As you may have noticed, we haven't sent out a blog update in a little while. The reason for this is that we seem to have contracted some sort of weird flu and we have been resting for several days. Feeling much better, and back on the bloggin.
Our last adventure in Vietnam was Phu Quoc Island, on the very Southern tip. This island on a map seems as though it should have been a part of Cambodia and in fact it was, until the French annexed it to Vietnam during emancipation. The loss of this island is still a bit of a sore point for some Cambodians.
To get there, we took a 3 hour ferry ride from Rach Gia, in an overly air conditioned speed ferry. When we arrived, after navigating some slightly deceitful taxi drivers ("You want moto?" "No thanks, we'll take the bus" "Ohh no, no bus." "Yes there is! We can see it!" "Oh no, do not have...only 10 dollars for ride to town") we get on the bus and arrive at Long Beach, where the accommodation is. We check into a cute little room, not right on the beach but only 100 meters away.
We spend the next day lazing on the beach, a necessary cure after the million-mile-an-hour pace that is Vietnam. Sipping fruit juice, reading books, and swimming in the blue ocean was all on the to do list. The water was so clear and warm. There was no "getting used to it" period that we have in cold American waters. Despite being the most populated part of the island it was still very relaxed, the beach was pretty empty. For dinner, we went into town and found some amazing vegetarian food: tofu chicken with rice. The best part was the fake gristle inside the fake chicken.
The next day we decided to have an adventure across the island, We rented a motorbike and started off towards a place called Sao Beach, which some people we met told us it was really beautiful. The road to get there was rough and unpaved in some parts. Sao beach was very lovely, white sand, green hills, turquoise ocean. Very pleasant color combination. We hung out here and played in the surf a bit, and talked to some Vietnamese people who were nice but had unfortunately rented a jetski. I have realized this day how much I hate them. Fair enough, play with them in open water or whatever but if you're near a beach with people trying to swim and nap and just relax it's terribly, terribly obnoxious.
One of the highlights of Phu Quoc was taking a hike with Robin, a local we met on the beach selling tours. He met us at 8:00 AM and first took us to a pepper farm, where we got to see the towering pepper vines heavy with fruit snaking up onto trellises 15 feet in the air, the corns drying in huge piles in the sun, and sample it with juicy starfruit cut into slices for us.
Our hike up the mountain was invigorating after laying in the sun like lizards for 3 days. The jungle was thick and cool but humid, so we worked up quite a sweat! At one point, Robin stopped us and we made a wide detour around the trail. He pointed to the ground and I saw a steady stream of bees flowing in and out of a tiny hole in the ground. It made me so glad that Robin was there. Along the walk we saw this tree with crazy huge roots that were grasped around a rock! Robin said that the tree needed the rock to grow.
At one point we have to climb up a ladder and use tree roots to climb up this cliff! It was very exciting. Once at the top of the mountain we were rewarded with an incredible view of all of Phu Quoc. The mountains, the sea, the roads, and little villages. One sad thing we could see was how much rainforest had been cleared to make way for the international airport they are installing on Phu Quoc.
We rested awhile and ate our lunch, a watermelon, mangoes, and some exotic little oranges called Tahn Tra. We sprinkled scraps on the ground and watched ants pull them away. 2 eagles soared past us at one point, no doubt searching for lunch. We napped for a few minutes, and then went back down the way we came, giving us a final glance at that amazing tree!
Robin took us to eat at a little fishing village, where I drank a coconut (needed so much after all that sweat) and we ate some stir fry. We watched some Phu Quoc dogs, the ridgebacks, playing together in the dust. To end our adventure we walked out to the end of a long pier and watched the sun set. I'm really glad we explored the interior of the island a bit, it seems like so many people who go to Phu Quoc just hang out on the beach the whole time. They stare at the sapphire and miss the emerald.
(originally written 9 May 2011)
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