Tet - Part 2

We then got up early to head to the Vietnam/Cambodia border to stay in Chau Duc. On the way there we stopped at an alligator farm. It really was just a depressing site to see all of these amazing creatures caged up. But, the Vietnamese seemed to love this along with all sorts of alligator dishes served at the restaurant. They even had an area for young kids to feed raw meat to alligators using fishing poles. Needless to say, we were not that impressed and were soon on our way to the much anticipated Sam Mountain right on the border. We arrived late afternoon at Sam Mountain. It is a gorgeous view that overlooks scenic fields and has a beautiful sunset. We hiked to the top to get a better look since we had been sitting in the van most of the day. We took a load off on the top before heading back down to the van to enjoy the view some more. Later, we checked into our hotel in Chau Duc, and then ate a nice seafood dinner at a local restaurant. The Mekong Delta experience was great, but we were excited to head to Phu Quoc to enjoy island life!

                We were up and ready to go by 8am, as it was a 4 hour drive to Rach Gia to the Super Dong II express boat that would take us the island of Phu Quoc! We arrived at Rach Gia with an hour to spare, so we decided to catch a quick lunch and then board the boat. It was a crowded ride and Emily and Ben were able to experience the aggressive Vietnamese style first hand. It can be quite shocking as they will nudge and literally push, as they just can’t seem to wait! There was a nice observation deck up top, so we caught some sunshine and the view of endlessly seeming ocean. We arrived late afternoon and soon discovered that our first hotel, Ecological Inn, did not have an ideal location. It took a ½ hour to get to the hotel, and it seemed that any ride to the beaches or any activities was going to be a $25 taxi ride!

                The next day we were up early for breakfast and ready to hit the beach. Lacey was under the weather and had a rough night, but was a trooper and headed out with us. We didn’t really have a destination, but we stopped at a beach that was 99% Vietnamese and had a decent restaurant and ½ boat ride to Tortoise Island were we did some snorkeling! We had a blast and then headed back to the beach for some rays and a delicious lunch and some refreshing smoothies. Little did we know that we burned our backs while snorkeling for an hour or so! We headed back to Ecological Inn for some more Pinochle and supper.

                We were up early again the next day as we packed up and grabbed a taxi for our next hotel, Eden Resort! This hotel was fancy! It had a pool with a great ocean view and we were literally on the beach. It was very convenient to relax on the beach, swim in the pool and get massages on the beach! This is just what we needed to rest up! Lacey hoofed out to grab Aloe as Ben and Lance were also a bit red from snorkeling. The first Xe Om asked for an absurd price, but luckily a nice man came along to help our damsel in distress for no charge at all! We enjoyed the shade of the pool and some Aloe Vera massages before getting ready for a supper of Tapas down the road.

The next day was more of the same as we hung around the pool, beach and got massages during the day. We then headed out for supper that night to the night market, which had an incredible selection of fresh fish! Ben was on fire as he enjoyed this experience! We then headed back to the hotel room for our ritual of late night pinochle.

We thoroughly enjoyed the coral reefs at Tortoise Island, so we booked a day long tour on the other end of the island for some more snorkeling. This company took us to the harbor and got us and about 10 other people onto the boat for the day. They provided much better equipment and we were off for some fishing and snorkeling. We fished for an hour or so in the morning, stopped by a floating fish market to buy our lunch and then headed out to snorkel! We had some great snorkeling, but it was a little crowded and the pollution and dumping of garbage from the tour boats, didn’t exactly make the swimming more enjoyable! Either way, it was great to get out into the water and see what all goes on under the water. We then headed back to the hotel, a tired group! After catching a short rest and some pool time we headed out for Pizza! It was really good, especially compared to the below average pizza we find in Hanoi. We reminisced as our last night Phu Quoc was drawing to a close. What a great adventure we had so far!

The next morning we woke up and hurried to eat breakfast so that we had enough time to get an aloe massage on the beach before we had to catch the boat back to Rach Gia again. We boarded the speedboat again and were off across the blue ocean. We arrived in Rach Gia a hungry crew as it was 3 or 4 already and we hadn’t eaten lunch. We stopped fueled up and grabbed some snacks for the long van ride back to Ho Chi Minh city.
                Sunday morning we slept in before heading out for our last meal together. We ate at a local restaurant that had a Hanoi specialty…..Bun Cha! We eat this numerous times per week for lunch. It is basically grilled pork balls in a sauce with carrots, papaya and lots of fresh herbs. Yum! Then it was time for a few games of pinochle before we had to leave Emily and Ben to fly back to Hanoi. It was a great time catching up, reminiscing and just enjoying these two people so dear to our hearts. But, it was time to take the airplane ride back to the bustling city of noise that is Hanoi!