Good morning SE Asia!: 09/12/13 - 13/12/13 Phu Quoc Island

We had to leave Rach Gia early after a slightly questionable Westernised breakfast (eggs, sweet toast bread and some plasticy tasting sausages) at the hotel, to get to the harbour for our 8 o'clock boat to Phu Quoc island. The boat trip was straight-forward, only about 1 hour, and we noticed two other cyclists getting on board, two women in the mid thirties maybe. I got chatting to them when we arrived on the island and waiting to get of the boat. They were Dutch. One of them was going for a month and a half, the other one joined her for 2 weeks. They cycled along the Mekong and were now planning a few days rest on Phu Quoc looking for an idyllic paradise.

We had to cycle another 13k on the island to get to our guesthouse just outside Dương Đông, the main town on the island. The boat didn't even go to the same harbour as advertised. There were maybe 4 ferry companies advertised online, but all but one had closed, with boats and jetty harbours lying unused. Lack of tourism, or poorly planned investment?

After leaving the harbour main road all other roads are either unsurfaced (sometimes only consist of sandy bits) or being rebuilt. There were odd 3 lane stretches of 1km motorway in the middle of nowhere, and the GPS had some of the sandy tracks down as main roads. Another poorly executed investment? We arrived at the guesthouse which was nice and clean and in walking distance from the main beach stretch, but very basic, like a Nga Nghi but more expensive. It would suit us fine for a few days. The guy at reception seemed flustered and over-worked, but he was very friendly. We couldn't check in straight away as the previous occupier of our room hadn't checked out yet (it was only about 11am), so we decided to have some lunch at the guesthouse which was also a little café. After establishing that most things in the menu, strangely all local dishes, were actually not available, we decided for ham and cheese sandwiches and waited. And waited and waited.... The little colleague of the reception guy disappeared and reappeared 20 mins later again with our food in take-away boxes. Not the usual home-made Vietnamese cuisine we are used to, but it was nice and we are after all back in tourist land.

After lunch we decided to have a cycle in the main town, Dương Đông, to waste some more time before we were able to check into our room. The town was, well how can I put it, fishy! It was shacks, small shops and busy small streets surrounding the famous fish sauce factory (they also offer a guided tour to tourists!). The smell was over-bearing, so we had to leave.

A quick pit-stop in the hotel to check in and shower, and we were off again to the beach. Only a short walk through some of the bigger resorts which occupy the beach front. The beach was nice, probably one of the nicest we have seen in Vietnam. Blue, clear water and white sand.

The next day we spent all day on the beach. It was wonderful. We saw lots of huge starfish in the water, and also quite a few jelly fish. We also met the two Dutch ladies again. In the evening we went to a bar close to our hotel and played pool and drank for the evening with some people we met in the bar, an crazy Irish guy travelling with a dizzy Australian girl, both in their 30's, and a young pair who were from Australia also and were flying everywhere with cheap internal flights. All bonkers. We avoided a second date that they wanted to arrange with us for the next night.

For our third day on Phu Quoc we went on a snorkelling trip, as you do, but this time with a twist. First we went to see a pearl farm (Phu Quoc is also famous for its pearls) and watched them talking out a pearl out of an oyster before we were gently pushed into the direction of the souvenir shop (we didn't expect this part of the day trip). On the actual boat trip we went fishing (Greg actually finally caught something in front of me!) before hitting 3 snorkelling stops. On the first stop, the Vietnamese boat crew noticed a piece of wood floating in the sea which was covered in crabs, not very big ones, and got all excited. They threw in a rope and were trying to retrieve the drift wood including its precious cargo. Once on board they chucked the crabs in a bucket and the wood back in the sea. Greg who was already swimming around the boat, brought them some more. The Vietnamese will literally eat anything and fancied them for BBQ lunch. Greg even brought a single crab back on a floating babies flip flop which they took gratefully!

And now, guess what happened next, I felt so tempted after that that I went in for a dip on the second spot. Truth is, I did wear a swimming vest and frantically swam to the reef just to hop from big stone to big stone, but I did fulfil the premise of snorkelling - I was wearing a snorkelling mask and I saw corals and fish in the sea. I was very proud when I got back on the boat!

We had a fantastic lunch on the boat. Very generous with fish and chicken dishes, omelettes, veg and much more. Plenty for everybody. We were also offered to try sea urchin which cost an extra 30 pence, but were worth it. We tried them sushi-style with wasabi and lemon and also a barbequed version but the raw was best. The best sea food I have ever had!

We enjoyed Phu Quoc and extended for one more day which we again spent on the beach and generally enjoying life. We had a beach massage and got a bit ripped off, well not really but we did pay £15 for two of us for half an hour. This happened because they started doing our feet and trying to thread Gregs back which we didnt ask for. Oh well, still not too expensive and they were very funny ladies who thought it was hilarious that we spoke some Vietnamese and this is after all their livelihood. Then back to swimming and eating seafood at small cheap bamboo restaurants on the sand. Tough life!

Next stop would be our last town in Vietnam, after 2.5 months!