16th
Phu Quoc-in’ out
So a lot has happened since our last blog entry - our apologies as sometimes good internet access and spare time is hard to come by. We decided to fly from Hoi An to Saigon and bus the rest of the way as a compromise between saving time and saving money. Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) is a terribly congested crowded city. We figured out how to make our way on the local bus system which was a miracle in itself. After a long bus ride through the Mekong delta, we arrived at the port city of Rach Gia where we stayed the night before taking the ferry to Phu Quoc. Phu Quoc was a welcome relief from the polluted chaos of the rest of the southern Vietnam. White sandy beaches that make a weird squeak when you walk, beach bungalows reminiscent of what people said Thailand was like 30 years ago. But not as cheap as we had thought! We ended up getting the best deal on the island (in our mind) at Viet Thanh - $15 for a beach front private bugalow which was quite a bit less than the 5 star resorts we were next to. A simple place run by very kind people - we definitely would recommend this place - especially if you can get one of the 4 beach side bungalows. This place was like the land of Time Amnesia - days slipped by without notice while we spent our days in the hammock on our porch, got great $5 hour massages, ate delicious cheap seafood, swan in the warm ocean as still as glass while watching the sunset.
This was welcome relief from the tireless traveling and lack of beach time we had over the last few days. We rented a motorbike (which Greg has now become an expert at driving) for 2 days. The first day we went to the southern area of the island and got terribly lost (amazingly enough) and ended up driving up the craziest dirt road up into the park. It literally felt like off-roading - but on a scooter rather than a proper motorbike. Streams, rocks, potholes the size of the bike itself - all buried in the red clay roads. We finally found a nice beach for lunch and stopped off at the unimpressive waterfall on the island (not really worth the trouble). We made friends with another American couple back at the hotel (from Texas and Alaska). Of course, we cautiously asked them who they were supporting for the presidential race back home and surprisingly they too were Obama supporters. We spent Election Day patiently waiting by the computers to check the results. We celebrated with our new friends by buying some of the local “Champagne” - big mistake! The wine and champagne in Vietnam tastes more like stinky foot juice than decent drink - by any standards. We ran up and down the beach shouting cries of glee - Obama won! Even the French were happy to see we didn’t screw this one up (there were plenty of European resort-goers to chime in).
The next day we were off to find a beach Greg was eager to check out. It was on the North side of the island - which was a more remote area with supposedly good diving/snorkeling. We decided against diving here as the visibility was terrible when we were here - but we were more than happy to lay around like lazy sea turtles instead. The drive to the north was interesting - the roads barely seemed to qualify as “roads” but more as dirt patches that barely fit our motorbike. Greg seemed bent on finding this particular beach for a reason unknown to me at the time. We instead found a better beach - a long stretch of white sand that must have gone down for a couple of miles - without another soul to be seen! Occasionally a fishing boat or another couple would ride up then leave, but we virtually had the place to ourselves. We explored further north and hiked through some forest where I got bitten by these huge red ants. We spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping on our deserted beach, listening to the wind blow through the pine trees and the high pitch humming of these bugs in the forest (that sound like the soundtrack to an X-files episode). I fell asleep and Greg seemed tense. He woke me up to go for a swim but then stopped to launch into a little speech he prepared. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing but it was the perfect place - he bent down on one knee (which I think exploded on impact) and asked me to marry him! He pulled a ring out of his pocket and put it on my finger - a “place-holder” ring until we got back the states he said. As it turns out, Greg bought it several weeks back in Laos (I think) and has been carrying it around all this time waiting for the right moment. It is a moment I will always remember and cherish - as if we were in our own version of “Blue Lagoon”… but in Vietnam… The most romatic moment I’ve ever had.
More celebrating back at home base. We feasted on seafood (as always) and found some decent wine (imported). Life was good - new president, new fiance (I get to use that word now!). It was good until a dog bit me on the leg while walking down the beach at night. I noticed this trip I’ve had a lot of things bite me: bed bugs, mosquitos, leeches, ants, and now dogs. I freaked me out a little and brought back a deep-seated dog fear and luckily no rabies. We spent a week on the island of Phu Quoc, which seemed to disappear at the blink of an eye. We watched sunsets and and lightning at night instead of TV, ate dinner with sand in our toes. We literally had to tear ourselves away from this place to get to Cambodia. Cambodia - Greg will write that entry but that place was a disaster! More to come…
