Island paradise

After a very choppy two-hour boat ride off the coast of Vietnam, I arrived on Phu Quoc island, a.k.a. paradise. It's different from the Thai islands, but from first appearances it looks beautiful. We were transported in a mini-van from the pier... the world's longest pier, it seemed, although it had to be because the water was so shallow there's no way the boats could get any closer to shore. Also, the waters on either side were crawling with jellyfish. Yikes! I inquired at my resort whether the jellyfish are also on this side of the island and they said no. Phew! The owners were very happy when they learned I was American, which was nice. Once again, I'd say the majority of tourists here are European. Anyway, everywhere in Vietnam they take your passport at the reception and keep it until you leave. Apparently they have to take them down to the local police station every night so the authorities know who is where. Interesting.

A group of us - 2 Brits, 4 French, and myself - were transported from one side of the island to the other and the driver was kind enough to stop at the various resorts to find out who had rooms. After the third full one, we all started to get a little nervous. Technically it's still high season, plus Tet is coming up, so the Vietnamese also vacation here. Fortunately we found a place at a pretty reasonable price, reasonable for an island that is. My room is bright and airy, with a fan and a cold shower, and is just steps from the beach. For this location, I can deal with the lack of AC and hot water. Plus, there seems to be a very nice sea breeze here.

First order of business: find food. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was about 4 in the afternoon, so I set out for the restaurant we passed that said "free wifi". Turns out it's kind of an English pub, owned by an English guy and his Vietnamese wife. The Australian Open final between Federer and Murray is on, so the place is packed. Afer a few days of Vietnamese-only restaurants, I'm glad to be somewhere again where there's more variety. Here you can get both Western and Asian dishes. Currently I'm treating myself to some apple pie à la mode.

Again, I have to say that I think the people I've met have been wrong about Vietnamese people. I walked around Ha Tien this morning and found people to be generally very smiley. This may change as I head north, I suppose, but the French guy on the boat said they were really nice there, too. But then again, he's French, and the French don't exactly have a warm and welcoming reputation either. I wonder if maybe the problem is the language barrier. In contrast to a place like Thailand, for example, it seems that a lot fewer people speak English here, and sometimes as a tourist this can be frustrating. But after all, we are in their country, so technically we should be making the effort to speak their language. As I've said, Vietnamese seems impossibly difficult to me, and I'm a language person, so I can imagine it's frustrating for others as well. When all else fails, sign language and a big smile go a long way.




A lot of kids here tend to flash the peace sign for pictures. Hippies. ;)