We needed a drastic change from the pace of life that was Phnom Penh. The orphanage was important but emotionally draining. The water festival was fun, but we'd just had enough. It was time to get back to the beach. It had been awhile and we just needed a little chill out time. Don Det had been paradise, but we were craving ocean. Floating in the clear green-blue waters of the gulf of Thailand was the perfect next step. So we said goodbye to Cambodia and made our way to Vietnam. Our visa had run out before we had even entered the country (we just spent so much extra time everywhere else!) While in PP we had to get new visas - and because we only had 2 weeks left, we debated whether it was even worth it. We could just head to Thailand and hit an island we hadn't been to but heard so much about - Ko Phag non. Or we could mix it up, go to Vietnam and head to an unknown island - Phu Quoc - and then check out a bit of the Mekong Delta.
We decided we were up for the challenge and booked our trip to Phu Quoc the next day. We had to take a bus and a few boats to get to a town called Chau Doc. Getting through the Vietnam border was a piece of cake. Of course with all the methods of travel, we didn't arrive in Chau Doc until late afternoon. The ride down the Mekong was awesome, we had missed it and were thrilled to be back. We've been travelling the Mekong since Thailand, and it really changes a bit with every country. The landscape is different, the homes, boats, people - everything. I really enjoyed this ride in a new country.
We had a great little stay in Chau Doc. We took a moto ride (each on our own with a driver) up to Sam Mountain and had amazing views of the rice paddy's, Cambodian border and the town below. We made it just barely for sunset. While up there we met a really nice Vietnamese man who spoke English really well. He invited us to go with him to a bia hoi - a beer establishment that sells cheap fresh beer. Every bia hoi has their own freshly made beer, and its very light and very cheap. While at this bia hoi, we also tasted their own banana rice wine. It was pretty good actually and we all did many shots of these through the course of the evening. Our new friend Koi also showed us the delicious meat they had in their cooler- yes, bat, rat and other Vietnamese delicacies. Yeah, we passed on those for sure. It was so gross, yet I did take some pictures of them. yuck! Koi was nice enough to have some tofu fried up for us which was awesome!
So the next morning, we got on a local bus to Rach Gia where we were to take the ferry to the island of Phu Quoc. This bus ride was classic Vietnamese (our first real one) in which a guy was yelling at everyone (no clue) with many people getting on and just squishing themselves in to every available spot. The only other westerners on the bus was a very nice couple from Germany - immediately we banded together and got ourselves some lunch and to the ferry. It was a beautiful ride, (except for the blasting TVs over our heads). I am not sure what it is about SE Asia and loud TVs and music, but its been on every trip so far!
We landed and were immediately taken by moto to the guesthouse we chose. The ride to our guesthouse was down the most gorgeous beach and was like 45 min away. It was perfect! We had a beautiful bungalow on the beach for $9! It was the nicest one yet. We got there to witness our first Phu Quoc sunset (the sun drops into the haze kinda like SF and the fog) which was nice but not spectacular. Don't get me wrong, the sun was incredible as it went down over the ocean, but somehow we just didn't get the crazy colors we've gotten everywhere else. We were on such a pretty little beach with very few other people so I really can't complain. This was it, just what we needed. We spent the next 4 days relaxing, reading, swimming, snorkeling, fishing, exploring, eating, drinking - all our favorite activities.
We spent a day hanging at our beach, then walking up the beach to the end to find the town and discovered a little fair. We spent a day on a boat fishing and snorkeling with 2 other couples (German and English). That was really fun. Spent a day on a moto exploring the island - fun, but not as relaxing as we wanted. Did find a private beach which was really nice. I was fun to ride around, but its a big island and not very touristy yet, which made getting food very difficult! There is really only one little section of the island with guesthouses and hotels, otherwise, its just a few small villages. Most of the island is blocked off by military protecting it from Cambodia. Its on the border and used to be Cambodian so there has been much conflict in the past over who owns this island.
That night we hung out with some people we met at the guesthouse and one girl we met on our boat ride to Chau Doc. The German couple we met on the snorkeling trip also joined us and we had a fabulous meal with loads of Vietnamese Rum being consumed. Needless to say, I had my first horrible hangover of the trip. It was terrible! We had to leave that next morning at 6:15 am to make a flight to Ho Chi Min City. We overslept and barely made it! And yes, I admit, I used the barf bag on our 1 hour flight. No, I am not proud of myself.
Anyway, so now here we are in the craziness that is HCMC (Saigon). It is loud, busy, bustling, friendly and totally fun. You just wouldn't believe the motoscooters riding around here - thousands of them and basically no rules. Walking across the street is like playing frogger. For real! We are getting good at it. We are enjoying it here, but of course, having only a week left, we are rushing our way through this last part. We can't make it to Hoi An (tailor capital of Vietnam) so we got some clothes made this morning here. That took about 3 hours!!! We can't wait to see how they turned out. Tomorrow we're off to the Cu Chi tunnels and then the next few days down to the Delta. Then sad to say, we're off to Bangkok and then home. But I am going to make sure to savor this next week. Every single second of it.
Now to go meet up with Chris at the bia hoi across the street. Tam Biet!
We decided we were up for the challenge and booked our trip to Phu Quoc the next day. We had to take a bus and a few boats to get to a town called Chau Doc. Getting through the Vietnam border was a piece of cake. Of course with all the methods of travel, we didn't arrive in Chau Doc until late afternoon. The ride down the Mekong was awesome, we had missed it and were thrilled to be back. We've been travelling the Mekong since Thailand, and it really changes a bit with every country. The landscape is different, the homes, boats, people - everything. I really enjoyed this ride in a new country.
We had a great little stay in Chau Doc. We took a moto ride (each on our own with a driver) up to Sam Mountain and had amazing views of the rice paddy's, Cambodian border and the town below. We made it just barely for sunset. While up there we met a really nice Vietnamese man who spoke English really well. He invited us to go with him to a bia hoi - a beer establishment that sells cheap fresh beer. Every bia hoi has their own freshly made beer, and its very light and very cheap. While at this bia hoi, we also tasted their own banana rice wine. It was pretty good actually and we all did many shots of these through the course of the evening. Our new friend Koi also showed us the delicious meat they had in their cooler- yes, bat, rat and other Vietnamese delicacies. Yeah, we passed on those for sure. It was so gross, yet I did take some pictures of them. yuck! Koi was nice enough to have some tofu fried up for us which was awesome!
So the next morning, we got on a local bus to Rach Gia where we were to take the ferry to the island of Phu Quoc. This bus ride was classic Vietnamese (our first real one) in which a guy was yelling at everyone (no clue) with many people getting on and just squishing themselves in to every available spot. The only other westerners on the bus was a very nice couple from Germany - immediately we banded together and got ourselves some lunch and to the ferry. It was a beautiful ride, (except for the blasting TVs over our heads). I am not sure what it is about SE Asia and loud TVs and music, but its been on every trip so far!
We landed and were immediately taken by moto to the guesthouse we chose. The ride to our guesthouse was down the most gorgeous beach and was like 45 min away. It was perfect! We had a beautiful bungalow on the beach for $9! It was the nicest one yet. We got there to witness our first Phu Quoc sunset (the sun drops into the haze kinda like SF and the fog) which was nice but not spectacular. Don't get me wrong, the sun was incredible as it went down over the ocean, but somehow we just didn't get the crazy colors we've gotten everywhere else. We were on such a pretty little beach with very few other people so I really can't complain. This was it, just what we needed. We spent the next 4 days relaxing, reading, swimming, snorkeling, fishing, exploring, eating, drinking - all our favorite activities.
We spent a day hanging at our beach, then walking up the beach to the end to find the town and discovered a little fair. We spent a day on a boat fishing and snorkeling with 2 other couples (German and English). That was really fun. Spent a day on a moto exploring the island - fun, but not as relaxing as we wanted. Did find a private beach which was really nice. I was fun to ride around, but its a big island and not very touristy yet, which made getting food very difficult! There is really only one little section of the island with guesthouses and hotels, otherwise, its just a few small villages. Most of the island is blocked off by military protecting it from Cambodia. Its on the border and used to be Cambodian so there has been much conflict in the past over who owns this island.
That night we hung out with some people we met at the guesthouse and one girl we met on our boat ride to Chau Doc. The German couple we met on the snorkeling trip also joined us and we had a fabulous meal with loads of Vietnamese Rum being consumed. Needless to say, I had my first horrible hangover of the trip. It was terrible! We had to leave that next morning at 6:15 am to make a flight to Ho Chi Min City. We overslept and barely made it! And yes, I admit, I used the barf bag on our 1 hour flight. No, I am not proud of myself.
Anyway, so now here we are in the craziness that is HCMC (Saigon). It is loud, busy, bustling, friendly and totally fun. You just wouldn't believe the motoscooters riding around here - thousands of them and basically no rules. Walking across the street is like playing frogger. For real! We are getting good at it. We are enjoying it here, but of course, having only a week left, we are rushing our way through this last part. We can't make it to Hoi An (tailor capital of Vietnam) so we got some clothes made this morning here. That took about 3 hours!!! We can't wait to see how they turned out. Tomorrow we're off to the Cu Chi tunnels and then the next few days down to the Delta. Then sad to say, we're off to Bangkok and then home. But I am going to make sure to savor this next week. Every single second of it.
Now to go meet up with Chris at the bia hoi across the street. Tam Biet!
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