the form of plant and animal breeds to help boost the local economy. With abundant land for farming, residents are eager to cultivate and raise livestock in hopes of improving their incomes. However, difficult transportation means that the prices of agricultural products are always lower than those sold in town. Traders are reluctant to travel into the village during the rainy season due to the risk. To get better prices, villagers must transport their goods by motorbike to the commune center.

During our conversation with Vice Chairman Cường, we learned that a project to upgrade the road from Sen Thượng - Pa Ma - Lò San Chái (Tả Ló San) is in the works. The 40-kilometer route, with a total investment of VND 115 billion, is expected to break ground soon.

The upgraded route will start from Sen Thượng village, connect to the Sen Thượng Border Post, and end at Km47 of the A Pa Chải - Tả Long San border patrol road, passing through Tả Ló San village. Once completed, it will form an integrated transportation system, directly supporting border security management and improving travel conditions for residents along the route.

Currently, the province has over 9,600 kilometers of roads, including more than 4,000 kilometers of rural roads. Each year, the province allocates hundreds of billions of VND from the budget and mobilizes community contributions to gradually expand and upgrade the rural road network.

Nonetheless, due to high investment costs, vast terrain, and scattered populations, hundreds of village roads across the province have yet to be upgraded. Most of these roads are in remote, border areas with complex geography.

Only those who have traveled to mountain villages during the rainy season, who have trudged through slippery, landslide-prone paths, can truly understand the hardship local people endure. Each rainy season brings relentless showers that make every step of their journey toward a livelihood even more arduous.