Vietnam, Sort Of: Part II

With our short, scattered time in Saigon over, we set off for the airport to go to Phu Quoc. It was the quietest, least bustling airport I've ever been to. It was remarkably stress free; there were no long lines, no one was in a hurry, and we were easily able to get on an earlier flight. It was a short forty-five minute flight to Phu Quoc and a very enjoyable one at that.

Flying over the Mekong Delta was incredibly impressive, especially at the end of the rainy season; all of the land was covered with a thin layer of water. There were no roads as far as the eye could see and the only huts lined banks of small rivers. Clearly the only way to get from one place to another was by boat. The other thing that made the flight enjoyable (and that makes every flight in Asia enjoyable) is that despite the flight's incredibly short duration, the flight attendants managed to serve everyone a drink. American-based airlines could really take a lesson from those operating out of Asia.

We arrived in Phu Quoc, grabbed our stuff and were met by a throng of taxis, each of which wanted nearly $10 to drive us to the destination of our choice. Having consulted the trusty Lonely Planet, we knew that town was a short 200 meter walk away and that the resorts began shortly after that. So we hoofed it. Motos and taxis tried to pick us up (for even more inflated fares), but we shook them off more as a matter of principle than anything else.

We passed through Duong Dong, the main town on Phu Quoc and still the hotels and guesthouses were not in sight. By the time that we had been walking for about an hour, we had only passed the first few hotels, each of which were more expensive than we wanted. Shanti and I convinced her parents, who were now carting wheelies over dirt road, that we would go ahead, find a place to stay, and pick them up. The two of us stopped in about five hotels and resorts with little luck. We wandered into a new and air-conditioned travel agent's office and the friendly young woman began calling around.

Forty-five minutes later we were picked up by a van from Kim Hoa Resort. We picked up Shanti's parents and made our way to the hotel which was still a few kilometers further down the road than we had made it. Thanks Lonely Planet! The resort itself looked pretty nice, but the driveway and beach were all lined with somewhat bizarre over-sized plaster sea-faring animals, like crabs, lobsters, fish, and mermaids. It was certainly a sight to be seen.

Eager to finally hit the beach, we dropped our stuff off and grabbed a quick lunch at the restaurant. We then spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach. We were on the southern end of Long Beach, which was less crowded than other stretches, though nothing was very crowded. The water was quite nice and I've always loved when there's a gentle slope out to sea and, as you move forward, you can feel the ridges of sand formed by the waves. So it was a well-spent afternoon of reading, swimming, and napping.

As the afternoon turned into evening, the sun turned a bright red color and the sky followed suit, with reds, yellows, oranges, and blues creating a truly breathtaking sight. The photographer in me had to leave the dice game we were playing every few minutes to snap another picture. With the sun down, we grabbed dinner at the hotel, a little over-priced but the grilled prawns in tamarind sauce were particularly delicious. Before going to bed, we booked a combination snorkeling, fishing trip for the next day.

The following morning we were picked up by a van filled with about ten other tourists and made the drive down to the southern tip of Phu Quoc, the fishing village of An Thoi. The drive was beautiful, following Long Beach south for several kilometers, with occasional fishing huts dotting the landscape. The An Thoi port was crowded with wooden fishing boats, some outfitted with huge sets of bright lights, presumably for squid fishing.

We had an extremely slow boat ride out to some of the more distant An Thoi islands. Several of the islands had sizable fishing villages located on the coast, but the rest of the island looked fairly uninhabitable. We finally made it out to the fishing grounds and spent about an hour fishing with just a line wrapped around some plastic. Somehow, the captain was catching fish left and right, but no one else was catching anything. By the time we finished, Shanti's dad and I managed to catch one small fish each.

We then gave snorkeling a try, but the water was not all that clear and the tide was strong. The snorkeling was a bit better at the second stop, but it didn't compare to Pulau Perhentian, where I had been just six weeks earlier. We had fresh fish on board for lunch and we all got to try freshly caught sea urchin: a bit salty, but not bad with a squeeze of lime. After lunch we headed back to shore and took the van to Sao Beach, a gorgeous beach, with the finest, whitest sand I've ever seen. We spent a little time relaxing and swimming there before heading back to Kim Hoa for sunset, which was almost as beautiful as the night before.

On our last day on Phu Quoc, we did some more relaxing, reading, and swimming. Shanti, her mom, and I took a long walk down the beach around lunch time to look for a place to satisfy Shanti's Italian food craving. We managed to find a place with very good food, but, as one might expect, the Italian was a bit subpar. More relaxing in the afternoon and another game of dice as we were lucky enough to have a third gorgeous sunset. Expanding our horizons from the Kim Hoa restaurant a bit, we wandered down the beach to grab another delicious dinner.

We left early the next morning for the airport to catch our flights back to Saigon and then, for me and Shanti to Phnom Penh. On the whole, the trip was very relaxing - which I certainly needed some of - but I don't think I got quite as much of a cultural taste of Vietnam as I was hoping for. All the more reason for a return trip!