Paradise - Phu Quoc Island

We were up early for our ferry from Rach Gia to Phu Quoc Island. We took a taxi to the port, apparently Rach Gia does have taxis Mr Motorbike Man! The highlight was the kid spewing the whole way although luckily not too close to us. Damien wasn’t feeling great (side effects of malaria tablets) and slept most of the 2-3hr ride.
Arriving at about 11am, we were taken to town by a driver who convinced us to join his mini bus full of people. This didn’t turn out too bad as it was a long drive to the other side of the island, and once the bus was empty he drove us around to viewed a few hotels, including his uncles. As we were looking a tropical storm hit, which lasted about 4hrs, making it harder to find accommodation. We ended up settling on staying in a bungalow at his uncles place, Nhat Lan Guest House, for $13 for the night. No fridge, no hot water, no electricity during the day.
Exhausted we read books in the hammocks and had a nap. When the rain had passed we wandered along the beach looking at all the nicer hotels, wondering if we should change in the morning. During our walk we looked at the place next door (Viet Thanh Guesthouse), the lady was very friendly and offered a beach bungalow for $10 per night. We also discovered that the girl who we sat next to on the boat was staying there, Mia from Denmark. After our walk we ate dinner up the road at a place called Oasis, which we later found out was English owned! In the morning we considered moving next door, but the room we were told we could have still looked like it had people in it. We renegotiated at the place we were staying to get a cheaper room, with a fridge and hot water on the beach, which we didn’t have the first night. After moving rooms we headed out for some breakfast, vegemite toast at Oasis! Then bit of a impulse decision, due to the weather looking quite nice, we hired a motor bike for the day. The street has a few places that rent them, we found one run by a friendly family. The transaction was brilliant, we haggled a bit, but figured the price he started at was quite good, since someone we spoke to at the hotel paid a lot more. After agreeing on a price (about 5usd for the day), we think we confirmed that we didn’t need a license, he definitely wasn’t interested in this. He was eager to take our money, and when we said we couldn’t remember the name of the hotel, he didn’t care. Not knowing our name, where we are staying or seeing any ID, the transaction was complete once he had some cash and we had a key. On the road we headed out of town, we stopped to confirm we were going the right way, and the local lady indicated for us to follow her. We did for about 10 minutes, before she waved us on and turned into a side street, so friendly. It turned out we were going the right way anyway. We were heading to Bai Sao beach at the south end of the island. It was worth the drive! The beach we were staying on was windy and rough, Bai Sao was almost perfectly still and the water clear blue. The fine white sand was beautiful, and squeaked a bit like Squeaky Beach at Wilsons Promontory. We spent most of the day under a coconut tree and swimming in the tropical warm water. We only made one move for the day, to try and find another beach further south, but struggled with varying reports from locals as to where it was and if it was open to tourists. The road we thought it was on had a big entry prohibited sign and looked like some sort of military compound, although plenty of locals were using the dirt road. Instead we bought a coconut and returned to Bai Sao. I am partial to a nice beach, but I have to saw that Bai Sao would be the highlight of our Asia trip so far! We rode home on a different road, which turned out to be dirt, gravel, potholes and puddles most of the way (20km). It was a nice ride though as there was way less traffic to worry about, and it was along the west coast as the sun set. After a shower we jumped back on the bike and rode into town. We wanted to visit the night market. So comfortable on the bike, we were half way to town before we realized we weren’t wearing our helmets, which were stored under the seat. The night market had numerous places so eat soups and fresh seafood. We chose one and had spring rolls, tuna steak and noodles with squid. After dinner we walked through the stalls and looked at jewellery and bags, most of which suit the Asian tastes. One of the best things about Phu Quoc Island, is that its relatively free of western tourism, no tuk tuk, no beer singlet’s or t shirts. This is likely to change soon, as they are planning for an international airport, its supposed to be Vietnam’s Phuket. We returned the bike 5 minutes before the shop closed, although I don’t think he would have minded if we dropped it in the morning. We expressed interest in the sailing tour, which they were also very keen to sell us, immediately dropping the price from that advertised on the brochure. We didn’t commit, told him we may be back in the morning. Although super keen to do the tour, we wanted to see the weather in the morning. If it was like when we arrived there would be no way, secretly I think we both also wanted a sleep in. When the alarm went off early in the morning and the sky was clear, it was hard to justify going back to bed. We visited our little man and committed to the tour (again no names, just cash), had a quick breakfast up the road, grabbed our towels and bathers then hurried back to little mans shop just in time for our 8.30am pick up.
Climbing onto the bus we were the only whities, and pessimistically thought, oh crap! After one more pick up we headed out of town, disappointingly headed south along the bumpy dirt road. Instead of taking the boat from in town, we were headed to the port at the bottom of the island, about an hour away, not including the half hour stop at a pearl farm. Once on board the boat, the tour was good. We cruised through the 12 An Thoi Islands seeing local fisherman and pearl farms in the water. There were only about 15 people on board, I think everyone else was from Saigon. They were all friendly and some spoke English which was nice. More surprisingly, nearly everyone went swimming, which looked quite funny as they all wore bright orange life vests in the water. As advertised the snorkels and fins were good quality. We stopped for a spot of fishing, then two swimming spots before lunch. The snorkeling was good, despite the water not being too clear, but that’s because its rainy season over here, so we were expecting that. There was lots of fish as well as coral and crabs. Lunch was amazing, prepared on board with fresh seafood that they bought along the way from local fishermen on floating pontoons. Rice, noodles, fried beans, tuna, squid and tofu. We even tried barbequed sea anenemy’s. The tour guide offered another swimming stop, which reluctantly we declined. Unfortunately we over the last two days we have got a bit sun burnt, arms from riding the bike yesterday and now backs from snorkeling all morning. We had (English) sunscreen on which may not be as long lasting or waterproof as we are used to, also the malaria tablets have probably made us more sensitive. Instead we reapplied as the boat headed back to port. Back on the bus we were driven to Bai Sao for an hour where we had a swim and drink. This is where we were yesterday, but was happy to return. Then it was back on the bus headed back to town, for some reason they took us back up the bumpy road, rather than the sealed road through the middle of the island. Walking past our little man we let him know we had a good day, and bought some beers from him. We relaxed and showered before visiting Mia, the Danish girl in the hotel next door. We probably would have seen if she wanted to come on the tour with us, if it wasn’t such a rush in the morning. She joined us for cocktails on the beach followed by dinner. We found out, amazingly, that she has been in Vietnam on her own for a month, after the friend who she came with returned home after not enjoying her first four days. Our table was in the sand by the water and we ate fresh fish, squid, prawns, purple sweet potato and corn all cooked on the barbeque.