Robin & Karen Living the Dream: The Island of Phu Quoc

Time to explore the Island of Phu Quoc starting February 22/25.

We had booked 7 nights at Hai Au Beach House ($188 total) - only 2 rooms in the back of the owners home where we stepped off the patio right onto the sand. It was down a small alley in a very much local neighborhood with fishing boats on the beach & out in front in the ocean. We loved watching kids playing on the sand & fishermen & their wives bringing in fish every day. We had all the fresh fruits, veggies, meats & seafood we could want very close by in local markets but not many restaurants. Our room had a king bed, table & chairs, small fridge, kettle, larger TV, good A/C, wifi, outdoor sink & shower plus the usual “wet bath” & a much appreciated 5 gallon jug of drinking water.

Hai Au Beach House

Our patio

A kitchen to use, we cooked twice

Our patio

Our first night we found a food cart not far away selling bun dau - the plate of meats, tofu, rice noodles & greens that you wrap in rice paper, very tasty. We asked for beer & they went to get us a couple from a nearby minimart.

We had our first & hopefully only cockroach in the bathroom our first night - a small window was open when we arrived & we closed it but he must have already been in. A good smack with a shoe & that was that - but it did freak me out a bit.

Robin was out trying to rake the sand with a palm frond, always tidying up!

Raking the beach

We never figured out the routine of the fishermen but they went out in round boats sometime before we woke up, returning mid morning with nets full of small fish. The wives would then assist with pulling the fish out of the net, cleaning, scaling & later laying them out on racks to dry. Not the nicest smell when out for my morning run but interesting to see.

Round fishing boats & nets

Bags of bigger fish

Fish drying, love the “flower” shape

We spent time walking into the main town, past the local markets, checking out the Phu Quoc Night Market, found a travel agent to book our transport off the island & to our next destination of Phnom Penh & booked a snorkeling tour.

Local markets

Shrimp & seafood

Every kind & size of egg you could want

Some tasty street food at the night market

Lots of stands selling local pearl jewelry

Night Market

Random bunch of cows wandering about

Map of the island

Fishing boats in the river

Way too many things made from crocodile skins

There are free buses that run up & down the island to attractions - the north end has a Safari & Zoo & an amusement park along with a mostly empty huge hotel complex. The south end has another mainly empty hotel & condo complex, an 8 km. cable car ride & an entertainment complex.

Our first trip on the bus was to the Safari & Zoo - a delightfully well laid out & cared for attraction. The many, many species of animals all appeared well cared for & happy & we had an incredible day walking around the zoo & riding thru the safari.

Junior zoo keepers

We spent a day out on a boat for a 3 island trip with snorkelling, such vibrant blue/ green water & thankfully nice & warm. Robin is not a fan & he stayed on the boat taking photos. Not the best variety of fish I have seen but still a fun day! I took my old phone with me in a waterproof case but with contact lenses in I couldn’t really see the buttons on the phone & didn’t get much for photos, did get a couple decent videos.

I tried to get out for some exercise most mornings, running down the small alley past local homes & shops. Always something interesting to stop & take photos of.

Entry into someone’s home

Mini mart in the front of a home

Laundry & fish drying

Everything comes to you, not much need to go out!

After the week was up we moved to a different hotel for 5 nights, located closer to the centre of town near more options for eating & a bit livelier. The Miana Resort was located across the road from the beach up a hill, surrounded by trees & flowers. A softer bed which was appreciated, a cozy patio for sitting outside, a pool & a rather unusual bathroom setup. The sink & toilet areas were “normal” but the shower stall was huge with half it having natural stone on the wall (complete with dead plant roots & stems) & the roof was open to the air with a not so tight screen over it. We had our second unwanted critter in our bathroom - a large ugly looking 2-3 inch spider on the wall! A very fast moving ugly spider who eluded us! During my shower a spider appeared on the wall & Robin managed to get it, so whew, but no - this was probably the Mrs. & Mr. reappeared that night. And then disappeared again - I’m not sure why but being afraid of spiders I decided to just lift the toilet lid & seat before I sat - & there he was, just under the rim of the bowl! Robin raced in with a towel to swat at it & I quickly flushed & thankfully he went to spider heaven. And yes I lifted the toilet seat every time for the next 4 days.

Miana Resort

The unconventional shower area

Robin reading in the pool

We did a tour of the south end of the island one day - with stops at a pearl farm & store, the Ho Quoc Pagoda, the Phu Quoc prison (built in 1950 by the French, closed in 1955 & later reopened during the Vietnam war - it has been restored to educate people of the horrors that occurred there in the hope of it never happening again), a lunch stop at a gorgeous white sand beach, a trip to a fish sauce factory, a stop at Sunset Town to see the “Kissing Bridge” ( separated by 30 cm.), a winery that uses Myrtle plants & finally a pepper farm to learn how pepper corns are grown & dried.

Fossilized giant clam shells - found when diving for pearls, they carve them & create jewelry from the fossil shells

Fancy pearl jewelry

A cute tea set made from shells

Pagoda

Prison museum fencing

Examples of torture methods, gruesome

At Sao beach - a large film crew, ? Korean

Vats of salted fish, left to ferment for a year - making fish sauce

Sunset Town, virtually empty

Overlooking the “Kissing Bridge “

Pepper plants

Peppercorns

This is why Vietnamese is so difficult - all these words are spelled the same except for different inflections & all have very different meanings. Our guide had a few examples like this!

The trek to the beach was only about 10 minutes but all downhill so all uphill to return so we didn’t make much use of it. Also not so pretty as Sao Beach on the opposite side of the island & fairly rough water & waves.

I treat myself to a massage every couple of weeks - I had a 30 minute foot & leg massage for $8, first an herbal foot soak accompanied by mango & iced tea!

Of course we had to ride the 8 km. cable car that runs over the sea & islands - a pricey journey ($76 total) but it included entry to a water park at the end. The views were spectacular & the ride was surprisingly not scary despite my dislike of heights! We spent some time floating down the lazy river ride in tubes, checked out the wave pool & had fun watching the slides & other attractions. Unfortunately the Eagle Eye ride was out of commission that day, might have been for the best. Had a couple of craft beer which was nice, the local beers are good, but not as flavorful.

A huge bucket that filled & dumped over anyone nearby

The lazy river ride

All the fishing boats below

We left Phu Quoc March 7, taxi to the ferry, a high speed ferry to Ha Tien on mainland Vietnam, a van to the Cambodia border where we had to purchase visas, a long walk thru to our pickup in mini bus & we were off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Every seat was full & there was luggage filling the tiny aisle. At every stop the luggage had to be taken out so that we could get out for a bathroom break or to eat!