Phu Quoc, Vietnam

Flight from Saigon to Phu Quoc. $95/person and one hour long. Perfect!

The view of Phu Cuoc from the air is pretty nice!

Flying to a new place just never gets old. Despite this being our 15th flight since leaving Calgary on Sept 5, 2014 we are still excited to get on an airplane and venture off somewhere new. Phu Quoc will be our last stop in Vietnam so we will make lots of effort to eat all of our favourite things one last time and maybe pick up one of those coolie hats that are all the rage here! Kidding- they've been all the rage since about 1935. We think it will make a great if slightly cumbersome souvenir. We should have bought one in Saigon and had Hollis or Connor take it home for us. Heck, Connor probably would have happily worn the thing all the way home! 

Phu Quoc sits in the Gulf of Thailand and is actually closer to Cambodia than it is to Vietnam. Given the amazing opportunities for eco-tourism and the fact that 70% of the island's tropical forest  was declared a national park in 2001, we were surprised by the amount of garbage casually tossed into the streets, rivers and the ocean. We found some beautiful, clean places to relax but the garbage was never far away. We figure the Vietnamese don't look after it in hopes that if it's dirty then maybe Cambodia will stop their fight for ownership.

Bowen finally gives Vietnamese iced coffee a try and loves it. Careful, it may stunt your growth.

A relaxing way to spend an hour right outside our door at Thai Tha Tien  Bungalows.

The massage lady on her way home from work. Nice commute!

We never tire of boats, they make such a pretty picture.

We aren't sure if these are full time homes or just used for a days fishing.

 We have been on so many snorkelling trips but this is another thing we never seem to get tired of. For $15/person we get picked up at our bungalow, driven to the pier, a day on the boat visiting 2 or three islands, lunch and all the snorkelling gear included (if you don't mind moldy snorkels). Plus we almost always meet neat people to exchange travel ideas with.

The views above the water were way better than the ones under in this particular spot at least. We all enjoyed jumping from the top of the boat into the water, especially Bowen.

The view from up here is pretty good too!

Paradise!

Sea urchins for a lunch appetizer! They were totally delicious, and you only eat the gonads.

Want one?

We learned that Phu Quoc is famous for four things: beautiful beaches, fish sauce, peppercorns and their own breed of Ridgeback dogs. Fortunately for Bowen there were 8 Ridgeback puppies born about a month ago at our bungalow so he could get in as much puppy time as he wanted. Bowen is the biggest dog lover I have ever known. It's sad his parents are such travellers because it means he has to wait until he moves out to actually own one.

Bowen in his happy place

See the distinctive ridge down this little guy's back? There are only three breeds of Ridgebacks in the world: Thai, Rhodesian and Phu Quoc! Who knew?

Vietnamese stew for breakfast. A very, very large German man approached us at breakfast and insisted we try this dish. Ok, ok, whatever you say big guy. He was right. It has become our new favourite thing. We had it for lunch again the same day.

Big stinky vats of fish sauce brewing. If you have ever owned a bottle of this you know the smell. We will be using way more of it when we return to Canada.

It's available in all sizes but don't even think about trying to smuggle one of these on the plane home unless they wrap it airtight for you. It will be confiscated even from checked luggage, just in case.

We spent a morning exploring by motorbike and found a racetrack for the Ridgebacks! The obstacle course was a fun way for the dogs to get some exercise and the "no betting" policy made us feel better about watching. We toured the facility just to make sure the animals were well cared for. They are!

Even in death they are well looked after.

Here is a grown-up version of the Ridgeback. Not nearly as cute as the puppy.

We wanted to go right to the source for some of the famous peppercorns and eventually found this farmer tending his stock. With a little help from Google Translate on my iPhone we were able to purchase 1/2 kilo of the much coveted spice.

Caring for and cultivating this prized spice is a lot of very hard, hot work.

Here is the farmer reading my request via Google Translate. Travel is so much easier  these days with the help of technology.

Mistake! I wound up with sand everywhere!

Drinking Saigon just outside of Saigon. COOL!

It only took about 5 tries to get this right.

The locals like to play here but only after the sun goes down. 

Even when we travel we carry along our version of the "Mormon pantry" we have at home. Peanut butter, muesli and rum are the key components. The rest changes with the tide.

We had high expectations of Vietnam but it took us a long time to get our feet under us here and we never did find our usual groove.  Just when we thought we had the food scene figured out we would move to a different place where there was a different food scene. The dishes we had come to love either weren't available or were served at different times of day than we were used to. There is nothing more disappointing than having your heart set on a delicious Bun Thit Nuong for dinner only to find it's only served for breakfast. I know, poor Liz and Remy.

 We found the people were more business than pleasure and with tourism being a relatively new concept here the Vietnamese have a lot to learn about making visitors feel welcome in their country. They could use some pointers from the smiling, friendly people of Thailand! Now there is a country we will come back to again and again.
Tomorrow we are on to Cambodia. We have no expectations whatsoever and have no idea where we will go which seems to suit us just fine.

~ Liz