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Our Vietnam Trip Jan 30-March 7, 2017

As a preamble, we’d like to say that our views on and interpretations of the world are by no means unbiased or absolutely accurate. The photos are ours, not of professional quality (iPhone 6) but important for our memories. Our friends Michelle Miranda and Laurie Cerolini have been extremely helpful in planning this trip and we are indebted to them. Also, we used Trip Advisor, Agoda and The Lonely Planet extensively in our planning and booking. We refer to Vietnamese Dong or Canadian dollars (which were about $.70 to the US dollar). As this is our first blog, we would love to hear how it has been received and how we might make it better.

Hong Kong: 4 days

Jan 31 : We arrived in Hong Kong around 2:30 pm from Toronto on Air Canada on Tuesday safely but really tired as neither of us had slept much (14 hours 50 minutes flight time). To add to the challenge, the lunch upset Jackie’s stomach. She asked for no dairy and got lactose-free but it tasted odd. Her stomach calmed down by the end of the flight but the process was not fun. Lesson: Keep the Gravol handy.

Bill’s cousin, Glenn, met us at the airport and took the taxi back with us to the city as he said you could see more than on the express train.  We stayed for the 4 days in the Causeway Bay area at the J Plus Hotel that Glenn’s wife, Marina, had recommended. While small, the room had a living room with sofa, table and TV and a bedroom, was centrally located about one bloc from the subway station and had a very helpful staff. Lesson: remember the name of your subway exit. After registering, we walked the area around the hotel which is a large shopping area and market, had dinner nearby and called it a day. It’s an easy place to get around, with cheap and very accessible public transport, and reasonable and plentiful taxis everywhere. It’s also a really safe place, no matter where you are or at what time you are out and about.

Feb 1: We took a free walking tour in the morning for two and a half hours, found it on the internet and has the imaginative title: “Free Hong Kong Tours”.  We visited modern day skyscrapers and colonial buildings designed to give you a background of Hong Kong for your visit. We started at the waterfront  and the guide talked about the contest between the Hong Kong and Shanghai banks for dominance structurally. The building on the left is a financial centre and the ones on the left are the banks vying for dominance-you can see the gun-looking piece on the roof.

We got a sense of the historic, political, social and cultural side of Hong Kong from the guide. We visited St James Anglican Cathedral wedged between giant skyscrapers which is a piece of England that survived from when Hong Kong was a British colony and the oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building in the city.  It has beautiful stained glass windows, a solemn atmosphere and the only Hong Kong flag around.

We went to lunch with Glenn and Marina, to one of the restaurants that she manages. It was great: both the food and the company. Then we moved to their apartment overlooking the harbour and walked up the mountain for an even better view.

We came back to our hotel around 5:00 pm and had a glass of wine in the lobby (one of the amenities, along with afternoon cake, tea and coffee) to plan the next day and then went for a walk.

Feb 2:We started out in the morning to see some of the sights so we visited an impressive pagoda called the Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill.We especially loved the juxtaposition of the buildings against the extremely modern apartment blocks in the background. The gardens were truly beautiful and the entire surroundings incredibly peaceful.The courtyard with the Lotus ponds and bonsai was stunning.

We then visited the Hong Kong Museum of History. This museum does a wonderful job of documenting Hong Kong’s history – from prehistoric times and ancient Chinese dynasties, all the way to the birth of the city and modern day. We took the outdoor escalators in the mid-level area up to the top just to see the view and how people get to and from work with the city built on the sides of the hill. On the way back we came on a street ceremony with dancers and dragons.

Feb 3 We took the ferry to Kowloon Island and spent the day there seeing the sights.  Our plan was to stay for dinner, watch the light show that starts at 8:00 everyday, then go to the night market but it was cool and rainy so we settled for a drink looking out on the harbour and headed back.

At 8:00 pm we took the subway to the waterfront to watch the light show. The HK skyline must be one of the best worldwide – excellent in the day, fantastic at night with the laser shows and the major buildings ablaze with neon – very enjoyable from the large promenade walkway from the Star Ferry terminal. Then we took a taxi to meet Glenn and Marina for dinner and clubbing (we stayed out until 1:00 am!).

Vietnam: 30 days

Feb 4 Hanoi: We took the airport express to the airport and left Saturday afternoon on Cathay Pacific (booked with the Air Canada flight) for Hanoi, a 2 hour and 50 minute trip.

On the trip from Hong Kong to Hanoi there was a lot of turbulence. We arrived at the airport around 7 pm and the airport transfer van sent by the hotel took about 40 minutes to get to Spring Flower Hotel. This hotel, situated in the midst of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, has very large rooms in very good shape. The staff is very helpful, particularly June. We walked around the area near the hotel visited the Bach Ma Temple, had some soup and a beer at a street corner pub and went to bed.

Feb 5 After a generous breakfast buffet at the hotel, we walked the streets of the old town. It was warm (26) and the streets were noisy and busy and walking was a challenge as the sidewalks are covered with little stores and eating places as well as scooters. Despite the roads being covered in scooters, taxis and buses (a few private cars) paying little or no attention to stoplights, the traffic moves along efficiently. They have a line down the middle of the road but it’s only  a suggestion. One man we met at the hotel described it as a choreography of vehicles that weave in and out at a relatively low speed. Amazingly, we saw no accidents but crossing the road was a challenge. We were advised to cross at a steady pace and not to stop. The traffic goes around you! If you slow down or speed up it throws off the choreography, so keep going. You also see loads of vegetables, flowers and most anything on the backs of scooters, bikes and, as with this lady below, on a yoke.

The joke goes like this: Green means GO; Yellow means GO; Red means…GO! The traffic lines on the road are just a suggestion.

We visited a temple which was very busy and a cathedral which was boarded up. Being Sunday, the families were all dressed up, many in traditional garb, and walking on the pedestrian-only streets and around Hoan Kiem Lake, which is not far from our Hotel. For lunch we had rice soup, fried noodles with seafood, steamed spinach and a beer all for less than $15 (180, 000 Vietnamese Dong).

We are cautious about street food and usually go to small established ones. As the walking guide advised us, “The cleanliness may not be up to the standard to which you are accustomed and if you get sick, it could ruin your travel plans.” He also said that meat barbecued on the street corner in the evening was bought at the market late in the day and was not very fresh having sat in the heat since morning. Also that vendor might not be there the next day in order to protest your food poisoning.

Feb 6 We spent part of the morning planning for our next steps. We are leaving here in the morning on a van for Ha Long Bay where we have a hotel booked for tomorrow night. We are staying until Thursday but we thought we’d see if we liked it before booking a second night. We return Thursday on the bus to the hotel we are currently in and fly to Dha Nang on Friday with a airport transfer arranged to Hoi An Beach Resort in Hoi An for 3 days.

We hired a tour guide for the afternoon. We walked to the French Quarter and visited the famous “Hanoi Hilton”, the jail where the POW’s were jailed-very depressing (photo of memorial below). The films of the war from the Vietnamese perspective give a completely opposite view to the Americans. Then we had a traditional lunch with the guide and walked to a famous Pagoda dedicated to Confucius and walked back. It sure is easier getting around with a guide!

Feb 7 Ha Long Bay: One of the top destinations for tourists in Vietnam.  We went by bus from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. The roads are poor and busy and consequently the trip was very long and very slow-4 and a half hours for the 170 km trip. They drive all over the road, no matter which side they should be on. It looks chaotic but seems to work well as they are very polite despite the continuous horn honking.

The hotel, Ha Long Park Hotel (inexpensive-$32 or 500,000 dong), was out of the centre of town but the taxis are cheap and despite it being 10 km, it cost only $12. The hotel itself is modern and clean but it is away from the action; however, a huge Sheraton is being built just a block away and that will change things. We went for a walk along the marina where the cruise boats dock, had lunch and watched them come and go. At the hotel we booked a 4 hour boat trip the following afternoon to some of the islands and bays and some caves with lunch included.  It was our original plan to book a boat that included a night sleeping aboard out in the islands but because the weather forecast wasn’t good we decided on the 4 hour trip.

Feb 8 We had a lovely day out on the water in a cruise boat. Despite a forecast of a rainy day, it didn’t rain until we docked the boat and ran for the bus in the downpour. Really fortunate. We sailed out to a few of the islands (there are apparently 1969 islands in total), were rowed in a bamboo boat around a bay, climbed thousands of steps to visit caves of stalactites and stalagmites. The lunch was just so-so but the trip was very enjoyable.

The only negative was that the two guys in charge of getting us on the boat were very disorganized which seems unusual as any others we’ve met have been very organized.

We walked along the water’s edge just a block from the hotel and observed the many families that live in boat villages, often with two small boats tied together, one for fishing and one for living. They get to shore by water taxi.

Tomorrow we are picked up by bus at the marina (which we arranged with the bus company when we arrived) for another long drive to the Hanoi hotel. Most of the people on the bus have been on half day to two-day cruises. Friday we fly to Danang and transfer to Hoi An.

Feb 9 Hanoi: We were picked up in Halong Bay and went by bus back to the same hotel in Hanoi. June treated us very well there and upgraded our room.

Feb 10 Hoi An:  We were taken to the airport this morning and the flight was on time as was the taxi to take us to Hoi An Beach Resort. Our large room was in a 4-unit condo style building on the ground level with a front porch on the river and very lovely. The weather was drizzly but still warm-21. That is the weather for the time we are here so the beach, which is just across the road, is not likely.

We took the shuttle into the old town, walked the streets, visited the historic sites (vintage homes, a wooden Japanese bridge and historic assembly hall with buddhist chapel). What a culture shock from the streets of old Hanoi which are dirty and noisy and busy and full of humanity to a resort community full of English-speakers. We had lunch with a very interesting Norwegian couple at our resort; we do like Vietnamese food. We are going to a cooking school on Sunday. Bill is considering getting a jacket made here.

We came back around 6, had a drink on our patio and dinner in the resort restaurant where we met up with our Norwegian neighbours- just OK food and more expensive – may not do that again.

Feb 11 Today we had a great breakfast; my new favourite fruit is passion fruit. We got the 10:30 shuttle to town, got a pile of Vietnamese dong from a bank, ordered a made-to-order jacket and two shirts for Bill and a short red wool coat for me-very inexpensive! We go back at 7:00 pm for a fitting and they should be ready tomorrow.

It’s warm and grey today but very pleasant. We had lunch along the river-salad and noodles, vegetables and chicken dish-very good – and two beer and two glasses of wine, only because the second was free (total cost $12-15)  You can also buy your fresh chicken dinner at the market!

We walked the beach when we returned from town -it is very windy and the waves are wild. Furthermore the beach across from the resort has been wiped out in a typhoon so it is sand-banked to prevent more erosion. Tomorrow we spend the morning at Miss Vy’s cooking school-should be fun! We learn to cook some Vietnamese dishes. The pools are really lovely but the weather is too cool for swimming.

Feb 12 After a trip on an old wooden boat, we went with the group to the market. It’s a place full of energy, smells, live fish, brightly-coloured fruit and lots of strange things!

The cooking class was fabulous. The chef demonstrated everything so well and we enjoyed eating everything that we made-soup and egg rolls, barbecued chicken, green mango salad and crispy rice pancakes. Some of the ingredients might require a trip to Toronto.

Feb 13 Today is partly sunny (we are sitting outside enjoying the sun now) and so we are going to the beach. We went into town for another fitting for my red coat: I just want a short trench coat with a bit of a flare and a hood but they have just my description and no pattern.  After lunch in town, we took the shuttle to the big beach that they use now that the one across the road is damaged but it was cool and very windy so we didn’t stay very long. We had dinner just around the corner from the hotel that was good and inexpensive. We arrived back at the hotel for the lantern show. A couple of people in small boats set off floating candles in lanterns and float them down the river in front of us. Very sweet; very entertaining.

Feb 14 We had a rainy last day in Hoi An. We went to town in the shuttle and walked around in a light drizzle and then it poured! So we took at taxi back and got the bus to Hue. That was an adventure. It was a sleeping bus with beds on two levels so you got into a reclining chair/bed. The bus was a ‘milk run’ so it stopped a multitude of times and it continued to rain until we arrived in Hue at the Moonlight Hotel which is very well-appointed.

Hue: We walked along the river with many hawkers of boat rides and had dinner in a restaurant across the street with Vietnamese food-great, as usual.

Feb 15 Today we took a boat ride down the Perfume River to a pagoda which includes several small pagodas and a large one, a residence, a garden and a temple, all built by a man for his eventual tomb. Very peaceful, except for the visitors.  The dragon boat that we took was the living quarters for the family of mother, father and two young daughters. We saw the mom wash the youngest one’s hair. When we stopped in the middle of the river, I went forward to see what was happening and the woman shoed me back and said that it was the police that they had to pay for the trip down the river. She and the girls laid out their wares for sale such as bamboo placemats, pop-up cards, carvings and embroidered purses. We bought a wooden smiling buddha (even though it was cheaper on the street).

Dragon Boat

Interior of boat

Pagoda

Then walked around town and Bill bought a Gortex jacket for $37 Can. We went for a 60 min massage at the hotel and it was awesome. We have such a big breakfast that we only eat dinner, as lunch is too soon. So then it was time to find a place for dinner.

Feb 16 It’s a beautiful day here- 25 degrees and sunny. The breakfast room looks out on the river, as does our room, so it’s a lovely spot for watching the sunsets and the boats on the Perfume River.

We went to see the Imperial City  (The Citadel) today. It is a huge compound built by the Nyguen Emperors (1800’s) who were later deposed by the Chinese. Beside living palaces, there were reception areas, temples, housing for staff, tombs, gardens, theatres and libraries. Of the 148 buildings, all but 20 were bombed either by the French or the Americans. Still, what is left is very beautiful.

We have booked a private car to take us to Danang Airport tomorrow and we arrive in Nha Trang at 2:00 pm and stay for 3 days. It is a beach community so we hope to get some sun and reading time.

Feb 17 Nha Trang: We arrived in Nha Trang after a 30 min delayed flight from Danang (and 3 hour taxi ride to the airport) -got there around 3:00, a 30 min taxi into town and then a mix-up with the hotel that I never sorted out. I have done all our booking with Agoda which seems to have better prices than Booking.com. We arrived at an apartment complex where I had booked an apartment at Sea View Luxury Zoom Apartments and an agent met us who then took us next door to the Havana Club Best Western and disappeared. The good news is that we had an awesome room (in the high rise) overlooking the beach which is just below – first photo. It was cloudy and 28 so we walked the beach-still looking for hot sunny weather  and hoping to get it soon. This was a very busy international resort town with less Vietnamese influence and many Russian voices. The waterfront is beautiful-white sand, blue-green water and islands in the distance. We are here 3 days and still have to sort how we are getting to Mui Ne-driver or bus.

Feb 18 It is sunny and 28 today. This is a very busy international resort town with less Vietnamese influence. The waterfront is beautiful-white sand, blue-green water and islands in the distance. We are here 3 days and spent the afternoon walking and sitting at the beach. We have dinner reservations tonight for a lovely spot on the beach. Usually we can pick the actual fish that we want from the aquaria (bottom right). Yes, (photo on left) that is an alligator being barbecued.

Feb 19 Today was similar with sun and cloud and we were at the beach for over 2 hours. We walked the full length of the beach, close to 18,000 steps on my fitbit. On the way back from dinner, negotiating the streets and traffic is a challenge. We have found that if we stick to traditional Vietnamese food, we are not disappointed.

We are heading to Mui Ne tomorrow on a sleeper bus. We have to be at the station at 7:15 am and we arrive around 1:00 pm. It costs $9 each. Then we will get a taxi to the hotel. When you travel like this, it’s always a surprise!

Feb 20 Mui Ne: We left Nha Trang on a sleeper bus at 7:15 am and arrived in Mui Ne at 1:00 pm with one stop at a wayside restaurant with a revolting washroom. Along the roads are kilometre after kilometre of various kinds of rice fields. The fields are cultivated by crude equipment  and often pulled by oxen.

When we arrived in Mui Ne, a cab driver tried to rip us off with a flat charge to go what we found out was a few blocks. Aside from that it is lovely here. We are at a waterfront hotel, in a condo on lovely gardens. There are two infinity pools, one near our section and another that looks out on the water. The beach is a short walk into town.

It is a very nice spot, quieter than Nha Trang, less commercial. It is hot-32! Summer has arrived. We went for a walk this morning and nearly died of the heat so we came back and immediately jumped in the pool and read. Aside from breakfast and a bowl of Pho (noodle soup), that’s all we’ve done today. We are taking a taxi down to the main beach for dinner.

We had a great time in Mui Ne. We swam in the pools several times (lovely, clean infinity pools), walked the beaches and the town, had some great food, had breakfast looking out on the water and outdoor showers (in our condo unit) and didn’t buy anything!

Feb 22 Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon: The bus ride to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was fine with a lower bed and outside window that I had to fight for (one very not nice bathroom at a stop; none on the bus), about 5 and a half hours, and got a taxi to the Silverland Yen Hotel.

This is a truly beautiful hotel in a very understated way. While the design is modern, it is very natural with lovely combinations of wood, stone, pottery and tile. The amenities include afternoon tea and on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with a live combo of violin and guitar-very calming. The service is impeccable and extremely helpful. We had wonderful assistance from Dao (Julie) who helped us find restaurants and anything else we needed way. She is a great asset for this hotel!

On Thursday, we booked our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels in Ben Dinh and walked to the Ben Thanh market, just a few blocks from the hotel where we bought coconut shell bowls, pepper and a pashmina. Then we walked to the Skydeck in the Bitexco Tower on the 51st floor. We were informed by Julie that if you went to the bar through the front door, you missed the $20 US ticket to go to the Skydeck. From the Skydeck, we watched the sunset and the lights come on with live music and paid a ridiculous amount for a beer and wine. Then we walked to an outdoor restaurant recommended by Julie, our own tourist guide!

Friday we went on the power boat (about 70 km) to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong built huge spider-like tunnels up to 10 feet underground (deeper than that you run into water) first to avoid the French but more extensively to fight the Americans. The entries to the tunnels are so narrow that you have to go down with your hands in the air and move on your knees elbow and shoulders; fortunately, the Vietnamese are small. The living spaces were wider down deeper and they lived there for much of the war with the Americans, about whom they have much to say that is very damning:”Imperialist devils” and so on.

They have widened some of the tunnels and Bill went along a few feet underground bent over at the waist (that’s Bill’s photo, not his rear)-I didn’t go. The whole area was old jungle/forest but the Americans bombed the area completely so their tanks could get through; the new growth is since the war ended. The land is mostly clay so the bombs made craters but didn’t break through to the tunnels. We watched a very old propaganda film which featured the nobility of the Vietnamese and the brutality of the Americans.

We came back by bus and met an Argentinian couple, both engineers who had moved to Perth, Australia to get out of the terrible conditions in Argentina; their description of conditions in Argentina is ghastly. They are interested in buying a place in Spain.

The bus dropped us off at the War Remnants Museum where we saw horrible photos of the tragedy of the war: cruelty in all its forms from body parts, torture, Agent Orange (Napalm)-inflicted misshapen, crippled children and adults over several generations. We couldn’t stand it very long. We walked back to the hotel, had a shower-it’s hot, 35 degrees, walked to another roof-top bar and watched the lights come on in this very modern city where there is building everywhere.

The streets are wider than Hanoi but the numbers of scooters is huge, not to mention the buses, and taxis (few cars) but they are currently building a subway with money from Japan. As with Hanoi, crossing streets is a challenge as you really have to walk out when you see a slight break and keep walking at the same pace and they go around you. The one difference is that they actually stop for traffic lights. Then we went back to the same restaurant and sat on a roof-top patio to have Vietnamese pancakes (crepe-like) filled with seafood and vegetables and a stir-fried vegetable dish. We are eating mostly vegetables here with little meat and some seafood.

Feb 25 Today we walked to the Central Post Office which was designed by Eiffel (of the Eiffel Tour fame), including the barrel ceiling and the photo of Ho Chi Minh.

Then took a taxi to the Jade Emperor Pagoda. The taxi driver ripped us off, actually slipped money out of Bill’s wallet right under his nose, a real slight of hand pro.  A buddhist service was underway and we saw a chapel where the god who decides whether you get out of Hell after 7 days was being worshipped with incense and another god who blesses you with money was being fanned 7 times for men and 9 times for women.

We walked through the Ben Thanh market  with its many vendors, just for the buzz, and continued to the Fine Arts Museum in an elegant colonial-era  building with many impressive paintings and sculptures-this one is a sketch by Nguyen Ga Tri (1908-1993).

Tomorrow is an excursion to the Mekong Delta with a pagoda, floating fish farm, ride in a sampan, a coconut candy-making workshop with a guide and lunch at a riverside restaurant. Monday we leave for Phu Quoc Island for our last week.

Feb 26 We spent the day on a tour out in the Mekong Delta with a group of 9 people from Iceland, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa. Most of the trip we were on boats, large and small, all pretty basic wooden boats. The Mekong River is 3,700 km long, 2nd longest in world and very dirty. We took a large boat across the delta to Unicorn Island, visited a coconut operation making milk, oil, cream, candy, dishes, kitchen implements (they used every part of it) and got on an Sampan and rode down a narrow river to an eco bee operation and then to a bit larger boat up another waterway for lunch – lunch as OK but not great. Again the washrooms are a real challenge.

We rode bikes into the nearby village and were surprised to see both shacks and large houses and very narrow paths that served as streets. We took a small boat to a larger boat and back to the mainland with a refreshment of coconut milk straight from the coconut with a straw in it.  We stopped at a large temple and pagoda and a massive Happy Buddha.

On the trip back Bill asked the guide if he would sing another song as he had sung one on the way out. After about an hour and a half of being entertained by the guide singing a variety of songs to the accompaniment of his taped music (Karaoke style) people were ready to ‘kill bill’. It was a long time sitting from 8:00 to 5:00 and it was hot-34 but it rained on the way back and that dropped the temperature a little.

We went to a great restaurant (very Vietnamese) for dinner recommended by Julie at the Silverland Yen Hotel and it was amazing- delicious egg rolls and super hot pot-about $50  with a beer and glass of wine.

We’re packed for a 9:00 pick up for the airport tomorrow for Phu Quoc Island, less than an hour almost directly west in the Gulf of Thailand where we stay until March 6 for some beach time.

Some thoughts on Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). We really had a great time. The books say that you either love it or hate it. We both liked it and Bill liked it better than Hanoi. We hit the main spots there. We did have the one downer with the taxi driver who stole about $110 – left a very bad feeling but that can happen anywhere.  Overall, we think that there is a big work ethic in HCMC as everyone seems to be working. We saw our first accident on the bus trip to the Mekong-the stats say that there are many.

The city is hectic, very busy with impossible traffic, millions of scooters, with a metro under construction. One guide said that it will look like Shanghai in 10 years. You see a whole family on a scooter-2 adults; 2 kids. It is already very modern with cranes everywhere. There seems to be much dissatisfaction with  China and communism; the guide said: “They do whatever they like.” We feel that we have more knowledge of HCMC as we got outside to the environs with tours to the tunnels and the Mekong. We are starting to add to our repertoire of Vietnamese dishes beyond Pho with  spring rolls, rice dishes and new fruits: dragon, passion, jack fruit, guava. At night the streets are lit up with coloured lights; it’s a bit garish but give a party-like atmosphere.

Feb 27 Phu Quoc: Our flight to Phu Quoc was short-35 min in the air- and the taxi was only about 15 minutes. This is a resort that is a bit tired but right on the beach and we have a room in the main building overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. The first photo shows our room on the right, second floor, and the second, the interior of the room.

A neighbouring resort is under construction with a high tower and other buildings being built so there was some noise. We were facing west so the sunsets were gorgeous. Both photos were taken from our balcony.

The water is calm and warm and we are in there at least twice a day and in the pool once when the full sun comes around to the beach side. It is hot so even a short walk is enough but we walked the beach today later in the afternoon. We have not done much since we got here and are planning a trip to Duong Dong, the nearest town, tomorrow and we’ll see how long we last in the heat.

The food in the restaurant is excellent so far- the breakfast is great and last night we had a dinner of barbecued red snapper (picked your own from a table of fresh fish) with vegetables and rice which was delicious, all at a reasonable price. The tables are right on the beach, about 2 metres from the water.

We find that the local currency is best because VISA charges for each transaction. ATM’s limit your withdrawal amount but in banks there is no limit. It’s important to note that the Vietcom and Emmim Bank charge 3% for the exchange and the Sacombank charges 4%.

Mar 1 We took a tour today. We can’t drive here and it’s for the best as the driving is so hazardous. So tours are the main means to get around. The tour took us to the north of the island which is 48 km long. We visited a pepper farm and an eco bee keeping farm, walked a national park, visited a wine-making facility making wine from myrtle flowers (very strong) and had lunch at a fishing village.

What did we learn about pepper? It grows on vines held up by stakes up to 12 feet high, spaced 4-5 feet apart. They are planted in mounds as they don’t like to sit in water and live 9-12 years. There are 2 crops a year; there are 25-30 seeds are on stems and are ripe when there are red ones. They are picked by hand; stripped from the stems, either by rudimentary machine or by hand; dried in the sun for 4 days; packaged and sold. The pepper crop is small and labour-intensive and so it is only for local use and for tourists and not exported. It’s reputed to be the best in the world so we have bought some to test. The last photo on the right shows the farm building. It is much the same as many of the buildings we’ve seen in Vietnam-corrugated metal roofs and basic side panels with no windows.

It was a full day and we have a better image of the island and met some interesting people. We got back in time to have a swim in the sea and see the sunset.

Some of the interesting facts that we learned today include:

1. People are relocated by the government from the coast so the tourist areas can be developed; they get money to buy the land and build new homes in the pre-planned towns but have no choice about moving.

2. The guide said that he had everything he needs, except money.

3. The Vietnamese don’t travel because they a) have no money, b) get little value when exchanging their Vietnam Dong to other currencies.

4. There are Buddhist temples and there are other temples for honouring war heroes; the country is mostly Buddhist

5. There is massive building here mostly for tourism. The original work for the island has been fishing.  There is no such thing as a fishing licence so anyone with a boat (or a net for that matter) can fish, the result being that the sea is now being over -fished. Also, more of the young are getting educated and expect more amenities.

Our last four days we had the same routine: walked the beach one direction after breakfast, sat on the beach, swam in the sea and read under umbrellas, had lunch, sat at the pool and read, walked the beach in the other direction and went our for dinner in town. On one of the days, we both had a massage on the beach. Very enjoyable if a little public and very inexpensive -$12.

Monday we head for Hanoi and home on Tuesday.

Mar 6 Hanoi. We left Phu Quoc on Vietnam Airlines at 9:50 and arrived at 11:55 am in Hanoi and were picked up by the Spring Flower Hotel airport van. We took a taxi to the Fine Arts Museum which is in an elegant French Colonial building. The artwork and sculptures were amazing. We mention only one but the lacquered wood statue of the thousand-armed and thousand-eyed god Avalokiteshvara (1656) caught our attention.

We had dinner at a restaurant that has a variety of stations for different Vietnamese food, the same one where we had eaten with the guide-a popular restaurant because of the variety. We had the crispy Vietnamese pancakes stuffed with shrimp and vegetables, fresh mussels and a bowl of pho. We took at taxi there but walked back and packed for the last time for going home via Hong Kong.

The flight back was uneventful, just the way we like it.