Ly Son island district in Quang Ngai province in central Vietnam, is very famous for its specialty – garlic, which is compared to “natural antibiotic.”

Annually, Ly Son residents harvest thousand tons of garlic from 550 hectares of garlic fields. Garlic is mainly planted on sandy land.

It takes nearly one hour by speedboat from Sa Ky port in Quang Ngai city to get to Ly Son district island, where the first Sa Huynh residents lived nearly 3,000 years ago and left behind mysterious stories about Sa Huynh culture.

Ly Son Island is known as Cu Lao Re or Re Island because, according to local elders, the island has a lot of Ré, a type of wood. The bark of the tree is used as strings. Ly Son has three communes - An Hai, An Vinh and An Binh. Though it is a small island, it takes three to four days to explore.  

Ly Son is also known as the kingdom of garlic. Garlic fields on the island are like a green carpet. Ly Son garlic is a local specialty, preferable to other varieties. It’s medium-sized, white, tasty, and often used as a remedy. The local garlic has become an indispensable gift for any tourist.

Tourists to Ly Son are also captivated by the local special seafood, especially the wide variety of snails. Souvenirs made of snail shells are often included in gift packages of tourists.

Local residents also grow onions. If garlic is planted in the winter, onion is planted in the summer.

Garlic and onion are usually harvested in the afternoon.

One kilo of onion is priced VND20,000 ($1) at the field and VND25,000-VND30,000/kg at port.

Source: VNN