Phu Quoc- Home

Wow, can't quite believe it. Our last night in Vietnam tonight, tomorrow we head home. This last month has gone by so fast, Halong Bay seems like such a long time ago now. .

Phu Quoc 
Phu Quoc is an island off the West coast òf Vietnam. The tourist industry ís only a mểre 5 years old and so it ís one òf the few untouched and truly "real" experiences òf Vietnam. This will probably all change in the not so distant future as there are signs òf development in places, new hotels popping up and such like.

We left for Phu Quoc on Saturday 2nd July. On arrival at the airport in Ho Chi Minh city we discovered that the plane we were in fact going on was a small propeller plane. great!. However, the views flying over the Mekong delta and over the sea were amazing. The sea was so clear in approaching Phu Quoc you can actually see where the land drops down in the sea. Quite scary but also quite cool. We got picked up at the airport on the other side, (which consisted of a room for arrivals and then you are out the front door) and taken to our resort. We chose to stay at the Sea Star Resort, recommended by Lonely Planet. For once, Lonely Planet did well ( don't trúst them anymore), we had our own wee beach bungalow meters from the sea. Restaurant food wasn't great but we only ate there one night so it wasn't that much òf an issue. The first day we arrived we basically made the móst òf it and spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach under the sun, dipping in and out òf the sea when we felt like it. Our 2nd day, we decided to do a tour around the South òf the Island. Our driver took us to a pearl farm (amazing) , the coconut prison (where Americans held the VC in the war) it just so happened that day we went, old veterans in the Government on the Vietnamese side were visiting the prison, with a tv crew following. We also went to a fishing village and a beach club on Sao Beach on the east coást òf the island. Lovely lovely beach!. but was spoiled by the fact that whilst sitting having a drink in the cafe area , one òf the poor shark like fish was chosen by someone for lunch. Which involved staff whacking it's head off the stony path to kill it, in full view of all their customers. Now, i know Vietnamese like their food fresh, but really... they could have done it away from other customers . That night, we decided to go squid fishing.. Now that was interesting.!!! No1 managed to catch one, but the food we were served for dinner was definately unforgettable. There was squid porridge (did not try!), sea urchin, bbq'd squid, noodles. Needless to say, mainly stuck to the noodles.




After our fairly short stay in Phu Quoc, we arrived in Saigon again, back to our hotel and found our room had bêen upgraded, bonus! Today (5th July)  we went to a cooking course which was great! we made crispy noodles with crunchy vegetables , chicken hotpot with ginger, chillies and rice and mustard leaf rolls with sweet and sour sauce. . Yum!, going to have to try make them again at home.

Anyways, can only write quick entry now as need to go finish packing my bag. Head home tomorrow evening, don't want to leave at all. But hey, hopefully will be back again soon.

sara  xx

Mekong Delta.

We did a tour for a night to the Mekong Delta, of which we arrived back from last night in the pouring rain ..uh oh!. But it was nice to get out of the city for a while. It started off early Wednesday morning when the tour guide came and picked us up from our hotel.We got onto the bus and went two streets away to the tour office where we all got divided, (some were doing one day, some two-like us- and some doing three days and onwards to Cambodia) and put onto another bus. We were then on our way. It takes 3 hours to travel to the Mekong Delta area. Looong drive! when we arrived we got straight onto a boat and went down river. This was the widest part of the Mekong Delta at 3km wide. Whilst on the river, we visited the largest floating wholesale market , where we were advised should we want to buy anything, minimum of 20kg was the norm. HA! But was interesting to see how the locals live. To show what they are buying, they tie say.. a potato to a long bamboo cane and place it vertical on their boats, boats from all around can see what they are selling. We were then taken to a factory where they make rice paper ( as in the paper they roll fresh spring rolls in out here) and all sorts of other delicious things eg.. poprice... coconut candy and so on.. yum yum!. Next door to that was  a place where they make honey with specialty of honey tea. Very very sweet! the lady came around and put bee pollen in it as well.... i preferred it before she did that but supposedly it cures cancer and the like ( very bold statements to make i think!) .We then got back on the boat for another wee trip down river. Ladies pulled up along side in smaller boats to row us for a bit, so we all got in and off we went... then the heavens opened!! Luckily, the lady had given us these conical hats to wear (the round ones) which is a bit like an umbrella so that helped but still. Around 30 mins later we arrived at the place we were to have lunch. We were supposed to go for a bike ride after lunch but since the rain hadn't stopped and looked like a swimming pool was around the cafe, we opted to just relax and wait for the rain to ease a bit before heading back to the boat which would take us to Vinh Long to catch another bus to Can Tho city where we were to stay for the night.
Once we arrived at the hotel an hour later, we checked  in and went to our rooms. surprise surprise, we were on the top floor again... four flights of stairs to go :(. We met two other girls on the trip from Holland so we all palled up to venture out into the unknown and find our dinner. Ha. We got abit lost and had to ask the locals the way to the river , where all the restaurants were. On the way we walked through a market, with fish still alive in tubs and FROGS!. The two dutch girls immediately jumped across the other side of the road after spotting them, guess they don't like them. We found dinner in a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. Me and Charlotte ate Pho. Basically noodle soup but part of a staple diet for the Vietnamese. Fills you up!. While the two girls went for beef /chicken with chips.. Think they still getting used to the food.

The next morning we all got up and walked as a tour group (tourist alert!) through the streets to the riverside. Turns out the night before we walked in a big circle and if we had only turned right from the hotel and straight down the road we would have been there in half the time. From the harbour we got on a boat again and went on a tour around this part of the Mekong Delta. We visited a place where they make rice noodles and so on.  We also visited one of the most colourful and vibrant floating markets in the Mekong Delta. Here, many different fruits and veg are sold on a daily basis, and this time it  was not wholesale. The best part of that day was spent on a boat before returning to the harbour at around 1pm and getting on the bus back to Saigon.