Phu Quoc Island
Our next stop is the Beach Club on PQ, a gorgeous low key, no frills resort in the sand!
Phu Quoc is the reason for our Vietnam trip! When we are in Kep (Cambodia) we watch the sun set behind this Island and we really wanted to see what it was like and all about! Our three day stay has certainly given us a great look about and feel for this Island.
Its pretty much what you think a tropical island should be, with palm lined beaches, white sand, gorgeous fishing villages, jungle, and Gin & Tonics at 5pm!!
Beach Club is a lovely place to be, you cannot get any closer to the beach, it sits right on the gently lapping waves of the Gulf of Thailand and a lovely white sand beach. Staff are great, food is great, drinks are great, swimming is divine and we are feeling very relaxed!
We flew in on Vietnam Airlines, all very easy and booked on line and no worries, sasco or Mai Linh taxis are the scam fee ones and all over the place. A short taxi ride to Beach Club and straight into the water and G & T’s!!! We decide to eat in the night market on our first night and catch the Mai Linh taxi’s in and out. A great feed at one of the places, and the most expensive meal we have bought in our Vietnam trip! $25 gets us a whole fish, spring rolls, rice, Mojo Cocktails, large water, cokes, Chicken Curry, Stir fried vegies and a pork dish! Night Markets are not really for shopping, just food! There are some stalls with some average jewellery and local clothes, nothing that fits these westerners!
Day one – We hire moto’s (motor bikes), they are actually the staff bikes, who hire them out for a bit of extra cash - $8 a day. Of we head off to the Pearl Farms, an Aussie/NZ one is our only stop, they all sell the same and as we don’t really know what is real and what is not, we just look! Good coffee though and a lovely spot.
Down the most horrendously dusty road to An Thoi, this is where you go on the cruise boats to go out snorkelling and such. A lovely and very busy port. So many huge fishing boats so full of fish! Stop off for a couple of iced tea and to watch the hustle. Back on the bikes to Bai Sao, what a gorgeous spot, certainly our fav beach. A restaurant on the beach and a table of old Vietnamese men really wanted Sam to try a shot of something! I ask them what it is and they aren’t interested in talking to me just kept pointing at Sam and offering him the shot glass of cloudy liquid! Finally a waitress says to ignore them and it is just almohol!!! We enjoy a lovely meal and a swim to try and get the very stubborn Vietnamese dust off!!!
Onwards to Bai Vong and it was a non existent place full of dust. On the way to Duong Dong we stop off at a Fish Sauce factory and get shown around, nothing but a lot of festering stinking fish here! The smell is something!
Day two- We hire a sasco taxi driver – ($30 ) to take us to Bai Dai, which is the northern tip of the Island and the closest to Cambodia – 4 k’s! The roads all appear to be under construction here and are so dusty, there is no way we were going to go on the bikes again, we were so filthy yesterday and also had very sore bums, so bumpy. There was some heated discussion regarding the speed we were travelling!!!! BUT this road would have to be the worst road we have EVER been on!! 1.5 hours to the end of the Island and we come across the most amazing fishing village l have ever been too, and also our first sight of our beloved Cambodia! Now when we watch that sunset we know exactly where it is setting! We enjoy a lovely meal of fried fish and rice and our fav – iced coffee and sweet milk. Take possibly 100 photos of the village and then the driver takes us to Mui Duong and a resort for a swim and more coffee! A strange resort and no one about, we have a lovely swim, but alot of rubbish here which sort of spoils it.
Back to Beach Club and a lazy afternoon of G & T’s, swimming, lounging and card playing. Its BBQ night and the BBQ is set up on the beach and we have ordered a whole snapper and skewers, it is a huge feast and the place is full.
Sadly we leave the Island and for those that want to know you can now book the entire trip all the way through from being picked up at your accommodation to arriving at your accommodation at the other end! Which is of course another storey..............
