Leaving Phu Quoc

Well, we had a great time here on this island. It really was a tropical paradise. Yesterday, there was a hell of a storm during the evening, but it was even fun! Anthony and I wandered up and down the entire coast, alone on the beach because we were the only ones crazy enough to go out in the driving rain. We were soaked when we got back to the hotel, but it was so worth it.

Today, instead of more island exploring, we stayed at the resort. I had a fanTABulous massage for $3. Yup, I typed right. $3. I gave her a dollar tip on top of that, so it cost me $4 for 50 minutes. It was amazing, too. I asked her to do just my back and neck and shoulders, which were all tied in knots, and she worked them ALL out. Oh, yeah, did I mention that it was right there under a set of palm trees on the beach? OK, not so private, so if you are squeamish about having to pull your swimsuit down a bit in public, but facing down on a table, so really no one can see anything and besides, no one is looking, you might be a little uncomfortable, but I'm too old to worry so much about that nonsense, and like I said, no one is paying any attention, and the massage was truly out of this world.

We also walked the beach again, eating our way back to the hotel, which Anthony enjoyed, I think. I even had a couple of gin and tonics --finally!--to celebrate the tropics. Of course, it made me long for my front porch, my husband, and my dog.

I will upload photos of this place when we get back. I didn't take many! I was having too great of a time enjoying paradise!!!

Rice Paper making factory

The rice paper 'factory' was a family owned and run business on one of the islands. They made the rice liquid out of fermented, pressed rice. I think we were all most impressed with the fact that they bought rice hulls, shown here in the large brown pile, cheap cheap, then used them for fuel to cook the rice liquid, and then sold the black ashes as fertilizer for more than they paid for it in the first place before they used it!! As one woman put it, "How amazing. They buy it for cheap, use it, then sell it for dear." Well said!!

Mekong Delta

The little boy was selling bananas and coffee and other drinks boat to boat. If you can believe it, I bought a
coffee. The woman cut the pineapple for us and sold it, cleaned, for 50 cents each.

Anthony said that he fet like a turtle in the life jackets they made us wear.

Made it to Phu Quoc!

First of all, I will say that it was absolutely worth all of the hassle and terror of getting here. Second, let me tell you that that's really saying something. It was HELL to get here.

Windy came and got us at 6:30 am on Friday morning and got us out to the Mien Tay bus station, about an hour and a half from our hotel, via two city buses. THAT was the easy part.



The bus ride to Rach Gia should have been a no brainer, too, except that they had this damn VIDEO playing at EAR DRUM BREAKING VOLUME (can you hear me NOW????) the entire ride. Six blissful hours of screaming Vietnamese comedy at 53 on the volume button. I know. I watched him turn it UP.



So, around 2:30, we got into Rach Gia only to find out that we missed the last ferry to Phu Quoc by an hour. The Phuong Trang bus shuttle guy dropped us off at a hotel a half a block away from the ferry terminal. Good part: very kind, nice, English speaking girl working there; great coffee at only 50 cents a cup; cheap hotel with hot water (sometimes an issue in these parts; never had it in the Mekong Delta "hotels",) at only $13 a night; girl could book our ferry seats right there; wireless in the 'lobby' with the couch and the parked cars.



Bad part: SOOOO many mosquitos, and, did I ever mention that the Doxycyline for malaria gave me a huge rash, so I had to stop taking it? Did I mention that my hotel in HCMC decided that the zip-lock baggie containing my Super DEET filled 'mosquito rebellion' (a term on a website for a tour we considered taking) was garbage and threw it out? Not such a great situation once I got back into this, the edge of the Mekong Delta.



We found mosquito rebellion at a drug store and covered ourselves with the mosquito netting in the closet as well. I think one still got me.



Other bad part: LOUD people until about 9:00 pm. Once they shut up, though, it was OK.



Rach Gia, however, is my LEAST favorite town in all of Vietnam because when Anthony and I went out for our usual exploratory walk I was accosted by a man who wanted me to eat at his restaurant. He literally grabbed my wrist (and I could not get away) and dragged me across the street to look into the pots of 'lau' that were cooking. I dragged Anthony by the arm with me, asked him, "Look like something you want?" and when he said no and shook his head, I told the guy no. He then, finally, let go of my arm.

I was safer on the public bus in Ho Chi Minh City. If you ever try to get to Phu Quoc, either fly or make sure you get a bus that gets a ferry, which leaves at 8 am or 1:30 pm. DO NOT sleep there. ICK.

SO.... at 7:15 the next morning we made our way down to the ferry and got on. We had GREAT seats. They were right next to the door, so we had lots of leg room. I also thought that it meant that we would be the first people out the boat, but at unloading time 2 1/2 hours later, a HUGE batch of men shoved their way to the door just before docking. They were total twits, let me tell you. One finally decided that he would let us in front of him to get out.

Anyway, the ferry ride was choppy, and a lot of people got sick, but I thought it wasn't a problem. In fact, I had a great time watching the water and the waves. I actually saw the water change colors about 3/4 of the way through the ride, from brown into a beautiful dark blue. I was SOOOO excited!! It has been fabulous ever since. The only issue with the ferry was, again, THE NOISE!!!!! Again, the vidoes at TOP VOLUME. I'm serious. I put in earplugs and could still hear the screaming and singing as though the people on TV were doing this in my ear. Vietnam is a lot of things, but quiet ain't one of them!!

After all that, though, we arrived at our hotel (by a very expensive but QUIET taxi), and it has all been worth it. Our bungalow has the BEST bathroom we have had in the whole country (a big deal for both of us) and we SO lucked out. Anthony noticed that we had an internet cord hanging in the corner of our little deck. Sure enough, if we leave the window open we can run the cord through and use an actual internet connection in our room. SO if you stay at "Beach Star" (Sau Bien in VN) ask for bungalow 39. Wah-hoo. Oh, yeah, this place got rave reviews in traveladvisor.com for good reason. OMG they are SOOOO wonderfully accomodating, and man, that is really, really something coming from this crazy lady who always wants extra soap, extra towels, to book this, to ask about that..... I am a pest, and I know it, and they have been wonderful.

Tonight, we went for a walk as the sun went down on the beach and discovered that the beach is infinitely cleaner than Mui Ne, but our little stretch is absolutely groomed. No, really, I watched a guy sweep it on and off for the better part of 2 hours while I read a book this afternoon. It was impressive.

Tomorrow we go on a snorkeling/fishing/beach sunbathing trip through the southern tip of the island and throughout the little archipelago down there. If it works out, we'll book another tour with this guy. He actually came to the beach to get my money when I called him to book our tour. I didn't have to leave my chair!!! You have GOT to love this place!

the Floating Market

Pictures of the floating market, where people meet to buy 'in bulk' with a 10 kg minimum. So interesting to see them tossing produce from one boat to another. The sellers hung their wares on the flagpoles so people knew what they had.

Mekong Delta Overview

Well, we took a 3 day tour through the Mekong Delta from Friday August 6 to Sunday August 9. It was a series of busses and boats, on again, off again, on again, off again. We did the tour because it was a more supervised trip, but next time I would go by myself and find our own way. Much nicer. Still, we only had 3 days, and so we needed the tour thing.

These photos are leaving HCMC and our tour guide. We took a 'speed boat' out of HCMC for about 2 1/2 hours. I'm not really sure where we got out and caught a bus. That first day, we were just cows led through a series of stalls. Whatever, we were all pretty relaxed and just along for the ride, as it were, anyway.

Mui Ne Fishing 2

More fishing pictures, just because I took 117 of them.

Thai Hoa Resort

If you do go to Mui Ne, this is the cheapest place in town to stay, and it is also the quietest. It has a ROCKIN pool and individual 'bungalos' with little porches in front. We had the 2nd room from the beach, which rocked. The grounds were lovely and well maintained--manicured, actually.

On Saturday, a Vietnamese tour group came in for the day and the night and raised a ruckus, but their day-time antics were actually just fun to watch with a beer in my hand. Nighttime, on the other hand, was a different story, and I had to pitch a fit with the reception desk to get the tribal drums to stop at 10 or 11 pm. They did, however, stop immediately, and peace was restored, and life was excellent. The management of this place is exceptional.

Mui Ne Fishing

The fishermen were up early, but I got up with them while we were there. It wasn't difficult, seeing as I went to bed around 8:00 pm every night. We aren't much on nightlife over here. Anyway, they were hard at work when I hit the beach every morning at about 5:45.

Some used the traditional basket boats, as you can see in the photos. This was impressive; the waves were pretty rough and pretty high, and those little boats tossed and tossed.

Other groups had a long boat drag the net out (earlier than I got up, thanks) and then they slowly pulled it in. They stood in a line with the net attached to their waists, pulling backwards up the beach. When a person got far enough inland, he/she undid his 'belt,' ran back into the sea, and reattached it at the front of the line. There was also a guy (always one guy; never a woman) way out in the waves working with the net and getting pummelled by the waves.

The single guy in the shallows was crabbing with a small net that he would lay somewhat flat in the water and then pull up, catching the spider-like crabs that dug holes in the sand at low tide.