Visiting a Pepper Farm

An overcast morning indicates a change in our plans for another beach day. I'm interested in the pepper plantations, so we're going looking for one. Easier said than done, I struggle with finding places and information on this island. Most of what you need is visible, but key metrics will be missing, like addresses, and google maps just gives the electronic equivalent of a shrug.

Perseverance pays off, and the farm that was not on the map when we headed west suddenly appears. We sign on for a lunch and a tour, and are served a delicious caramelized pork and a lemongrass spiced marinated tuna, along with drinks and the classic Vietnamese pancake dessert.

Our guide Tran is informative and entertaining as he shows us all the plants on the farm. The pepper grows on trees that are limited to 3 meters in height, to increase production. You can eat the little green berries fresh....they are EXTREMELY peppery 😂.

Then they are dried, first in open air on trays, then finished by commercial dryer. We get to taste cinnamon leaves, also grown here. The dry leaves smell strongly of cinnamon when crumpled in your hand, and the pieces have a sweet, mildly spicy flavor when chewed.

The tour continues with Tran making a few risque jokes, such as bananas and long peppers being especially good for men. Their upright growth patterns are said to have.....similar organic effects on the males😅.

Vietnam is one of the worlds biggest exporters of pepper, but they don't really use it much in their own cooking. Locals prefer chili for flavoring, Tran says. He also said pepper was always basic black, and it was the French who made it all complicated with red, pink, green and white.

We're given a flavorful cool drink to wrap up. A tea made with red pepper, long pepper, cinnamon and honey. I definitely want to recreate this at home!

Riding back the sky feels low, and the air is heavy with the scent of fires. Little charcoal braziers for cooking are set up and fragrant aromas whip past our noses as we motor by. It's quite extraordinary, an empty sidewalk in the morning will have a food cart running and little plastic chairs and tables will be all set up in the evening.

Later, we return to our new favorite restaurant. Further down the table, the couple seated there recognize Brad from the breakfast buffet: he was bringing me back a giant cup of coffee. Since it's served in tiny glass cups I think the mug stood out! ( the mug is petty larceny, I brought it back from the beach bar the first night - I will return it).

Marie and Dick are from Stockholm, and we have a very enjoyable dinner conversation. Hilariously, it turns out they are across the hall from us in this near deserted hotel.

We're both waiting for our laundry to be returned, hopefully before we leave 😊. An agreement is reached: if there's any mixup, we just all have new clothes!Read more