Phu Quoc: A Little Piece of Paradise - Nov. 1, 2010

 Monday November 1, 2010

Senne's Summary: We arrived in Phu Quoc and it is an island paradise!

Today we left HCMC and headed for Phu Quoc. We get our bags packed pretty quickly, (We’ve become masters at packing by now!) and head down to the lobby to wait for our pre-arranged car transfer to the airport.

I see a car pull up outside and send Steve out to ask if they are here to pick up Steve and Lisa for the airport. The driver says yes, so we get in the car. Then he turns the meter on. Hmmm? We’ve already paid for our transfer. We try getting reassurance that he is there to pick us up (we’re already on our way) and realize that he doesn’t speak a lick of English (well except for maybe "airport"). He finally gets someone on the phone to speak to us, who thinks we are trying to book a cab… um, no, I think we already have two ☺ Since we were already on the way we decided just to stay in the cab and therefore paid for two rides. Oh well. Next time we’ll just wait in the lobby for our driver to come in! In the end it didn’t really matter because we got to the airport in lots of time.

Our flight to Phu Quoc was uneventful. The landing was a bit scary for me. You come in pretty fast and low over the water (with a few air pockets thrown in for fun) and then you touch down and the brakes slam on. (My heart needs a little acceleration every once in a while anyway right?)

After we had collected our bags we headed out where all the drivers were waiting with signs, to realize that our hotel had not sent a driver.

Side note: The original hotel I had booked far in advance after reading zillions of reviews and doing oodles of research cancelled last week because they have to repair storm damage. (Totally understandable and reasonable.) So at the last minute I was scrambling to find a hotel. I had a few false starts but this place actually confirmed a room so we took it.

Luckily, I had the foresight to write the name and address of the hotel on a piece of paper. We showed this to a taxi driver and he knew exactly where it was. The trip was less than $5, so no harm done.

When we arrived at the hotel, they seemed a little surprised to see us. I (luckily again) had written down the name of the person who e-mailed me a confirmation and showed this to them. They were very kind and gave us some fruit to enjoy in the restaurant while they got a room ready for us. (I’m still wondering which staff member got kicked out of a room so we could have one 😀)

After we got settled we headed down to have a look at the beach. It is absolutely gorgeous! The water is warm, the sand is beautiful, and palm trees are swaying in the breeze. Paradise.

We walk both directions up the beach and then decide to stop for dinner at a little restaurant right on the beach. The tables and chairs are right in the sand, and the water actually comes right up almost to the edge where we were sitting when a big wave comes in.

As we were waiting Steve was fidgeting  (as usual) and dug a hole in the sand with his feet under our table. The restaurant dog decided he liked the hole and came over to have a nap on Steve’s feet.  I wished I had my camera!

We both had a beer (big beer, not the regular bottle size) some spring rolls, garlic fried rice and some chicken and vegetables. There was so much food we couldn’t even finish it. The grand total converted to $7.50!!!! I kid you not. Steve and I were both full (and a little bit drunk) for under $10. What’s not to like about a place like this???