Lý Sơn Island – a place vampires fear

LÝ SƠN ISLAND — Lý Sơn Island is probably the one place on earth where you will never find any vampires… because this is the Kingdom of Garlic!

Off the coast of central Quảng Ngãi Province, Lý Sơn 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 Huỳnh culture communities from between the first and second century AD.

Lý Sơn 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 Âm Linh Pagoda, built to worship the souls of sailors who died during long voyages to the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Trường Sa (Spratly) islands in the Nguyễn 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 Việt Nam. — VNS