Island in the sun

Phu Quoc

A fish trap on the beautiful Sao Beach

We arrived in Phu Quoc island in style (well, on a plane) and got greeted with pouring rain. No matter. Phu Quoc, as you read everywhere, is the next Phuket. We don't see this as being a good thing, so we're glad to be here while it's still on the "next" list and not actually horrifically over developed. That said, you can see the skeletons of resorts starting to spring up on the Island. At the minute, for the next while at least, it's quite a nice little island. Home to about 200,000 people, lots of fine Phu Quoc hunting dogs, some monkeys, famous (and stinky) fish sauce and a spectacular beach that runs the length of the island's west side.

A Phu Quoc hunting dog puppy - smart and cute

The north part of the beach is where most of the resorts are - just outside Duong Dong town. We got whisked to one of these resorts and instantly decided it wasn't for us. The only problem now was getting down the beach to look at other hotel options in the blazing heat, with bags on our backs. But we're going to be here for a week so we need to get the right hotel. Eventually we went for the Tropicana, but after a night in our musty smelly room and against my protests (it had a pool! And a pool table!) we moved further down the beach to a bunch of little family run huts called Liem Hiep Thanh. Well, Lisa was right. This place was lovely. Really laid back with a lovely ocean side restaurant and bar. We were that much further down the beach too that we were away from the more resorty side and in what felt like our own little hut on the Gulf of Thailand. It's a shame that they had caged monkeys.....

Another lovely sunset

Within 3 minutes of being in for a lovely swim, we spotted our old friends for Ha Long and Hoi An Ian and Kathleen. We're starting to look like a proper pair of creepy stalkers. This is the second time they've been going about their business when we holler over at them and go on about "what a coincidence" our meeting them again is. But it is! Okay, we hid in a bush outside their room for four hours. But it was good to meet up again, and handy as Ian had a wonderful Vietnamese phrasebook and I can now ask whether my chicken is genetically modified in two languages.

There's not really much to report from our time in Phu Quoc. We got a few great thunderstorms. I got fairly burnt to pieces on an excellent snorkelling trip (Lisa was sick. Of me or the water I'm not sure.) and we had fun spinning around the island's red dust roads on our little scooter. A trip over to the amazing Sao beach (such crystal clear blue water with powdery white sand) was a highlight and a visit to a kids internet cafe where the high pitched kids excited screeching nearly perforated eardrums was a lowlight. Still they're nice folk on this island. Eager to help and very happy to meet you.

Lisa and her pedicure

We also embarked on a lenghty Cornflake quest. Day after day of egg for breakfast (and a fridge in our room) meant we simply had to have some old fashioned Cornflakes to start at least one day. After a few hours speeding around Duong Dong from store to store and confusing many locals, we finally managed to get some muesli. Close and good enough. It's amazing the small things you miss after a while. Although one can't complain, we did spend the week supping beer, popping into the luke warm waters when necessary, watching glorious sunsets, getting massages and getting manicures.

So with sand in our pants and feeling nice and relaxed, we're ready to leave Vietnam on a high note. Next stop Cambodia!

Local kids play in the water on Sao Beach

Out on the bike

Sun dried fish - yum....

Traditional fishing boat on Phu Quoc

Watching an excellent thunderstorm break

What exactly am I paying for here?