MANGOES AND PEOPLE IN CAM LAM

People living with mango trees for about more than 70 years. This scene is very popular when come to Cam Lam district – The mango capital of Khanh Hoa province

As you may not know that 30 kilometres to the south of Tourism city – Nha Trang is one of huge capital of mangoes – Cam Lam district. The district lay right beside Cam Ranh International airport. Some people have visit the Long Beach or “Bai Dai” beach in Cam Lam. But today we don’t mention about the beauty of that long beach but another view to the west – The mango land.

Cam Lam district on the overall Khanh Hoa map

Walk through a mango garden in Cam Lam district.

People believed that mango tree came to the land from 1940s with the French when they visit Cam Ranh as a military base. The very first mango is named Tay in Vietnamese or Western in english as the western bring them to the land. With the so long history of mango trees, they are now very old with huge tree and high productive.

Cây xoài tây già Cam Lâm Khánh Hoà - SEAmangoes — Very old mango tree in Cam Lam district

Summer is also main mango season there. From about March to end of July you can see the view of mangoes in everywhere. Another mango time is at the year end when people ready to Vietnamese Tet hoiliday.

Nowaday, there are lot of mango kind grown in the land not only Tay mango such as: R2E2 (Australian mango); Thailand; Taiwan; Hoa Loc; Tu Quy (Four season mango)…

Một số loại xoài tại Cam Lâm - SEAmangoes — Some of many kind of Cam Lam mangoes.

People living in Cam Lam growing and harvesting mango then sell to many place in Vietnam but mainly to the North where is not suitable for growing mango and China.

Without of selling mangoes, some people just growing then giving it to relative as a gift from the rural. The olders loving Tay mangoes, when they came to Nha Trang city or Cam Ranh, they find the Tay mangoes for bring them back home. So they usually call Tay mango is Cam Ranh or Nha Trang mango.

Tay mango ripening when they yellowing with fruit aroma. They are sweet but somehow sour.

Another special mango kind in Cam Lam is R2E2 or Australian mangoes. They came to the land from 2000s with a Australian man named John Morton. This is another long story as we introduce in another time.