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Published: January 11th 2008
Sunset from our balcony
Is there any surprise romantic things happen in a place like this?Well, lots of things happened today... It's as tough for me to get to the end without skipping out the middle, so, hang in there 😊
We woke up this morning at about 7:30... not all that difficult to do when you got to bed that night at 9:30! The builders hammering together the new restaurant convinced us to up and look for a new place to stay.
After looking around the resorts a little further down the beach, we stumbled on a stunning resort
(*Details at end of entry) complete with patio, deck chairs and a stunning beach view! While I unpacked, D went to go and ask about where we could hire a motorbike for the day... a few minutes later, he was calling me to see if the helmet fit! 😊
The hotel receptionist that we were dealing with wheeled out a motorbike and when D asked about the gears, he seemed honestly surprised that D knew how the gears worked!! 😊 -You mean you actually hire out motorbikes to people who don't!! 😊
After a quick test drive, we were off! We were warned not to drive above about 40miles/hr because the bike
A 125cc adventure
Standing on a 22km long beach after a good day's ride. wasn't insured,
but seeing as the speedometer wasn't working, who knew!! We were out of town in no time! The gears were sticky, so the trip started a bit haphazardly, but D got the hang of it in no time, and we were gone like the wind 😊
We were hoping to find 'the most beautiful beach in Phu Quoc'
The road was really narrow and eroded on the edges, so if a car came up behind us, we practically had to pull of the road onto the gravel and wait for them to pass before we could go on again!
We were surrounded by think vegetation on both sides, with houses dotted in amongst the thick vegetation. The houses were small, 4 rooms at most, and surrounded by levelled sand. Generally Dad would either be swaying gently in a hammock or cleaning his motorbike, and a few kids would be playing around in the sand.
We stopped off at a small, family-run stall, for a drink. I went to take pictures of the picturesque bridge and river a few meters back, and when I got back D had already picked 2 flavours. The lady opened
up the bottles, and tipped them into two small clear plastic bags! Her daughter dug out a huge block of ice from the freezer bashed it against the edge of the tub and put the chips into the bags. Each bag got a straw and an elastic band to hold it shut... Voila! 😊 It was fantastic!
We were told that the beach we were looking for was further down the road, but clearly marked. We figured we'd missed it when we got to the harbour at the end of the island! We drove around a bit, it was stunning! The harbour was really big, with turquoise, blue and red painted boats tied up. All the boats had big roof-mounted spotlights for attracting squid at night!
On our way back to the main road we stopped to wander through a market was that completely under other buildings. All the stalls had someone either sleeping or just chilling out in a hammock above the goods! I guess it's a necessity when there isn't even room for a chair between the stalls! The stalls were pushed up together allowing only a narrow walkway which in some places the became a
Boats along the river
From the bridge we crossed by bike rather nasty mix of litter, stale water and grey sand! - Tread carefully! The market seemed like a rural supermarket! There was a fruit and veg section, a meat section (with animal carcasses being cut up into saleable sizes on very well used cardboard and flies everywhere!), a clothes section, a toys section...
We bought a pomegranate to split on our way back to the bike.
We took a back street through a residential area on our way back to the main road. The kids loved this! They all stopped what they were doing and ran into the street to say 'Hello!'
One or two more wrong turns, a whole bunch of guess work later and we were finally on the road to the beach we'd been looking for! We did eventually find the clearly marked sign... with a distance reading of 100m! - maybe a bit more like 1.5km 😊
The beach was indeed beautiful! The sand was soft, white and sprinkled with coconuts! There was a small beach restaurant, so we decided to stay for lunch 😊 We ordered BBQ fish... and sure enough, a braai was set up and 2 well-marinated fish fillets
Bai Sao
White sand beaches and beautiful sunshine were set out over the coals! Probably the most delicious fish I've ever eaten! 😊
We hung around a bit, you know, wandering up and down the beach, swimming in the turquoise sea, reading... it was as close to the perfect beach experience as I've ever had!
We decided to take the beach road back. The view was so stunning we actually had to get off the bike a few times just to give us a moment to really take it in! The beach we were following was about 22Km long, almost completely lined with palm trees. As far as we could see the red dirt road ahead of us, there was beach running next to it. The cows on the road side all ensure the grass stays short and green. There were even a few beach side shacks! If I was going to live in a shack, this would definitely be the spot to do it!! 😊
It was really interesting that even on this remote island, the handful of houses we saw along the beach were all long narrow tunnel-houses. This is apparently from the tax laws that govern the main land. (Land is taxed
Our bungallow
Cath relaxing on the hammock outside. Enjoying the slower pace of the island. on how much road space it takes up)
The drive back was stunning! 😊 Absolutely stunning! I don't think there's a better way to see a place than by travelling by motorbike! I love it! What a perfect afternoon! Beautiful bungalow, really interesting harbours and markets, stunning beaches and an unforgettable ride on the back of a motorbike...
(warming up!!)
When we got back to the bungalow, Darrell said that as it had been such a stunning day, would I mind if he took me out to dinner... after all, a guy is allowed to spoil his girlfriend from time to time...
We went to one of the more upmarket restaurants, as our Phu Quoc treat. The dinner was great, the tables were all actually on the beach, so that we were facing the sea with our feet in the sand 😊 and the only light around us was from candles... it was very romantic 😊
On our way back home, I started feeling all over whelmed by the whole day and asked if we could just sit on the beach for a while and look at the stars and the lights from the squid
Just Engaged!
A few minutes after the question. Still feels like a dream. fishing boats on the dark horizon... just to absorb everything properly.
We started talking about our relationship, and then Darrell started telling me how much I meant to him and what he thinks being in a relationship is about, and that although neither of us are perfect, that we're pretty close to being perfect partners 😊
And... before I could start telling him how much he meant to me, he was pushing himself up onto his knee, and then I thought I heard him say, "Basically, Cathy Rendall, will you marry me?" 😊 I think I was staring, it felt like I was about to burst with excitement but we were half sitting, half lying in the sand and I didn't know if he was being serious... and then he started shuffling around a bit more and held out something round... HE WAS PROPOSING!! 😊 Woohoo!! 😊 ... after the initial shock, and Darrell reassuring me that I didn't need to say 'yes' straight away, I said 'yes'... yes forever 😊
Darrell had to explain to me what the ring looked like because it was too dark to see it, and neither of us wanted to go
inside!
It's actually 2 bands. The lower band is plain and provides support for the top band which is decorated with diamonds and sparkles. They're both great on their own, and even better together, but where they meet in the middle, with the big diamond, that's the most beautiful part of the ring and the real focal point. Likewise, when we come together an meet under God, that's where our relationship shines the most.
So, there you go... the most wonderful day of my life thus far... and I've had a really blessed life 😊
We stayed at a resort called
Than Kieu (or something along those lines). It was $15/night, had a fan, no hot water, two double beds, 2 deck chairs on a small patio, along with a small table and 2 chairs. Not to mention the absolutely stunning view!!
We were also able to hire a motorbike for the day for D100 000 -we needed to put in about D20 000 of petrol for the whole day.
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Anne/Mom
non-member comment
Hooray!!!
love it I am SO thrilled. Always wanted to have an excuse to sit on a wine farm and sip/glug with your Mom!!!