In between my two classes, Elseline and I took a three-day weekend to the island of Phu Quoc beneath the border of Vietnam and Cambodia. The flight is only 40 minutes from Saigon. Domestic travel is completely open, with public international flights still banned with the exception of Vietnamese nationals.
Upon arriving to the beachside resort, we threw on our bathing suits and strolled off to the beach before the usual late afternoon rain settled in. In the evening, we went to the night market to grab some fresh grilled shrimp, snails, and clams. The sounds of loud chopping filled the streets with the Thai ice cream rollers preparing bowls for onlooking customers. Look it up if you don’t know what I am talking about, it’s quite the spectacle.
The next day was the highlight of our trip. My parents gifted us a private tour in a 1972 US Army Jeep that was used during the war for my birthday. The island is a mix of fancy resorts built along the coasts with underdeveloped roads and small mountains inland. It would only take about 90 minutes to drive from North to South and 30 from East to West at the widest point. We explored stops in the North of the island including a bee farm, pepper farm, Starfish Beach (out of season unfortunately), the national park, and various other spots that kept us surprised. In the middle of the forest, our guide let both of us drive the Jeep for a while. I took about 10 minutes to even be able to start it but got the hang of it enough if I focused all my attention on the clutch. Driving a US Army Jeep through a Vietnamese forest felt both strange and exhilarating.
After our Jeep tour, we enjoyed some live music on the deck of our resort that outstretched over the rocks with water crashing into them below us. The owner happened to be at the resort and invited everybody who remained to join them for wine and conversation. She usually lives about 3 minutes away from me in Saigon. I have eaten at both of her restaurants even. It was a nice way to end the day.
On our day of departure, we still had until 6:30pm, so we rented a motorbike and I drove us down an hour south to a popular beach down there. We spent the day before it began to rain about an hour before we left. I threw on my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the wind and rain and drove us back to catch out flight. It was a fun adventure.
We had a great trip together. Now, back to college again.