Blogs from Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 4

Geo: 10.3041, 103.997It would be hard to classify Phu Quoc Island as an 'undiscovered' beach paradise but it was not so long ago, that it really was that. Now there is a fair amount of development taking place but its still a long way away from comparisons with Hawaii- just what we were looking for as a place to rest before leaving Vietnam and tackling Cambodia. We are not beach people (apologies to Christine L) but we've been traveling hard the last couple of weeks and the recipe seemed simple enough:Wake early enough to claim primo beach chairs by leaving a book and towel on them.Go for breakfast at the resort restaurant (it's included afterall).Return to chairs- me in shade, DH in sun.Rotate a couple of times all the while basting liberally- me in liquid SPF ... read more

It's not all palm trees and clown fish One of the lovely things about living here (which makes up for the terrible rain for about 9 months of the year - didn't imagine that, did you?) is that you can get to tropical postcard-like beaches quite easily. Not as easily as some people think - quite a few friends back home mention that they imagine us lying on a beach every weekend. The problem we have is that the Ho Chi Minh City sprawl and the dreadful public transport/road system means that it the nearest beach - Vung Tau - is about 2 hours away and an oil port (not the white sand, lapping waves and palm trees you were imagining) and Mui Ne takes about 5 hours to get to. It's not really doable at ... read more

Our journey over the border to Phu Quoc Island was a long one. After a boring bus ride and time consuming border crossing, we bought what we thought was a "fast boat ticket", but ended up on some falling apart, old rickety thing that took 4 uncomfortable hours! It was all worth it though. Phu Quoc isn't your standard backpacker destination, with parts of the island dominated by upmarket resorts, however there are still many hidden gems left to be explored and enjoyed off the tourist trail. We were a little worried on arrival about the room prices; some were quoting up to $150 per night, so for us (who are used to paying around $5) this was extortionate. After many failed searches we managed to find a brand new hotel for $15, our most expensive ... read more

Chilling at Mai House Resort on Phu Quoc The past couple of days have been spent doing nothing much more than the occasional swim, walks along the beach and a couple of trips into Duong Dong. Phu Quoc is described as a 'paradise' island. Certainly some parts are, however, Duong Dong is as nosiy and busy as any other town with motor bikes whizzing all over the place. One has to be very careful of these machines, particularly in the market area over the bridge on the other river bank from the main town. The market itself has so much produce - all sorts of exotic fish, fruit and vegetables, set out in stalls along the narrow road where bikes speed past between the shoppers. The Mai House Resort, however, is a haven of peace. The ... read more

Kampot to Ha Tien and Phu Quoc The border crossing between Prek Chak in Cambodia and Xa Xia in Vietrnam has been open for a couple of years now. Even so, recent travellers' blogs have reported that it's not an easy journey between the two main towns either side i.e. Kampot and Ha Tien. The concensus seemed to be that you need to take a taxi, motorbike or tuk-tuk to the Cambodian side, walk through and then find transport the other side to take you on to Ha Tien. Monk was expecting hassle on this stretch of the trip, however, he can report that it has now been made relatively easy - certainly from Kampot to Ha Tien. There are now 2 companies based in Kampot who sell tickets from Kampot all the way through to ... read more