We had not planned on doing anything today apart from chill by the hut and wander down to the beach. It's our last day so we were going to make the most of a chance to relax before travelling tomorrow.
At around 10am we suddenly had the urge for a little final adventuring and so booked a car to take us to the north of the island. We had heard tell of a beach that was full of starfish. Its a local wonder and is imaginatively called "starfish beach". With all the development that is planed for Phu Quoc in the next few years we guessed that starfish beach wont have any starfish much longer so we had better see it while it still does. The car arived at 1130 and to our surprise it was Mr Bronchitis, the guy that had originally picked us up from the airport on our arrival. Amidst coughing bouts we set off to the fabled beach. It was a long drive along unmade roads as there is not much infrastructure in the north of the island. After bouncing and rattling along for about an hour over unmade roads we arrived at a small parking lot that was busy with taxi, minibus and scooter. The driver set up his hammock and we set off down the path. We walked onto the beach and to our total surprise it was stunning. Powder white sands, calm blue water and verdant green palm trees. A true picture of tropical splendour. Its always a worry when places are hyped up that it will be a dissappointment, they usually are, but this place was spectacular. We found a quiet spot under a palm tree amd got settled. There were people there but not so many as to call it busy or make it feel commercial in any way. A few shack restaurant lined the beach but not much else. Crispy was in the water like a rat down a drain in search of the fabled starfish. It wasnt long before she found them. They were everywhere and it was difficult to walk in the shallow water without standing on them. Bright red stars, hundreds of them, covered the sea bed. It was amazing. We walked among them wondering why they all seemed to congregate on this particular beach. We had not seen any on the other beaches we had been on. I must ask the google for an answer when we get home. After we had had our fill of the bright red wonders we made our way further down the beach to some fishing nets set out in the shallows and had lunch under a palm leaf shade on childrens plastic furniture. I dont quite get this anomaly, all the beach restaurants use childrens brightly coloured plastic tables and chairs. They are uncomfortable and make you feel like you are back in primary school waiting for storytime.
Its bizarre to see 6 foot russian guys crumpled up with their knees under their chins trying to eat their noodles while sat in a bright red childrens chairs.
Lunch was gorgeous. We have not had a single bad meal since being here. We are definitely fans of Vietnamese cuisine in all its varied forms.
With exception perhaps of snake, frog, cat and dog ( to be honest we have not seen any cat or dog other than the furry running about pet variety).
After lunch we had a swim and saunter around before heading back to the car. Our driver was fsst asleep in the shade, peaceful in his hammock. It seemed a shame to wake him but there were other wonders in store before we headed back to the hut. Back in the car and again off down unmade roads to the widely advertised "forest walk". Its a path through native forest and jungle. The driver pulled over and pointed to a small jungle trail in the middle of nowhere. His English being as good as our Vietnamese our instruction was scarce other than "go, come back".
Obediently we set off through the jungle headed god knows where. We expected the path to lead to a viewpoint, glorious waterfall or ther natural wonder but after 30 minutes trudging through jungle all we could see was the path weaving deeper into the foliage. We gave up and turned around. It seems there is no natural wonder other than the single path
going nowhere in particular for no reason in particular. It was a bit like the fish sauce factory in so much as on an island with not many "attractions" they are clutching at straws to create some for the hoards of expected tourists. The strange thing is that they dont need "attractions" as the beauty and charm of the island is more than enough to keep people enchanted. From there we visited a temple. A glorious chinese pagoda set amongst spectacular walled gardens. We struggled to discover to which diety the temple served as it was unlike any we had seen before. It was unusual as it was curiously martial in its layout. Carvings of warriors and a definite sharp pointy weapon theme going on.
After a little mooching around we found an information board that filled us in on the detail. It wasnt a temple at all but a shrine to some Vietnamese warrior who in the early 1800's kicked the shit out of some french invaders and burnt a warship called the "Esperance". I was immediately a fan of this guy and doffed my flat cap to his memory.
From here there was a short ride back to the hut after a quick stop to look at Cambodia from a viewpoint on the most northern point of the Island.
Its only 4km from here to Cambodia so at a push with armbands and a packed lunch you could probrably swim it.
Back at the hut we showered and readied ourselves for a quiet meal to celebrate our time in Nam. It did not go exactly to plan. It seemed news of our intended departure in the morning had spread and everyone at the huts wanted to be our friend. People with whom thus far had been happy with a cordial "good morning" or "hello" joined us at our table and a messy night of international bonding took place. Summer, the owner of the huts, whispered in our ear that all drinks tonight were free for Crispy and me as we were great people and neither her or the staff wanted us to go. At 11pm it was getting noisy and raucous as Ferdinanee, Oliver, Sophie and Jill imbibed more and more Gin and cocktails. We decided to make our escape while international relations were still on good terms and no one at this point had mentioned Brexit. As we were leaving a young English girl, who had been in bed till this point, appeared and asked if anyone was good with scorpion. It seems she had one in her room. I was just about to go to her rescue and remove the offending critter when Oliver jumped up like a latter day Sir Lancelot and sped to the young ladies aid. We went to bed.
In the morning we go to the airport to fly back to Ho Chi Min before once again returning to Singapore for the long overnight flight home to Crispy HQ.
At around 10am we suddenly had the urge for a little final adventuring and so booked a car to take us to the north of the island. We had heard tell of a beach that was full of starfish. Its a local wonder and is imaginatively called "starfish beach". With all the development that is planed for Phu Quoc in the next few years we guessed that starfish beach wont have any starfish much longer so we had better see it while it still does. The car arived at 1130 and to our surprise it was Mr Bronchitis, the guy that had originally picked us up from the airport on our arrival. Amidst coughing bouts we set off to the fabled beach. It was a long drive along unmade roads as there is not much infrastructure in the north of the island. After bouncing and rattling along for about an hour over unmade roads we arrived at a small parking lot that was busy with taxi, minibus and scooter. The driver set up his hammock and we set off down the path. We walked onto the beach and to our total surprise it was stunning. Powder white sands, calm blue water and verdant green palm trees. A true picture of tropical splendour. Its always a worry when places are hyped up that it will be a dissappointment, they usually are, but this place was spectacular. We found a quiet spot under a palm tree amd got settled. There were people there but not so many as to call it busy or make it feel commercial in any way. A few shack restaurant lined the beach but not much else. Crispy was in the water like a rat down a drain in search of the fabled starfish. It wasnt long before she found them. They were everywhere and it was difficult to walk in the shallow water without standing on them. Bright red stars, hundreds of them, covered the sea bed. It was amazing. We walked among them wondering why they all seemed to congregate on this particular beach. We had not seen any on the other beaches we had been on. I must ask the google for an answer when we get home. After we had had our fill of the bright red wonders we made our way further down the beach to some fishing nets set out in the shallows and had lunch under a palm leaf shade on childrens plastic furniture. I dont quite get this anomaly, all the beach restaurants use childrens brightly coloured plastic tables and chairs. They are uncomfortable and make you feel like you are back in primary school waiting for storytime.
Its bizarre to see 6 foot russian guys crumpled up with their knees under their chins trying to eat their noodles while sat in a bright red childrens chairs.
Lunch was gorgeous. We have not had a single bad meal since being here. We are definitely fans of Vietnamese cuisine in all its varied forms.
With exception perhaps of snake, frog, cat and dog ( to be honest we have not seen any cat or dog other than the furry running about pet variety).
After lunch we had a swim and saunter around before heading back to the car. Our driver was fsst asleep in the shade, peaceful in his hammock. It seemed a shame to wake him but there were other wonders in store before we headed back to the hut. Back in the car and again off down unmade roads to the widely advertised "forest walk". Its a path through native forest and jungle. The driver pulled over and pointed to a small jungle trail in the middle of nowhere. His English being as good as our Vietnamese our instruction was scarce other than "go, come back".
Obediently we set off through the jungle headed god knows where. We expected the path to lead to a viewpoint, glorious waterfall or ther natural wonder but after 30 minutes trudging through jungle all we could see was the path weaving deeper into the foliage. We gave up and turned around. It seems there is no natural wonder other than the single path
going nowhere in particular for no reason in particular. It was a bit like the fish sauce factory in so much as on an island with not many "attractions" they are clutching at straws to create some for the hoards of expected tourists. The strange thing is that they dont need "attractions" as the beauty and charm of the island is more than enough to keep people enchanted. From there we visited a temple. A glorious chinese pagoda set amongst spectacular walled gardens. We struggled to discover to which diety the temple served as it was unlike any we had seen before. It was unusual as it was curiously martial in its layout. Carvings of warriors and a definite sharp pointy weapon theme going on.
After a little mooching around we found an information board that filled us in on the detail. It wasnt a temple at all but a shrine to some Vietnamese warrior who in the early 1800's kicked the shit out of some french invaders and burnt a warship called the "Esperance". I was immediately a fan of this guy and doffed my flat cap to his memory.
From here there was a short ride back to the hut after a quick stop to look at Cambodia from a viewpoint on the most northern point of the Island.
Its only 4km from here to Cambodia so at a push with armbands and a packed lunch you could probrably swim it.
Back at the hut we showered and readied ourselves for a quiet meal to celebrate our time in Nam. It did not go exactly to plan. It seemed news of our intended departure in the morning had spread and everyone at the huts wanted to be our friend. People with whom thus far had been happy with a cordial "good morning" or "hello" joined us at our table and a messy night of international bonding took place. Summer, the owner of the huts, whispered in our ear that all drinks tonight were free for Crispy and me as we were great people and neither her or the staff wanted us to go. At 11pm it was getting noisy and raucous as Ferdinanee, Oliver, Sophie and Jill imbibed more and more Gin and cocktails. We decided to make our escape while international relations were still on good terms and no one at this point had mentioned Brexit. As we were leaving a young English girl, who had been in bed till this point, appeared and asked if anyone was good with scorpion. It seems she had one in her room. I was just about to go to her rescue and remove the offending critter when Oliver jumped up like a latter day Sir Lancelot and sped to the young ladies aid. We went to bed.
In the morning we go to the airport to fly back to Ho Chi Min before once again returning to Singapore for the long overnight flight home to Crispy HQ.
Bare and Crispy signing off, the hut, Phu Quoc, Vietnam.......
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