Phu Quoc

After a couple of hours aboard the Superdong we landed on the eastern coast of Phu Quoc Island in need of transportation across to the west side and our hotel, however some serious negotiation would be required first. If there’s just one thing I have learnt over the past two months, it’s that a well timed walk-away can almost guarantee winning any negotiation. Getting a cheap taxi proved another success.

Phu Quoc Island, located in the Gulf of Thailand, is actually closer to Cambodia than Vietnam and would mark the end of our stay in the country. We had very high hopes for the island as, being so small, we could enjoy both miles of sandy beaches as well as the tropical rainforest centre. The trouble with rainforests being they tend to rain and we arrived in the middle of quite a downpour. Not so much the island paradise we had hoped for.

We soon made it the 23km across the island and were dropped off, via a seriously unmaintained road, at our hotel. We were given a choice on arrival of either a room which was available now, but had no hot water, or one with hot water that wouldn’t be available for two hours. Rather than settle for cold showers we chose to hang around and wait for the good room seeing as the rain was preventing us from going anywhere anyway. Almost three hours later, which included lunch and a victorious few games of cards, our room was ready and we were shown to our private bungalow. Occasionally I’ve thought we have spent too much on hotels as they have been a little too nice, but this was even more the case at this place. If it being a private bungalow wasn’t enough it also came with a veranda, hammock, spare bed and a safe which was so grand it looked like it had been lifted straight off a cowboy film set shooting a bank robbery.

Eventually the rain stopped so we could get out the hotel and explore the island. Although the end of the rain was good for our plans it also meant the hotel got swarmed with insects enjoying the post-rain environment. This would not be the only insect related trouble we would have.

We felt the only way to explore the island was via motorbike, so once again we strapped on a pair of ridiculous looking helmets and rode out on our newly rented bike. We first headed north to Duong Dong which was the main town on our side of the island as we had read about a cafe which offered travel advice and free maps. The fact that it was an ice cream cafe was purely coincidental. Having retrieved a map, and a few scoops of cookies and cream, we ventured south past our hotel along the coast.

Heading south along a typical dirt track road

Our first stop was a pearl farm where we heard you could learn all about the farming process and view the creation of pearls. However, it turned out it was merely a shop selling jewellery with a couple of posters about the manufacturing process. To understand better how little there was to see I’ll explain that the highlight was in fact witnessing a monkey getting frisky was a cat outside the shop. They both seemed quite keen.

Monkey business

From the loosely-described factory we continued along the coast towards the southernmost tip of the island at a town called An Thoi. On the way we stopped at a scenic spot for some photos although had to make a bit of a frantic get away when a pack of dogs, from a species known for wiping out the majority of other wildlife on the island, appeared and seemed rather angry. I was still learning that a motorbike with its kickstand down won’t start, so there was a bit of a panic as to why the key was doing nothing.

Free from canine danger we reached An Thoi relatively incident free but almost immediately had a new challenge; hundreds of people. We seemed to enter the town right in the middle of a market crowded with so many people that the road was barely visible. Up until this point I’d barely had to deal with corners but now suddenly had to weave in between moving objects while being overtaken by the vastly more experienced locals every few seconds. Having successfully avoided ramming any stalls or clipping any people we emerged from the market and continued to aimlessly drive further into town. There was almost nothing in An Thoi, which is probably why everyone just hangs around the market getting in the way, however we had a great time as the local children were just coming out of school and seemed amazed by us. Almost every one of them shouted “Hello” and, slightly worryingly, ran towards the bike to such an extent we couldn’t help but think we were some sort of celebrities. It was pleasing to see that just being in their town seemed to make them all so happy. Except the ten year old who gave us the finger.

We stumbled across the fishing port in An Thoi

Shortly after leaving town we spotted a road heading towards one of the beaches we had read about so deviated to check it out rather than head straight back to the hotel. The road, which started as a standard Phu Quoc road, soon deteriorated to a thick sandy path making for quite a precarious trip down to the beach. The beach itself was a bit of a letdown as it was quite a lot smaller than we had heard and was covered in a disappointing amount of litter, so we headed back to the bike as the sun was beginning to set. The ride back to the main road didn't go to plan. About half way back we hit a deceptively deep patch of sand causing the motorbike to wobble and veer drastically off road, at which point we crashed into some rocks causing me to fly off the bike and rip open my leg, and Linz to shoot forward into the handlebars and injure her wrist. Although this is all accurate there is a possibility I am over exaggerating as it all happened at an embarrassing 5mph and the gash on my leg could be easily mistaken for a mosquito bite. It’s just motorbike crashes always seem more dramatic than saying we fell in some sand.

Not quite a multi-car pile up

The rest of the trip was fairly incident free until the sun had fully disappeared below the trees and we found ourselves biking through what seemed like the entire insect population of the island. The journey could include very little talking as I was being hit so regularly in the face with bugs that I wouldn’t dare open my mouth. Unfortunately I couldn’t ride with my eyes closed and it was too dark for sunglasses so my eyes took a couple head on. Having a still alive insect in your eye is rather unpleasant.

Before returning to the hotel we stopped for dinner where I could enjoy another bug related freak out from Linz as one about the same size as the moon flew around the restaurant. Apologies for the over exaggeration again but it was quite large. We followed dinner up with a second trip of the day to Buddy’s Ice Cream for dessert and to use their computers which had a rare ability in Vietnam to access Facebook. We returned to the hotel and played cards on our veranda which was only interrupted by the occasional attack from flying bugs which would result in Linz sprinting back inside. That night Linz controlled entry and exit from the mosquito net over the bed so strictly I felt like I was back at the China-Vietnam border crossing.

The following morning we were asked to move bungalows as we hadn’t booked a second night but had decided to stay an extra day and our room was no longer available. So we were moved into the room with no hot water we were offered the previous day. We were quite happy to oblige as the scuffs to the motorbike’s paintwork hadn’t gone unnoticed and we were hoping to be able to charm our way out for paying for them.

We planned to spend our second day relaxing on the beach as the sun had come out and the hotel had a section of the beach reserved for guests. Other than the perfectly clear and warm sea water, highlights included having fresh watermelon and pineapple cut up for us in our loungers and more entertainingly seeing a small jellyfish in the shallows. Initially I was sceptical and thought Linz was panicking over a used sweet wrapper or something similar but amazingly there was actually a tiny jellyfish bobbing along. We stayed on the beach all day until we could watch the sun set into the Gulf of Thailand then retreated back to the bungalow.

Having our fruit cut up in front of the setting sun

Dinner that evening was had just around the corner where we ate alone except for an incredibly lively group of German sounding children who seemed fascinated by the local cats. There was little to report from the meal itself but obviously it was followed up by a trip back to Buddy’s.

By this point you are probably questioning the lack of bug related stories from our second day, but don’t worry, there’s still time. We had to return the motorbike with a full tank of petrol so having dropped Linz off I headed out to find the petrol station I was told was just 200 metres away. Having failed to find this one I had to journey to the far side of town to find one we had passed yesterday to fill up “Mogas” petrol. Eventually I returned to find Linz in reception using the internet computer which was odd seeing as we had a laptop with wi-fi in the room. Apparently a rather large bug had slipped into the room while we were out resulting in Linz literally fleeing to a more populated area of the hotel. Unsurprisingly I was dispatched to the room to deal with the problem which turned out to be a rather mammoth cockroach. I’m not one to be freaked out by bugs but when one is hiding between the top of the door and the frame, and it falls in my head as I push the door open it can be a different story. No need for details but needless to say I haven’t moved that quickly for a while. The cockroach met a quick end by means of flip-flop. Before going to bed we had to settle our bill which included two nights accommodation, lunch from the first day and a tin of red motorbike paint.

We were up early on our final day as we had to return to the east coast to catch our ferry back to the mainland. Leaving the hotel however didn't go smoothly as the taxi didn't arrive until it was worryingly late and not giving us very long to make it to the port. Eventually it did show up and we made it to the pier on time although we then had to lug our bags along the length of it which extended at least 500 metres into the sea. As we were not returning to the mainland town of Rach Gia where we had left from we couldn’t enjoy the pleasures of the Superdong but instead had to contend with a very cramped and loud ferry. However the most annoying feature was easily the English woman next to us who was determined to outdo us regarding every aspect of travelling and felt the need to make me look through her photos from the island. She even mocked us about our traumatic motorbike crash.