Phu Quoc Vietnam

We took a boat to Phu Quoc island - an island that used to be owned by Cambodia but is now Vietnamese. The boat was manic with a swell coming from the side! It was that rocky Aoife was sea-sick and no-one in our house is ever sea sick! 

We arrived and had to walk down a pier which was 100m long and just over two metres wide with our bags. 

We finally arrived at our resort and it is HUGE with a beautiful pool! 

We went out for dinner at the night market. First we walked all the way down the market and looked at what was on offer then came back.

Most of what was on offer was everyday seafood and fish we didn't know but was straight forward, but we saw 1/2 metre long snakes that would be eaten as a normal dinner!

Next day….

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!

In the morning we went for a walk and we met a couple we had seen in Luang Phrabang in Lao at the beginning of our trip and had also bumped into in Don Khone islands. they are from Switzerland - small world.

We then hired motorbikes and went to Sao beach which took us 45 minutes via back roads and forests. It was like a beach off the movies. It had white sand, palm trees and clear water and was like a bath. We found a HUGE starfish. We started driving back and it became dark. Although we went to the beach by going through the forest we managed to come back by main road. When I say main road I mean dirt track. It was fun as we stopped a few times to listen to the noises of the forest.

Next day…

We took the motorbikes again today to go up to the north coast of the island called Dai beach. On the way we had a 45 minute journey through all sorts of areas in Phu Quoc like back streets and forests. 

As normal in Asia people seem to just burn stuff they don't want so we found ourselves biking through a large rubber tyre on fire. The smoke was really black. 

We stopped at a beach to have lunch. While we were there an Irish couple came onto the beach. Dad went over to talk to them. He was a roadie for some Irish Rock bands. They were great fun. The people were called Tara and Declan. 

Lots of people were pushing a boat out to sea and Dad and Declan tried to help! The boat had been damaged in a storm and they had fixed it and Dad, Declan and the rest of the locals helped push it out with the help of a towing boat.

Later one of the men that worked at the bar had come down to the beach with a big bright torch. I went over to see what was going on and he had a crab. The guy flicked the crab and it was completely startled and didn't move. I'd never seen that done before. 

We stayed there until it was dark and travelled back through the woods - although we nearly ran out of petrol. We stopped in the wilderness and turned off the mopeds and listened to all the sounds of crickets, secadas and bull frogs.

Next day…

We used the motorbikes again today and went up to where Tara and Declan were staying with a Norwegian couple from our hotel. 

We went out to a very small island to go snorkelling. When we landed, there was a big group of Vietnamese people. They took Dad over to where they were sitting and gave him a beer. They then barbecued a HUGE sea snail and literally shoved some in Dad's mouth! - Nicely. They were very friendly. The island was only 20m wide and there was now forty people on it and only 1/3rd of the island was sand.
We went snorkelling and saw lots of different types of coral which looked like it was plugged in. When I came out of the sea the Vietnamese people took me over and tried to feed me crab they had cooked over a fire! Thankfully, Mum came over and ate it. We headed back to Phu Quoc island to have dinner and sat in a little open sided hut with a table and chairs in it. On the sides there were hammocks where I fell asleep after dinner.

For dinner, Mum and Dad had sea urchin and oyster!