A ferry boat form Ha Tien took us to Phu Quoc, an island actually closer to Cambodia than to Vietnam. There are very few roads (in not too good conditions or even dirt roads) so the car drive from the harbor in the East to the Chen Sea Resort in the West took a while.
Chen Sea resortOur favourite sundowner: mango margarita at the poolMy favourite: ca phe sua da
View from our our beach bungalowWriting “The pool” is too much of stating the obvious but I have no better idea
There are all sorts of gadgets for one purpose only: RELAX
Fish market in downtown Phu Quoc at night
A one hour motor bike drive from the Chen Sea Resort took us to a great beach in the Southwest of Phu Quoc. There were only two small restaurants and very few people there. I really hope that remains for some time and no big resort will be built there!
A beautiful white beach in the south-east part of Phu Quoc
Looks like a celebrity shootingnext celebrity shotnot so much of a celeb shot 😉best place for enjoying life
One day we drove down town Duong Dong for lunch and got surprised by heavy rain that filled the streets within a few minutes. While J refused to drive back to the resort, life in the streets seemed to go on almost as usual:
The rain continued and after a while we (or should I say P) decided that driving through the rain is not a big deal. At least, the rain was warm….. Driving on dirt roads in such weather conditions is actually a bit of a challenge!
Hoi An is definitely our second favourite city in Vietnam after Saigon. It’s very touristy yes, but you receive decent services for your money and the foods are excellent (we kinda plan all our travels around the foods). Also, the city mayor had long ago forbidden all the restaurants in town to charge foreigners more than what the locals paid for, which made this town even more pleasant to visit.
Hoi An is also famous for its tailor industry, you can for example have a suit made over night at a decent price and excellent quality. But you could run into the risks of paying too much for it, so shop around for price before making the order because even though the shops appear to be of different owners, they might have their clothes made from the same tailors that worked behind-the-curtain. It’s the biggest industry in this town. Don’t be afraid to bargain in Vietnam, whatever they say, offer them half of it and walk away ;-), it won’t always work but it’s worth a try. We’re not good at bargaining ourselves, sometimes we just do it for fun and pay what we think the good is worth to us. People gotta earn their livings after all. We often give generous tips to those who need them the most (Xich Lo riders, street-food vendors, small family-run shops etc.) and negotiate our way with big hotel chains and resorts to make the most value of our money.
On our search for a quiet place to stay we came across Villa Hoa Su, a very small hotel with only 5 or 6 rooms and a huge garden that was so beautifully decorated that we ended up spending most of our time there. We appreciated the fact that they didn’t try to build a five-story “plastic” hotel on this ground and focused on offering guests a very unique experience instead. The common open space serving as the restaurant in the middle of the garden surrounded by fish ponds was actually an original ancient house that the owner had brought pieces by pieces back from Hue, the Imperial Capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945). Saying we liked this place a lot is an understatement. If we could, we’d move in here in a heartbeat.
Breakfast by the pool everydayOur own outdoor shower and marble bath tub under the starsBest pool ever (mainly because of the mermaid….)Different view of the pool (same mermaid)Very beautifully decorated garden
Cua Dai beach & Coconut water – our favourite drinkGotta get hands on….A must-eat in Hoi An “Banh Quai Banh Vac” at its original place 533 Hai Ba Trung street, Hoi An.Water spinach field in the middle of the cityDinner downtown at Morning Glory, a quite famous restaurant chain both to locals and tourists. It definitely had a tourist price tag, but the foods were authentic and very tasty. We would eat here again anytime.Rice fields everywhere you goBaby rice plants (still planning to do this at home)Hoi An downtown: A dog studying art in front of a galleryHoi An marketAncient Town – Ancient House
My first time in Vietnam – exciting! After a long flight to Saigon, our next location was Da Nang, a city that I had only heard about in Magnum PI and had no clue what to expect. It was hot and humid outside the airport and we had to wait some time before two guys arrived with our “motorbike” – which actually was a small Yamaha scooter with a motor too small to carry the two of us and our luggage (even though P had reduced the luggage to the absolute minimum required: “we travel light !!!” – which is kind of the opposite of travelling the German way: “be prepared for any possible weather condition”).
Finally we headed for the Son Tra resort on Son Tra peninsula north of Da Nang. Two roundabouts later my adrenalin level had reached my lifetime high but we were still alive! It takes some time to understand that there is only one traffic rule in Vietnam: “There is no rule”. This may sound chaotic but in the end it works quite well because everyone drives pretty careful, considerate and does not insist on their right. The only thing you need to do is to indicate as early as possible in which direction you intend to drive, stay on your track and never ever make sudden moves because it would be hard for the other motorbike-drivers to react appropriately. To be honest, once you’re used to this single rule, it makes life in the traffic much easier than driving in Munich for instance where everybody thinks he or she is always right regardless of those oh so many rules in Germany – which is particularly true for the “urban bike warriors” (like a friend is calling the bike drivers).
Having no street map, we ended up on a dead end mountain road on Son Tra peninsula. Unfortunately, we only found out at the end of the road after having forced our poor scooter up the very steep road. So we enjoyed the view across Da Nang and then drove all the way back down the mountain. We finally found our resort and spend a couple of very relaxing days on the beach and in the city, trying all kinds of Vietnamese street food, fresh fruit, cane sugar juice, fresh coconuts, …….
Outdoor showerAt the private pool of our beach front villaSea view from our villaView out of our bedroomStill looking tired with jet-lagOur villaLooking at the resort from the sea side (while kayaking)Entrance to a Buddha temple nearbyThe area in front of the templeVery impressive statueI like the shape of her face !!!Dinner downtown Da NangLeaving for Hoi AnFishing boats
