LEFT
Farmers wash greens at
a campsite near a stand
of black cardamom
plants in Hoang Lien
National Park. They
were part of a group
that spent several days
harvesting the spice
and drying it on an
open campfire before
hauling it back to their
villages around Sa Pa.BELOW
Freshly harvested
pods are red until
roasted, then they
turn dark brown or
black. The spice is pri-
marily sold to Chinese
brokers and used in
traditional medicines.A JOURNEY WITH SPICE 137