Cam Ranh sweet mangoes

Cam Ranh Municipality in central Khanh Hoa Province has much to offer: a large mine of white sand to make quality glass, beautiful beaches, breeder shrimp farms, vast sugarcane and what’s more, mango plantations.

The town now has more than 4,000ha of mangoes supplying almost 200,000 tons a year. Shrimp breeding and sugarcane cultivation have been developed in Cam Ranh for just little more than a decade, but mango farming has existed here for more than a hundred years.

In Cam Hai and Cam Duc Communes, many age-old mango plantations are home to several centenary mango trees with huge trunks. The local residents consider the ovoid fruit with its sweet, juicy flesh as a precious gift from nature.

The mangoes’ unique taste has become popular not only in the central region but also in the north, where people are fond of Cam Ranh mangoes because of their sweetness and competitive price compared with mangoes from the south.

Farmers have shifted to growing famous mango varieties, such as Hoa Loc, Thanh Ca and Thailand. They have also focused on applying biotechnology to boost productivity, even making mango trees carry fruits out of season.

The main mango crop in Cam Rang is from June to September. During this time travelers passing by the municipality can see veritable mountains of mangoes for sale at stands along the 4km section from Cam Duc to Cam Hai Tay Communes on National Highway 1A – the backbone running from north to south.

Such stalls are also where the mangoes get packed for transport north. Travelers can see many trucks stopping at the stalls to load up baskets or crates of mangoes before moving on to Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Haiphong, Hanoi and even to the mountainous provinces of Cao Bang, Lang Son and Bac Kan.

Packing mangoes is an art in itself. People need to select the right (not too young) mangoes and wrap them in old newspaper pieces before arranging them tightly into crates. The packing ensures that their skins don’t get damaged, and they are kept warm so that they can ripen some more.

Along the section of highway, travelers can also find mango markets that sell the fruits specifically to tourists. There the mangoes are classified into different categories in terms of size or ripeness. Coaches transporting people from south to north usually stop at these markets so that passengers can buy mangoes as gifts for their relatives and friends after having sampled a few pieces.