Vietnam, Sort Of: Part I

The morning after the free ride we enjoyed from His Excellency, we set off for Vietnam. Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, our initial destination, was a mere six-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh. The ride was largely uneventful. Once we crossed the border, however, I noticed a number of subtle differences from Cambodia. First, and most obviously, the road was nicer and traffic laws appeared to be adhered to. Everyone riding motorbikes wore a helmet. Even in rural Vietnam, most houses had TV antennas. In actuality, we didn't pass through too many "rural" areas. Shortly after crossing the border, we were essentially in the massive and sprawling suburbs of Saigon.

We were dropped off in the backpacker area of town and wandered down the street until we found a decent-looking guesthouse. We climbed a few flights of stairs and threw down our things. From above a fairly major intersection, we had a good view of a jumbled mass of electric and telephone wires as well as the activity below - dozens of motorbikes, cars, cyclos, food vendors, tourists, etc.

Back outside, we looked for a spot to grab a snack settling on an Italian place down the street. Afterwards we wandered in to a travel agency to book flights to either Dalat, a cool mountain retreat in south-central Vietnam, or to Cat Tien, an isolated marine national park off the southeast coast. All flights were sold out for the times we were looking for. We regrouped, tried another travel agent, and thought about going to Hue, Hoi An, or Danang (between the two), in central Vietnam. Either the flights were completely booked or we could only get a ticket for one leg of the trip. We were shocked! We regrouped again and settled on Phu Quoc, an island off the southwest coast of Vietnam and actually much closer to Cambodia than Vietnam (it's visible from both Kep and Kampot).

After a quick stop at the guesthouse, we headed for The Rex, a high-end hotel with a roof-top veranda, for a drink. We walked through rush hour to get there - a sea of motorbikes packing the streets and making any street crossing a real-life game of Frogger. Along the way, we passed a bustling market, stopping in to look around. There was a beautiful array of silks and an impressive stock of Vietnamese coffee amidst more touristy knick-knacks.

The Rex was a thoroughly worthwhile stop. The drinks were pricey - about the same as the U.S. - but worth it for the combination of their strength and the atmosphere. Spending an hour in the gardened veranda was simply a wonderful way to spend a bit of time at twilight and debate politics (which we did). Pretending like we were staying at The Rex, we asked the concierge for a dinner recommendation. It was just a short walk away in a very fancy part of town; the street were lined with the stores of top designers like Gucci, Prada, Armani, etc.

The setting for the restaurant was quite fancy, but with live traditional music and a view of the street below, the ambiance was enjoyable. I, however, was unable to enjoy either the ambiance or the food. The dumplings I snacked on at the Italian restaurant made me violently ill during dinner, relieving me of my appetite and quite a bit more. What's a trip to a new southeast Asian country without some stomach problems though? Back at the guesthouse, and with the irritant seemingly out of my system, I felt much better. Exhausted, I crashed hard.

We woke early in the morning and, with my appetite back in full, grabbed a delicious breakfast at a small food stall outside the guesthouse - flat white noodles with tofu, bean sprouts, crunchy fried onions and a twist of lime. From breakfast it was off to the airport to see just what Phu Quoc was all about.