HOLIDAY IN PHU QUOC - Part 2

HOLIDAY IN PHU QUOC

EPISODE TWO

AUSTRALIAN HOLIDAY FOOT WEAR 

We woke early to the sound of a tropical rainstorm about 6am. It was brief but wonderfully cooling and filled the air with that unique 'just after the rain' smell. All three of us had slept well and were already feeling in relaxed holiday mode. So it was into the holiday uniform of shorts and tee-shirts all round. I glanced under the side table and noticed that there were two new pairs of thongs - not the nasty little bits of fabric that wedge up between yer bottom cheeks - the rubber footwear that we Aussies call 'thongs', Kiwis call 'Jandals and the Poms call 'flip-flops'. Normally hotels here have either nasty little plastic sandal or cheap slippers that seem to be made out of cotton and cardboard but these babies were the genuine rubber article and brand new. Now I haven't worn thongs for years but they were an essential part of summer life and the de riguer uniform for any kind of holiday when I was a kid in Australia... so, what the heck...I am on holiday... so Thu and I slipped a pair on each and padded over to the breakfast hut making funny little slapping duckfeet sounds on the wet concrete paths.

Hotel breakfast buffets are a bit of an adventure in their own right....all over the world. Often they are some kind of bizarre attempt to satisfy the culinary tastes of all nationalities of guests...and end up satisfying none but the greedy. In European countries and Australia, they seem to be loaded up with overcooked hot, fried foods that are sulking in Bain Maries.

SEA STAR BREAKFAST HUT

Although the breakfasts in Norway were an absolute delight to a dedicated smallgoods fan such as myself - it was like being given free range in a delicatessen. Breakfast buffets in Asia are often a bizarre mix of Asian foods (rice, noodles, congee, vegetables etc) lots of sweet cakes and horrible bread, fresh fruit, hot liquid sewerage masquerading as coffee, and sometimes something decent that can be made to order such as an omelette or, in Vietnam, a bowl of Pho soup. I reckon that observing folks at a breakfast buffet can give you a real insight to their character. I once watched a man in a hotel in Beijing with a large plate of sickly sweet orange-cream Pavlova cake and two fried eggs. I observed with increasing fascination as he held a newspaper in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Without taking his eyes off the newspaper he deftly picked up a fried egg in his chopsticks, dipped it into the sweet pavlova cream and then nibbled around the edges of the white. He continued this methodically until he was left with just the cooked yolk which he balanced on the top of a wedge of meringue and then popped he whole package into his mouth. I was so admiring of his dexterity I gave him a round of applause - he stared at me bemused like I was some kind of idiot. I also once watched some Chinese tourists in Sydney approach the breakfast buffet with military precision. Armed with small plastic shopping baskets on one arm they scooped up whatever foods took their fancy and packed them into small zip-lock plastic pouches and into their shopping bags - which I presumed meant they would have to spend nothing on lunch that day...or at least morning tea. Politely queuing behind them, myself and a few other hapless Anglos arrived at the buffet table to find a scene reminiscent of the damage caused by a small locust plague or the aftermath of a flock of seagulls. The Breakfast manager was apoplectic and it was clear that our voracious brekky predecessors had cleaned out a whole day's rations in just a few minutes.. .aaah well.

RUB-A-DUB-DUB... THREE MEN IN TUB

Anyway we wondered politely over to the breakfast hut and handed over our vouchers...an awful lot of formality really as we were the only ones there. The 'sumptuous buffet' was a tad small...and had the usual eggs and steamed sliced ham but also some plain-looking fried rice and vegies. But they did have good fresh bread - baguette style - and lots of fruit and fresh yoghurt.... and unusually drinkable coffee. So we sat on the shady patio, five metres from the wave's edge, eating our breakfast and watching three brave (hmmm...or perhaps very stupid) men in a tiny bamboo coracle, slowly battling their way out beyond the breakers to do a spot of fishing - what a nice way to start the day!  Not long after we sat down we were joined by a few other guests - two extremely large Russian women in what can only be described as gaudy Russion "Mu-Mu's", and another Russian couple   (he with a large and very pink sunburned belly dangling over a ridiculously small little pair of swimming trunks and she, far more fully clothed but sporting a scowl that would scare a hippo). They all seemed a little disappointed there weren't more pickles and potato salad on offer for breakfast. We were also joined by a small pack of friendly dogs who obviously had learned that if they did that cute brown-eyed doggy thing they might get a free snack here and there.

After breakfast we ignored a lifetime's advice about swimming straight after a meal and ducked into the sea for about an hour (by the way Grandma... we didn’t get cramps or drown). The waves were strong enough to be fun abut not too strong to scare Thien or Thu who are not strong swimmers at all. Once again we showered and changed into holiday gear and then once again walked about a mile into town... a pleasant walk and a chance to check out the place a bit more.

Normally we like to walk a bit, but by about 9.30am the sun was already getting scorching hot. There are a surprisingly large number of taxis on the island (all owned by one company, SASCO, whose owner is obviously 'well-connected' with the local authorities). They lurk and park everywhere with their drivers snoozing or reading the newspaper in shady spots. They are not expensive but we decided to rent a motorbike. Almost every second shop seems to have a sign saying "motorbike for rent" and most of the smaller hotels also will find some bikes for rent. The prices tend to get more expensive as you get closer to town. They are usually all automatic 'step-thru' style Japanese bikes and the prices range from about 80,000 VND to 180,000 VND per day. Technically you should have a motorbike licence but currently everybody is pretty relaxed about this as long as you don’t ride like an idiot or have an accident with another vehicle (although you should always check the conditions on your travel insurance). But DO wear a helmet and long pants and shirt... my scabby knee is still recovering from a tumble on a gravel road whilst wearing shorts. We rented an almost-new Yamaha from the friendly FAMILY SHOP (phone: 0907666860) just outside the gates to Sea-Star resort. It was 100,000VND for the whole day and that was 30,000 cheaper than the hotel 2 metres away - so that paid for our petrol.

So over the next few days we used the motorbike to have a snoop around the island. But you

DRYING FISH ON PHU QUOC

could also rent a bicycle if you are fit and don't mind the heat, or do a deal for a car and a driver... or, of course take a packaged tour. I recommend the drive north to explore some of the more deserted beaches on the north-west. On the way you get to go through some little fishing villages where the local people make their living catching and drying little anchovies. Sadly it is obvious that these folks are not get much of a share in Phu Quoc's new-found wealth. There is a great restaurant right on the north-west point of the island called the GIO BIEN restaurant...don't be put off by the dirt access road. You can sit there in your own little private dining bungalow on the beach, eat cheap and fresh Vietnamese food, sip cold drinks and then have a swim on the beach in front of you.

After lunch you can have a snooze then take a trip into the National Park and enjoy the cool canopy of huge hardwood forests. There is a recommended Forest walk a few kilometres down the dirt road but sadly my slip on the gravel road meant we turned back in search of

LUNCH AND A SNOOZE ANYONE?

some band aids before we got there. The National Park apparently has a few nice spots with waterfalls and pools for swimming, but check with the locals first - on the day we intended to visit the waterfalls we were told that that there was any actual water falling as they were coming to the end of a dry patch. You could also visit a Pepper Plantation, a Cashew Farm, or sample the local 'special wine' at the SIMSONS factory (head south from town on the main road and you can't miss the billboard on the left just before Duong To township)  - an interesting concoction of Rose Myrtle essence mixed with rice alcohol, in varying degrees of alcoholic content. I didn't mind the flavour but we opted for a non-alcoholic syrup to mix with soda, or you can get myrtle-infused honey.

On the far south of the island is the infamous COCONUT TREE PRISON which was first used by the French to house revolutionary prisoners and then expanded by the Americans to house POWs during the Vietnam war. It is still an operational prison today but many parts have be 'restored' and opened as a tourist attraction. Right on the southern tip of Phu Quoc is the port town of . It is a charming little busy port full of colourful fishing boats of all shapes and sizes. It was one of the major departure points for many of the Vietnamese 'Boat-People' - the refugees who left Vietnam after the war and travelled in these tiny fishing boats to countries as far away as Australia. This port is also the departure point for many of the package day-trips that advertise "SWIIMING, FISHING AND SNORKELLING!".

AN THOI HARBOUR, PHU QUOC

We took one such trip as a day out. It was pleasant enough and dirt cheap. The "tour of the magical 12 An Thoi islands" actually consisted on visiting two little islands that were within spitting distance of the harbour. The "fishing' was with handlines over the edge of the boat and we did catch a number of little fish a bit bigger than my goldfish at home. The snorkelling was thoroughly pleasant (and they supply flotation vests for non-swimmers) and there were lots of little coloured fish, but the coral was certainly not the Great Barrier Reef. I reckon in the future the local government may open up a few more less-visited sites for tours - don't expect uninhabited islands with no signs of human touch. Nevertheless we had a nice day out and met and ate lunch with a fascinating array of people from all around the world.

PHU QUOC PEARLS

PHOTO COURTESY WIKIPEDIA

Phu Quoc also has a small but thriving cultured pearl industry. Now if you are a serious pearl collector or aficionado then I suggest you read up on the internet forums about all the debates and gossip about Phu Quoc pearls. There are some definite fakes which are easy to spot even to the untrained eye (mostly in the airport shops I found) and almost every pearl shop seems to have a big poster of Michelle Obama wearing string of whopping great pearls (but surely she couldn't have bought them at every one of these shops could she?). There are all sorts of stories and tales about the pearls being cheap Chinese freshwater pearls that are brought in by the sackful and sold off as local pearls through the local markets and some retail outlets. Anyway, NGOC HIEN pearls gets a lot of good raps but we opted for the brand new showroom of LONG BEACH pearls (www.longbeachpearls.com). It was a quiet morning and we couldn’t see any tour buses around. They have little info-display at the entrance and then sat us down to watch a little DVD documentary on the in and outs of cultured pearls (the film thankfully skipped quickly through any lengthy explanation of sticking the artificial nucleus into the pearl's genitals which causes irritation and makes the pearl make...pearl!.. I would do more than just make pearls if you stuck hat plastic seed up my genitals!).

Then they through one of those massive warehouse lighting switches and all the lights came on and also seemed to simultaneously wake up about six sales assistants who had been snoozing on the counters (as I said it was a hot, quiet morning in the cusp of the low season). We told them what we were looking for and I was impressed by the fact that she immediately and honestly said "we don’t farm natural pearls on Phu Quoc" and "we can only offer you that colour in a South Sea Pearl". We found a single-strand necklace in a colour and shape that Thu liked. The pearls did not have a 'perfect' shape (a dead giveaway in that price range that they are probably fakes) and I bit them lightly to remember the feel of genuine pearls that my Grandmother taught me. We decided to think about it and our guide offered us some cool bottles of water and a shady table and chairs just to take a breather. Heck, we could spend a year worrying about whether the price was too much etc etc etc. But Thu loved them, they looked beautiful against her skin, and I could afford them, so we bought them and went to lunch... hopefully they'll become a loved and long-lasting holiday souvenir. Once again if you are a serious 'pearl collector' then do your homework and you may still bag a pearl of a bargain on Phu Quoc.

More soon in the next episode...coming soon!

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