VietNamNet Bridge – Ly Son Island is probably the one place on earth where you will never find any vampires… because this is the Kingdom of Garlic!

A garlic field on Ly Son Island, off the coast of Quang Ngai Province. — VNS Photos Le Xuan Tho

Off the coast of central Quang Ngai Province, Ly Son Island produced a whopping 2,700 tonnes of garlic last year.

More than 70 per cent of the 21,000 inhabitants work farming garlic, spring onions or fishing.

It is seen as one of the most popular sites to visit for those with a sense of adventure because of its a unique fossilised rocks believed to date back 4,000 to 6,000 years and ever green fields of garlic and onion in the spring.

Recent excavations uncovered tombs believed to belong to Sa Huynh culture communities from between the first and second century AD.

A farmer works in a garlic field in Ly Son Island.  Garlic fields and fishing boats.

Ly Son Island has a dormant volcano and the terrain of the island was created from eruptions 25 to 30 million years ago, leaving the landscape with rocks, caves, cliffs and a lake.

The island has been created in the hope that one day it will be recognised as a Global Geo-Park by UNESCO.

Centuries-old houses have been preserved, along with the Am Linh Pagoda, built to worship the souls of sailors who died during long voyages to the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands in the Nguyen dynasty (around the 17th century).

A local museum displays more than 200 ancient documents and 100 exhibits that prove the Paracels and Spratlys belong to Vietnam. 

The sun rises on Ly Son Island.  Exploring the beauty of the ’Kingdom of Garlic’. Garlic flowers on the first lunar New Year days.

Source: VNS