Is Nate Alive? Yes: Phu Quoc and More Pictures

I haven't posted in a while and have a lot to tell. Going back to Sunday, here is what I've been up to...

Last Sunday I departed Phnom Phen on a mosquito filled bus for a 7 hour bus ride to Saigon. It thankfully was less honk-filled than previous ones. I had to get to the airport for a 2 pm flight, and we got in a bit late. I caught a cab, drove to several ATM's looking for one that worked (ended up having to exchange some USD I had on me) and ended up barely making my flight after getting scammed by the cab driver and his rigged meter. Let's just say I was not enjoying Vietnam as my flight departed.

I flew into Phu Quoc, an island right of the Vietnam/Cambodia border, and was planing on staying at this place called Beach House that Eric had recommended to me but it was full. Lucky for me, there was a place that had just opened next to it called Paris Beach. It is a converted house that has a few bungalows next to it run by this Vietnamese-French lady. It ended up being a very good thing that my first choice was taken.

Paris Beach was awesome. It was cheap($15/night), had a great staff and awesome food. Which was also cheap. The room was so-so, but I could live with that. There I ate: a great squid curry, the best pho I have ever had (nearly every breakfast), steak frites with the first decent fried I've had since being in Asia, claypot fish, pate, ect. The seafood was super fresh and everything was cooked extremely well. I was very impressed by the food and execution, and if you know me at all I am generally pretty hard to please when it comes to things like that. I ended up eating most of my meals at the hotel looking out over the ocean. It was rough.

The owner of the hotel is Vietnamese, married to a Frenchman and has lived in Paris for the last 18 years after moving there from Hanoi. A former marketing professor, she just opened up this hotel on the beach 3 months ago. From what she told me, you aren't really allowed to build anymore right on the beach on Phu Quoc, but she was able to renovate a house she already owned there into a hotel.

During my stay on Phu Quoc I drove around most of the island on a little motorbike. I even managed to crash the motorbike going too fast on a rutted dirt road. I somehow managed to bail and stay on my feet doing 20km/hr, but the bike got a little banged up. Luckily my 150cc hog still ran fine.

Phu Quoc is a pretty big place with quite a varied terrain - you've got the beach, jungle, and forested mountains. During my motorbike treks I saw some cool little fishing villages, pepper plantations, a Vietnamese Navy base, ran into some random sights and ate some really good street food. My favorite was this sandwich of deep-fried pork belly with onions, carrots, cucumbers, sauce and chili. I don't think I've ever had deep fried pork belly before but it was a revelation. The outside is very crunchy and then you get into the creamy, fatty interior. It's quite a contrast, and heart healthy to boot! The sandwich was so good I had to get a second. I ended up getting sick that night, likely from the sandwiches but I think if given the choice again I would still eat them. They were that good. The island is famous for their fish sauce factories which manufacture some of the most sought-after fish sauce in Vietnam. I was going to tour one of them but the day I planned to do that was the day after I got sick and was unable to do much beyond lay on the beach and read.

Also of note was the market. It had amazing looking seafood (half of it still alive) and some great looking veggies. With raw materials like that, you can't help but make good food. Wandering through there I wished everywhere I ever live had a daily market like that. One stand had six different kind of eggs, all what in the US would be call free-range pastured organic or some such crap and cost $9 a dozen. And I'm not kidding, places at the Ferry Building Market sell them for that much. I really wanted to make some fresh pasta with a shrimp sauce or something, but unfortunately lacked kitchen facilities.

Did a little snorkeling (pictures below) and got a nice tan/sunburn. All in all a great few days. I was a little sad leaving as there are a TON of new resorts going up on the island and I figured if I make it back in 3 or 4 or 5 or 10 years the place will be unrecognizable. No more motorbiking on dirt roads or sand pits for me. If you can get here in the near future I highly recommend it.

Yesterday I flew out and headed to Hanoi. More about Hanoi later once I've had a bit more time to digest it all.