Down to my last few days in Vietnam, and as with all travel adventures, I try to spend it relaxing on the beach. Ten years ago, I visited an island called Phu Quoc at the southern tip of Vietnam near Cambodia. It was a sleepy island with mainly military hotels and three hotels and two bar/restaurants. It is now a vacation destination, with hundreds of hotels and resorts, karaoke and neon lit bars everywhere. There is new construction in all directions, and even a giant ferris wheel and casino being built. They say in 10 years, this will be even worse (well, they say better) than Phuket, Thailand.
I had booked a room far up north at Wild Beach Phu Quoc Resort, to get away from it all. There was a little snafu at the airport, as I had arranged for a car to pick me up through my hotel. After waiting at the airport for a while, no one came for me. The taxi companies at the airport descended on me like vultures, claiming they had all called the hotel and I was to go with them. The person that eventually drove me didn't know where he was going and had to stop and ask directions and then took me to the wrong place. Luckily, my hotel was nearby. But I was pretty pissed by the time I got to the hotel.
The hotel staff was super apologetic when they found out what happened. Apparently, the employee I was emailing with was recently fired. They gave me the best room, brought me tea and a fruit plate, and I relaxed into beach mode. Spent the rest of the evening enjoying the view of the ocean dotted with the bobbing lights of squid and fishing boats and a lovely ocean breeze from the porch of my beachfront bungalow.The next morning, I woke up rested (softest mattress in all of Vietnam, though that doesn't say much). I take a long walk down the beach for much of the day, collecting shells and playing in the ocean. Lots of trash and the beach appears to be eroding as big resorts build next to small family places. Also found an uncapped needle on the beach which was a little frightening.
During the hot part of the afternoon, I got in some good hammock time and read this amazing book I picked up at the Women's Museum in Hanoi about the personal stories and study of life as a migrant Hanoi Street Woman. Interesting to read about the hardships of rural life and what changes politics and laws have done over several years. I went to the restaurant to get dinner and was surprised when looking over the menu and a huge salad and bowl of rice was brought over. A woman began BBQing these huge oysters. Apparently, the manager still felt bad about the taxi snafu and sent the staff out in the morning to get these special oysters about 500 meters offshore, as a treat on the house. He wanted me to have a dozen, but I could only eat 6 before I was full.The next day, I booked a boat cruise to two islands to snorkel and try my hand again at fishing. They sent a smaller boat to pick me up right of the beach of my hotel. There were only two other tourists on this big double-deck boat. More staff than tourists. And redemption for my lackluster fishing adventure in Hoi An... I caught a fish!!! Okay, maybe not THE biggest fish ever caught, but keep in mind this is done using just fishing line with a hook, bait, and small weight, wrapped around your finger until you feel a small change in tension. Then you pull up on the line as fast as you can to hook the fish.
Snorkeling was okay, but the reefs weren't great and the visibility was just okay (which helped me decide not to waste my time scuba diving the next day). Had lunch on the boat and had these amazing sea urchins that are lightly BBQed with peanuts and green onions, and then a sweet sauce is put in before eating. Amazing and only like 80 cents each. Also tried seahorse rice wine, which is terrible (our caving guide had good advice that when you start liking the taste of rice wine, you've had too much). 
The rest of the afternoon was spent jumping off the boat and playing in the water. Back at the hotel, they continue to give me little treats "on the house" (all kinds of fruit since they know I like all the strange tropical fruits here like sapodilla that I don't think I have ever tried, teas, and a drink like a banana milkshake that one of the staff's mom used to make him when he was a kid).I got really sunburned on my back snorkeling, so the next day I planned to stay out of the sun and just relax and read in the shade in a hammock. Shortly after, I was kicked out of the hammock for some huge beach party BBQ. Turns out, some government officials requested a party there and as the manager said "we can't say no and we have to give them discount." I went off to read, but was shortly i invited over to join them. Several attendees were Beer Saigon executives and I was challenged to a drinking contest. I may have lost (in mu defense, it started around 10:30am), but they gave me an XL Beer Saigon shirt, which fits my big American size. I got to try all kinds of seafood from BBQ clams, oyster, sea urchin, to fish salad rolls.
The next morning, my cabana neighbors from the UN with a newborn baby came back after checking out the day before. They said this hotel was way better and we agreed it is like staying with family.
The staff finally allows me to rent a kayak. They seem rather nervous with the half inch waves. They get my phone number and call me several times on my four hour kayak. "I can't see you, Madam okay?" "Too windy, Madam come back now!" When I return, he says "Vietnamese women not so strong." I laugh. I also beg to differ as I often see the Vietnamese women lifting boulders on construction sites while the men sit in hammocks and drink. Same same, but different. I fix up another hotel guests jellyfish sting and gash on a foot from rocks, so the hotel only charges me for an hour with the kayak. First aid kit for the win! If you ever find yourself on Phu Quoc, I can't recommend Wild Beach Phu Quoc Resort highly enough.The next day, it was time to return back to the chaos of Ho Chi Minh City. Boo! Of course, the flight was delayed (of my seven domestic flights, all of ZERO have been on time). The taxi line haggling was annoying me, so I learned on my last layover that you could walk a little ways outside the airport and get a cheaper taxi. But then I was approached by a motobike driver, and I figured... What the heck. So much fun zipping around on the back of his motobike, him holding my huge backpack almost obstructing his view. Buses, taxis, other bikes are inches away at stoplights. And then there was when he went down a crowded one way street... The wrong way! But the seas of traffic parted, and no one seemed to even bat an eyelash.
Got to my hotel safe and sound. It is only a few blocks from the big market, which I immediately wandered around, eating everything in the stalls, on the streets and down alleys I could get my hands on. Oooh, the fried banana with pumpkin batter covered in sesame seeds may have been my favorite. Tonight, I will meet up with the Polish girl I traveled with in Iceland who saw my Facebook post is en route by bus from Cambodia. Also meeting a sweet girl who lives here that I met on the medical mission for girls night out! Then shopping tomorrow and I return on the 14th. Interested to see about jetlag, since night shift work makes me often feel jetlagged as a normal occurrence.
Anyhoo, miss everyone and while I love it here, also can't wait to come home!
Vietnam trip photos are online or you can view them as a slideshow.
Love,
Betsy
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