Random Ramblings from Phu Quoc - Nov. 10, 2010

November 10, 2010

We really enjoyed our time in Phu Quoc and spent most of it relaxing and hanging out at the beach. The beach is incredible. The sand is fine and soft, and the water is warm. A few days we saw some jelly fish washed up on the beach, but never saw any in the water. (Knock on wood 😀)

This is a very quiet little island. The main roads are paved, but the road down to our hotel (and quite a few others) is quite a bit rougher. I took a picture so you could see what I mean. Quite a bumpy ride on those roads!

The bumpy road to our hotel!

Along all the roads are little shops selling just about everything… snacks, drinks, alcohol, cigarettes, laundry service, motorbike rental… you name it they'll find it for you. They also really want you to come to their store. If they see you with a bag from someone else’s store they’ll yell to you as you walk by, "You come to my store tomorrow. I’ll give you good deal." This became something we heard many times during our visit to Phu Quoc.

A typical store in Phu Quoc

As usual we loved interacting with the little kids. There was a little girl (about 1 ½ years old) who lived at our resort (her family owned it I think), and when we arrived her only word was “Hello!” She would say it very enthusiastically no matter what you said to her. This is what a conversation sounded like with her:

Her: Hello!

Steve: Hello!

Her: Hello!

Steve Hello!

Her: Hello!

Steve: What’s your name?

Her: Hello!

Steve: Good bye.

Her: Hello!

Steve: Good bye

Her: Hello! Hello! Hello!

By the end of the trip we learned that her name is Apo and she had learned to say Hello Guy, Hello Sir and Hello Madam. She was working on See you again when we last saw her 😀

This building is under construction. Building codes are a little different here!

We met another charming little girl who was helping her mom and dad out in their shop (she was about 4). Her way of helping was writing things down (random lines and circles).

Side note: When we bought things in Phu Quoc people often brought out a pad of paper and said the name of each item then wrote down the price so we could see it. Then they would add it up and tell us the total. Clearly, she was mimicking this behaviour! Not only did she like writing on paper… she also liked to write on Steve’s shorts ☺ Every time we went by she had a pen in her hand…

Steve enjoying a fancy dessert!

Our weather was beautiful almost the entire time, although there were a few rainstorms (about an hour long each). One afternoon, Steve left me at the beach while he went to watch poker (important November Nine stuff!)... anyway, when he left it was sunny. Shortly after he left it started pouring rain. I didn't mind... I had an umbrella. The more it poured the more I wanted to go swimming in the ocean. Then, magically, Steve was back! YAY! (He thought he might need to come rescue me and walk me back in case there was a thunderstorm) He didn't have his bathing suit on anymore (he had shorts on... get your mind out of the gutter!) but I easily convinced him to go for a swim anyway. It seems trivial... but it was really cool to swim in the ocean while it was pouring warm buckets of rain 😀

Enjoying our favourite restaurant at sunset

One night we walked to the night market to see what it was like. It was mostly stalls serving dinner… fresh fish caught that day. You could pick your fish and they would cook it up right there for you. There were also about 100 shops all selling the same souvenirs… pearl necklaces, etc.

The night market

We read on the Internet that Phu Quoc is building a new International Airport. Currently they get about 50,000 tourists a year. With the new airport they are forecasting that they will be receiving 2- 3 million tourists per year. I think this will drastically change the island of Phu Quoc (probably in good and bad ways). We are glad we got to see it before it changed.