Garlic dried in the yard of Mr. Nguyen Quan’s house. Photo: Van Chuong In early May, farmers on Ly Son island spread the last batch of dried garlic before putting it in bags to officially put agricultural products on the market. The old farmer Vo Tri Thoi has a smooth black skin and compares the story of garlic with high prices and waiting times, but the price does not go up by the story of picking garlic. Mr. Thoi ran to the stall to collect a handful of garlic sprinkled to make a stir-fry sound, then smiled wryly and said: “In the days when garlic was expensive, it only took a few handfuls of garlic to sell and it was enough money for a drink together with karaoke, But now I’ve collected half of the bamboo stalls and sold them, but it doesn’t work.” The people of Ly Son island have a bit of a sense of humour, especially the people on Be Island. The story of gathering garlic to sing karaoke is just a way for this farmer to liken the story of garlic to make me laugh. Because old farmer Thoi also admitted that his life was only fun with a few glasses of wine, and going to the shop to tip the youngest brother was just a joke to make the wives startle. Because working in garlic is very hard, you have to buy sand to cover it, then take care of it, rent a water machine to water it, stay up late and get up early, it’s very hard to get to the harvest day. Every time farmers in Ly Son island harvest garlic, the whole island immediately turns into an interesting picture. Many families spread garlic on the roof of the house to the yard and leave only a small road to go. The old farmers, after several months of struggling with the green garlic fields, now continue to dry the garlic in the sun, wait for the garlic to dry, then pack it, throw it in the mezzanine indoors and wait for the price. Life on the island during the garlic season is very busy, many people run up and down to ask for the price of 70 or 65 (70,000 VND or 65,000 VND). In the past years, fresh garlic harvested was often quoted by farmers at that price. If anyone accidentally talks about selling at a low price, their relatives will respond with a funny story, instead of talking too cheap, not selling. Mr. Vo Tri Thoi, said, 336ha of garlic growing on the island every year farmers collect more than 2,000 tons of garlic. If the dried garlic is sold at 70,000 VND/kg, it will make a profit. Currently, farmers on the island are not hoarding garlic, but keeping garlic dry to wait for the price, but the current price is difficult. Farmers in the island grow garlic on volcanic soil, so Ly Son garlic has a more spicy and aromatic taste than garlic grown in the mainland. At times, garlic is sold for 170,000 VND/kg of dried garlic. The current price of dried garlic is 40,000 VND/kg. At this price, many farmers share a loss, so they decided to keep, pin their goods and wait for the price to move up. However, the number of tourists to the island has decreased deeply, so farmers wait for garlic in inland markets to increase the price to bring garlic in. But the path of garlic from the island to the mainland is not easy. Because now, farmers Ly Son go to Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces to grow garlic and this item is also falling in price, farmers complain because they can’t sell it. The price of garlic in this locality has dropped to only 17,000 VND/kg of fresh garlic. Because of the price difference of garlic, farmers in Khanh Hoa moved to Quang Ngai, and the press continued to report fake Ly Son garlic. This is a blow that makes it harder for real Ly Son garlic to price up and farmers have to wait again. Ly Son garlic market usually starts to get crowded at sunrise. Farmers bring garlic to the trading market so that buyers can take the garlic by train down to the mainland. Some professional garlic buyers shared the story that bringing garlic in the island to the shore cost a lot of money, but when they met the garlic stream in the south, the garlic looks quite similar, the quality is not equal, so the quality is not as good. harder to consume. At Mr. Nguyen Quan’s house located at the end of Ly Son island district, his 5 children spread 7 tons of garlic all over the yard, around the house and on the cement corrugated iron roof. Garlic market information in Quang Ngai city and in Khanh Hoa province is always updated by farmers. Mr. Pham Tan Thanh, 61 years old, a senior garlic grower said: “If garlic is low, then you must invest in growing onions, but basically farmers still rely on garlic.”

Ly Son island district, Quang Ngai province consists of 3 islands: Big Island, Be Island and Mu Cu island. Big Island, also known as Cu Lao Re, is the center of Ly Son. Be Island is also known as An Binh. Mu Cu Island in the east, close to Big Island, is the smallest and uninhabited island. To get to Ly Son, visitors go from Quang Ngai city along Highway 24B to Sa Ky port, then go to the island by speedboat and rent a motorbike to visit attractions on the island. Pictures taken at the morning fish market on Ly Son island Ly Son beach is beautiful sparkling in the sunny day The road to Thoi Loi mountain is roundabout. On one side are bare hills covered with beautiful green grass, on the other side is the blue sea. In Ly Son district, there are 5 bowl-shaped mountains formed by volcanic activity, of which the highest is Thoi Loi mountain (169m). Thoi Loi Mountain is a spectacular natural attraction of the sea tourist routes – Ly Son island. Standing on Thoi Loi mountain overlooking the sea, visitors feel the immensity of the sea and sky Tourists enjoy taking pictures on Thoi Loi mountain The national flagpole was built on the top of Thoi Loi mountain, the highest mountain on Ly Son island, with a height of 20m, the base of the flagpole and the foundation of the flagpole are made of reinforced concrete, facing the Hoang Sa archipelago, the flag 4 x 6 m in size, the main side on the radio shows the coordinates of the flagpole, bearing the appearance of a landmark of Vietnam’s sovereignty The majestic scenery of mountains, sea and sky on Thoi Loi mountain. Many tourists are surprised by the beauty of nature. This place is endowed by nature with many beautiful scenes that cannot be found anywhere else, the wild beauty of the mountains and islands is like a paradise in the middle of the blue sea, which has been attracting many tourists.