DRAGONFLY TRAVEL NEWS
For us, the real highlights of the island were the fresh fruit and seafood
and the local markets. They have a somewhat famous NIGHT MARKETS down near the
entrance to the fishing port in Duong Dong town and the local fresh food markets
are a few blocks further on.
By the way, if you are down that way, visit Dinh Cau (also known as Cau Castle). It is a kind of bizarre mash-up of a highly decorated little a temple and a small but nevertheless functioning lighthouse. It was originally built around 1937 in to honour the goddess Thien Hau- the protector of fishermen and sailors. Anyway it's worth a visit even at night and during the day it gives a really good view of the Cambodian coastline, Duong Dong fishing port and a big part of the town.
Sorry, I digress. The NIGHT MARKETS have that cheap, gaudy carnival feel typical of night
markets everywhere. Every evening the little street down by the
fishing port is lined with rows and rows of competing restaurants with stalls of
beautiful, fresh seafood on display along with the rows and rows of ubiquitous
formica tables with plastic chairs. They all compete, but in a
kind of lazy,
friendly way and obviously the tour buses take their passengers to the one that
is owned by a relative and/or gives them the best kick-back. But if you venture
in on your own it is just fine and the spruikers will gently try to lure you
over to their stall and converse in basic snatches of a variety of languages
(although it is really not so hard to point at things, show the number required
on your fingers, add "cold beer" and "coca" if required, and then simply be
shown to your table). The prices vary a little but, like many tourist spots in
fish markets, it is not super-super-cheap.
We went with our friend Quang and shared a mixed seafood Lau for four (a bubbling hotpot, cooking on the table with lots of vegies, mixed seafood and a tasty broth), quite a lot of beer and it was about $450,00VND. But the atmosphere - with all colours, shapes, sizes and nationalities all chomping on their barbecued seafood and licking their fingers - is what makes it really great. Everybody seems to enjoy their food and there is no sign of any aggression or bad temper- even when the evening's heat and the crowds overwhelm the waiters and service slows to an absolute crawl.
On one of our earlier walks into town, we were walking down the hill on Tran Hung Dao street, and noticed a little wooden barrow-stall stocked full of ice and very fresh fish. The sign out the front of this little restaurant (in English), proudly proclaimed "cheaper than the night
markets" and the fish
certainly looked crystal clear-eyed and smelled briny and just-caught. We
stopped for a while and talked to the chef, Mr Tam...who was resplendently
decked out in a white chef's uniform complete with a tall, starched, white,
chef's hat. He spoke some English and was very friendly so we promised to return
on our way back from our evening walk. Indeed we did... and we ordered some
barbecued King Prawns, some stir-fried vegies and rice and a whole fish, baked
in foil with garlic, lemongrass and spices. Their restaurant's little bamboo
dining platform is set up high above the street so actually we also got a good
view over some rooftops and towards the sunset and the beach. The food was
de-lish, the beer was icy, icy cold and the price was very cheap. We went back a
few nights later and took our friend Mr Quang. Yet again the food was just great
and the impeccable service even extended to Chef Tam bringing out a little
folding bed for Thien who decided he now wanted to alternately sulk and then
snooze between dishes ( I simply can't imagine Gordon bloody Ramsay doing
anything so hospitable for his customers). If you want to try this place it is
on the left hand side of Tran Hung Dao, at the top of the hill going into town
(Ph: 0915720449)
We also tried a few other places. GANESH- a pricy but pretty good Indian
restaurant that is highly reviewed on the net (ganeshphuquoc.com). I wanted to
try and find out the story of the owner and ask how he ended up running an
Indian restaurant in PHU QUOC island of all places, but the
night we went was particularly busy with lots of English tourists (presumably
scoffing down a quick curry so they could head off to get really drunk and then
have something to throw up) so I didn’t get my tale. And also there were a
couple of other great small places around town. Don't be afraid to just walk
in.
But for us the real star of PHU QUOC is their LOCAL MARKETS in Duong Dong town. It is a bustling, lively place on the banks of a little river inlet just absolutely jam-packed with local fishing boats. Walk through town just asking directions to the "Cho" (market) and people will happily point you in the right direction. There is a little sort of seawall promenade on the river bank and actually the old bridge has now been replaced by a modern, steel floating-bridge...a bit like a barge that really goes nowhere. The markets themselves cover a few
blocks and they are loud and busy but smell
surprisingly very clean and fresh. They have almost everything for sale and the
fresh seafood and fruit are the real treats. After one hot expedition while
Thien and I sat in the shade of a small shop with ice-cold drinks and a lazy
attitude, the determined Ms Thu bravely set of to get us a picnic lunch. She
returned with: a huge bag of cooked sea-snails in a sweet chilli and lemongrass
sauce (and complete with two nappy-pins to winkle out the tasty little snots); a
kilo of sweet little blue swimmer crabs (for an extra 10,000 dong or 50 cents
they boiled them for us); some salad vegies, a watermelon and some fresh bread
rolls. A cool air-conditioned taxi-ride home and twenty minutes later we were
smacking our lips and licking our fingers as we smashed the crab claws with a
handy stone from the garden, and scoffed our fresh delights on the verandah of
our bungalow. After lunch, covered in crab and fruit juice, there was nothing
better than a quick, cleansing dip in the ocean, a brief outdoor shower then a
couple of hours afternoon snooze through the heat of the day... before getting
ready to....do it all again!
The markets then became our favourite haunt. We also discovered a great little ice cream and coffee shop on the way (Buddy Ice Cream & Info Cafe. 26 Nguyen Trai Street). They have a very useful free tourist info map, make great coffee, give good local advice and are quite happy for you to linger. There is even a book exchange and free internet for the desperate. One morning we made all sorts of bold plans for expeditions and walked up the road into town... and stopped at Buddy's for some cool drinks and ...then...slowed down...and then...errr...got some...lunch supplies... ummmmm....had another cool drink..... and then we turned around and went home for lunch and a snooze.
In the end of our week, we arrived back at the airport for our flights home and we were comfortably silent and sated. Thien magically transformed himself into a ninja warrior and his posing antics delighted the useless security staff ( well, at least they smiled and let us keep our bottles of drinking water - the folks in front of us lost their drinking water and some spray perfume that the security ladies obviously liked the smell of). All in all, as I said PHU QUOC Island is a great place to have a holiday and do practically nothing. There are a few opportunities for day trips and a bit of exploring... and no doubt there will be more in the future. But for us it was a most welcome and wonderful chance to just swim, eat, snooze..... and simply relax!!!
If you would like to know more about this (and other) topics, or if you would like to join us at some time, just visit from time to time us here and also at:
HOLIDAY IN PHU QUOC
EPISODE THREE |
| CAU CASTLE - PHU QUOC ISLAND |
By the way, if you are down that way, visit Dinh Cau (also known as Cau Castle). It is a kind of bizarre mash-up of a highly decorated little a temple and a small but nevertheless functioning lighthouse. It was originally built around 1937 in to honour the goddess Thien Hau- the protector of fishermen and sailors. Anyway it's worth a visit even at night and during the day it gives a really good view of the Cambodian coastline, Duong Dong fishing port and a big part of the town.
Sorry, I digress. The NIGHT MARKETS have that cheap, gaudy carnival feel typical of night
 |
| THE NIGHT MARKET - PHU QUOC |
We went with our friend Quang and shared a mixed seafood Lau for four (a bubbling hotpot, cooking on the table with lots of vegies, mixed seafood and a tasty broth), quite a lot of beer and it was about $450,00VND. But the atmosphere - with all colours, shapes, sizes and nationalities all chomping on their barbecued seafood and licking their fingers - is what makes it really great. Everybody seems to enjoy their food and there is no sign of any aggression or bad temper- even when the evening's heat and the crowds overwhelm the waiters and service slows to an absolute crawl.
On one of our earlier walks into town, we were walking down the hill on Tran Hung Dao street, and noticed a little wooden barrow-stall stocked full of ice and very fresh fish. The sign out the front of this little restaurant (in English), proudly proclaimed "cheaper than the night
 |
| DINNER ON PHU QUOC ISLAND |
 |
| PHU QUOC MARKET |
But for us the real star of PHU QUOC is their LOCAL MARKETS in Duong Dong town. It is a bustling, lively place on the banks of a little river inlet just absolutely jam-packed with local fishing boats. Walk through town just asking directions to the "Cho" (market) and people will happily point you in the right direction. There is a little sort of seawall promenade on the river bank and actually the old bridge has now been replaced by a modern, steel floating-bridge...a bit like a barge that really goes nowhere. The markets themselves cover a few
 |
| PHU QUOC MARKET |
 |
| PHU QUOC MARKET |
The markets then became our favourite haunt. We also discovered a great little ice cream and coffee shop on the way (Buddy Ice Cream & Info Cafe. 26 Nguyen Trai Street). They have a very useful free tourist info map, make great coffee, give good local advice and are quite happy for you to linger. There is even a book exchange and free internet for the desperate. One morning we made all sorts of bold plans for expeditions and walked up the road into town... and stopped at Buddy's for some cool drinks and ...then...slowed down...and then...errr...got some...lunch supplies... ummmmm....had another cool drink..... and then we turned around and went home for lunch and a snooze.
In the end of our week, we arrived back at the airport for our flights home and we were comfortably silent and sated. Thien magically transformed himself into a ninja warrior and his posing antics delighted the useless security staff ( well, at least they smiled and let us keep our bottles of drinking water - the folks in front of us lost their drinking water and some spray perfume that the security ladies obviously liked the smell of). All in all, as I said PHU QUOC Island is a great place to have a holiday and do practically nothing. There are a few opportunities for day trips and a bit of exploring... and no doubt there will be more in the future. But for us it was a most welcome and wonderful chance to just swim, eat, snooze..... and simply relax!!!
If you would like to know more about this (and other) topics, or if you would like to join us at some time, just visit from time to time us here and also at:
oh... and be kind to each other okay?
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