Phu Quoc - 31Jan to 4 Feb

Moved onto Phu Quoc today; an island off the south coast of Vietnam. A few days to really chill out and hopefully get a dive or two in.

West along beach at Mai Phuong Resort

Hotel at northern end of island and  is right on the beach, only 14 bungalow rooms and very quiet if a little tired.
Spent the afternoon in the shade doing nothing.

Looking towards the restaurant

Food at the hotel is very good, especially the fish dishes.  We went diving today.  The dive boat came to our hotel and picked us up.  The visibility was pretty poor and there was nothing too special to see but we had a good time and the crowd on the boat were great fun.  At least five of them were teachers, teaching at an independent international school.  Apparently their life is good; recommended that they stay in Vietnam, where their classes are approximately 12-18.

View towards our bungalow centre
at back

We've just had a lovely plate of steamed prawns, fresh from the sea and tonight (2nd Feb) is the Lunar New Year - celebrated by both the Vietnamese and the Chinese.  They have told us they are having a party and that all the guests are invited.  We are not sure that we can stay awake until midnight but will do our best.

One of the neighbours

Well we stayed awake and eventually went to bed around 1.30 after a buffet was served just before midnight, the hotel owners family, friends and staff arrived and a local rice base spirit was served copiously in shot glasses, to be downed in one, followed by the shout of "Yoh!" (It was poured from mineral water bottles, so presumably a private source!). Seems that they celebrate from midnight onwards rather than up to and just after as we heard the party into the small hours. The next day we spent lazily and when we walked over to the restaurant to get some supper found the family sitting at a long table buffet that they insisted we join,; beer and spirits provided again. We were introduced to grandmother, mother, father,  father-in law, mother-in-law and friends. A lot more toasting of Chuc Mung Nam Moi / Happy New Year and we were really made welcome; the family put special bits of the buffet into our bowls etc.. What a privileged experience. We understand that they celebrate every night for a week. We thanked God we were leaving the next day - a week of this could finish us off.

Back in Saigon for one night before we set off tomorrow morning for Cambodia, via a three day boat trip up the Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh.