The moment I arrived to this island, I was attracted by the wilderness and the fresh clean air. After some time, the friendliness of the people consolidated my decision to live here.
At that time, I was staying with a local family in Suoi Cai area. Wandering around with no destination in mind, I was caught in the rain at the Cau Trang fork when I moved from Duong Dong to Thom beach. As I stopped in the nearby café, I met Quynh. We chattered for a bit then I asked Quynh whether she knew of any pepper farm. Luckily, she said she owned one and invited me to visit. Hehe, the right person came at the right moment. Going from Cau Trang fork through Cua Can intersection would lead to her family's pepper farm. During this period, it was still a small dirt road. And this whole area, 18km away from Duong Dong, had yet to have electricity.
(Photo by Tài Phạm)
When I first arrived to the pepper farm, I was stunned by the peaceful vibe: a wooden house in the center of the pepper and rose myrtle farm, little An and little Tiger running around with chickens and puppies. Time flew that I didn't realize the sun had set. Truong, Quynh's husband, arrived home and asked me to stay for dinner and enjoy his homemade rose myrtle liqueur. Hehe. A wanderer like me would not say no.
That night, Quynh served me cobia hotpot and banana braised loaches that was caught in the stream behind her house. Truong and I downed 3 litters of liqueur. The saying "sweet liquor gets you wasted" is absolutely right. Haha, I was blacked out and couldn't remember what happened. The next morning was me waking up on a hammock feeling tranquil. As I watched the chickens looking for food and breathed in the fresh air with a slight pepper fragrance, I suddenly had an urge to live here.
After saying farewell them, I was fluttered throughout my way back to Duong Dong to depart back to Saigon. I told myself that it was probably the right time to settle after 2 years looking for the perfect location to start my career.
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