Hey guys!
This past week has been full of adventures and friends, all
around Vietnam. Stay tuned for adventures in Bến Tre, Ho Chi Minh City and Phú Quốc!
First, in Bến Tre, my student Khang came back to visit! Khang
was one of my best students, arguably the most fluent English speaker in Bến Tre province, period. In early November he got accepted into Cần Thơ
University, which meant no more Khang in my classes :( . But, he came back to Bến Tre
to visit for a few days, and it was great to see him!
Khang demonstrating one of his many magic tricks
Next, on Saturday my friends Tyler and Michelle came to visit! They caught the bus from HCMC to Bến Tre and we spent the afternoon chilling around town. Kim, one of my best students, and her friend Nghi also came along with us. First we went to my favorite restaurant, Truong Ky, and then we headed to Lang Van for a bit of my favorite café.
Nghi, Kim, Michelle and Tyler at Lang Van
Along the way we were cruising on motorbikes and my electric bicycle, with Michelle capably serving as my backseat driver.
Straight chillin'
It was amazing being able to hang out with Americans in Bến Tre. I see the other Fulbrighters so infrequently, and almost never in my home province (except for Lindsay!). That means that, for the most part, my best friends here are never in my most important part of Vietnam.
It was really great to see them again, and even cooler to take them around Bến Tre. Their visit was short, but a lot of fun, and I hope I get to host more Fulbrighters in Bến Tre soon!
With Tyler and Michelle outside of Bến Tre College
Tyler and Michelle left on Saturday, and that evening was a fantastic party with all the teachers from Bến Tre College. Mrs Chau Anh had just finished her Ph.D., so everyone from the English Department and a few people from higher up in the school had shown up to congratulate her.
The party was a lot of fun, a whole lot of delicious food and a lot of very nice people. Mrs. Chau Anh’s husband works in the office of facilities, so there were also a lot of the mechanics there. It was really just a gathering of my main two groups of friends in Bến Tre, so really, impossible not to have fun.
At the party
A big highlight of the party was opening my Mẹ’s Christmas present to the teachers. Mẹ had sent a big Christmas package of chocolate, and the teachers were thrilled to open it up! They were all very pleased that my Mẹ had thought to send them a present for Christmas, and they told me over and over how happy they all were.
Explaining the pine tree branch and picture of my siblings that came with the package to Vice-Rector Phuoc and Rector Cong
Opening the christmas present
I think I have officially been surpassed as Bến Tre’s favorite American.
The weekend in Bến Tre was especially entertaining because it provided two tests of my Vietnamese ability. First of all, I was able to talk with a number of people at the party I haven’t really communicated with before. Secondly, I was asked to be the interpreter for an American (?!?!) who showed up in Lang Van Café on Sunday morning. The man wanted an Americano, and I think I was able to convey the general idea to the waitress.
You never really learn Vietnamese with the intention of speaking with a very drunk Vietnamese man about how incredibly beautiful he thinks married Vietnamese women are, or helping a random American tourist order coffee. But hey, practice is practice, right?
On Sunday afternoon I headed up to Ho Chi Minh City. I had originally planned on heading to Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, then immediately flying out to Phú Quốc, but once I learned that Tyler and Michelle were in Ho Chi Minh City it was time for a sudden plan change.
I caught the bus up to Ho Chi Minh City, checked into a hotel and settled down for a super chill day with my friends. Our itinerary consisted of going to get a snack (Subway),
OH MY GOD GUYS I FOUND SUBWAY
getting coffee, and then hitting up a video store so that Tyler could buy the complete disc set of Golden Girls. A very relaxed day that ended with an amazing Italian dinner and introducing Michelle and Tyler to the wonder and horror that is Saigon’s back-packer filled beer street.
Chilling at a cafe
We also saw a lot of Christmas and New Year's Eve decorations.
This particularly elaborate decoration was outside what I think was a strip club. Go figure.
Another little occurrence in Ho Chi Minh City—I was walking down the street towards Tyler and Michelle’s hotel when I suddenly looked up and saw a tall, long-legged blonde girl walking towards me. “Jess?” I spluttered with some confusion.
Yes, it was in fact Jess, she was here with her entire family and boyfriend. I met all of them, but had to leave after a bit as they were heading off to the Cu Chi tunnels. Don’t worry, dear reader, Jess and her entourage will reappear in the story soon.
I was leaving in the afternoon on Monday, but that still left time for another adventure. Michelle had found the location of a rock-climbing wall, and after a handful of misadventures we successfully found it. I had time to race Michelle up the wall (she absolutely destroyed me) before saying goodbye and heading off to the airport.
Before climbing
Scaling the wall
At the airport I met Quan, who I would be staying with for my time in Phu Quoc. We jumped on the plane and had a quick flight over to our vacation destination.
Ah, Phú Quốc. I had been there only two months before, but it still felt like a new adventure as soon as we landed. We checked into our hotel, the Famiana Village (fantastic facilities and good beach access for relatively cheap prices) and immediately headed to the beach.
Our hotel. Really a fantastic place, with wonderfully helpful and friendly staff.
The beach at Phú Quốc was exactly how I remembered it. Cool and refreshing sand, a light breeze blowing off the ocean, and incredibly calm water. Unlike Vũng Tàu, where the waves slam against the shore with great force, Phú Quốc is as placid as a lake. The sand is cool and calming against your feet, and tourists both foreign and Vietnamese sprawl across the beach with tranquil expressions on their faces. Even the hawkers, selling everything from full seafood dinners to beachside massages, are more relaxed and less aggressive on the beach.
There were two other ETAs traveling through Phú Quốc, and we would meet up with both of them on our travels. First, on our way to the beach we stopped by Claire’s hotel to meet up with her and her friends from back home. Claire was traveling with Stephanie and Erin, two of her friends from TFA in Hawaii. Stephanie and Erin were both really cool, with Erin in particular having an absolutely wonderful sense of humor and a dry dead-pan delivery that could make a stone chuckle.
Claire was also there with approximately the whole foreign contingent of Long Xuyên. I saw Annie, Iris and Anna again, and also met Michael, Daniel and Matthias. We ended up rolling together for parts of the night, reuniting and coming back together at random times of the night.
Erin, Claire, Stephanie and Iris
The first night was New Year’s Eve, so it was of course necessary that we ring in the New Year with as much celebration as possible. Luckily we had a large crew of people wanting to party, and a seemingly endless supply of liquid refreshment. We started out on the beach, then headed to a beachside restaurant for dinner, then came back to our hotels to rest, then headed back to the beach to close out the night.
At dinner
Partying it up in Phú Quốc
With my two Fulbright buddies
Surrounded by friends, on a beautiful beach with the waves gently lapping against the sand, near a beachside bar where the music was loud without being oppressive, watching a giant projector screen count down towards the New Year…it really made me appreciate how much has happened in this year, how thankful I am to my friends and family, and how much 2013 has to live up to its predecessor.
Here’s to a great New Year, blog readers, and thank you for being with me every step of the way!
2012's last sunset
Of course, then on the way back from the beach, Quan and I discovered that there are exactly zero taxis still running in Phú Quốc at 3:30 am. After some desperate and unsuccessful struggles to obtain one, we shrugged our shoulders and began walking the 2 kilometers back to our hotel.
We chatted as we walked down a totally deserted road, exhausted, sore, drunk and ready to fall down asleep.
“I hope this isn’t what the rest of 2013 will be like for us,” Quan observed thoughtfully.
Me too, buddy. Me too.
January 1st was a predictably rough day. In honor of the New Year, Quan and I decided to sleep in until 9:00 am, then woke up to have breakfast. Having finished breakfast, we both decided that the New Year hadn’t been honored enough and so we promptly fell back asleep. We finally woke up at 2:00 pm, fully recovered and ready to face the day.
Determined that we would not let this day go to waste, Quan and I booked a night squid fishing trip for that evening. Then we headed to the beach to catch some sun before our trip.
At the beach we saw Jess again! Jess and her boyfriend Shehan were swimming in the ocean, their hotel was literally across the street from us!
We chatted and caught up with each other, then made plans to go on a snorkeling trip the next day and to get ice cream that evening. Quan and I left to get lunch, and Shehan and Jess went back into the ocean.
After lunch, Quan and I got on a bus to go to the docks and go squid fishing. We took a boat out into the harbor with about twenty other passengers, and a very friendly Vietnamese tour guide who was constantly trying to get me to speak more Vietnamese.
On the deck
Chilling on the boat
The idea in squid fishing is that you wait for night to fall, then turn on the boat’s lights to attract the squid. Then you take an un-baited but brightly colored hook and drop it off the side of the boat. You move the string back and forth, making the hook dance in front of an interested squid. When the squid gets intrigued and tries to snatch the hook, you suddenly have a fresh squid dinner!
Quan fishing
Fishing off the boat
That was the idea anyways. I had no luck catching any squid and neither did Quan. Our tour guide plucked half-a-dozen squid seemingly effortlessly from the water, and despite my attempts to parrot her technique I had no luck. Several other people caught squid, most notably one woman who managed to drag up a squid that started squirting ink everywhere. The squid all tended to jet out water when they were caught, splashing their unwary captors and whoever else was nearby.
Our tour guide with one of the many squid she caught
Despite my failure to catch any squid, I still found myself enjoying the experience. Fishing is such a meditative practice, especially if you have a comfortable seat. I found myself staring out over the dark ocean, listening to the waves and feeling the sea breeze in my hair, moving my line back and forth with metronomic calmness. If no squid found my hook appealing, I think I was fairly at peace with that prospect.
Dinner also helped, as we had a banquet of fresh squid. Squid is one of my favorite seafoods, and I absolutely devoured plates of freshly grilled squid and noodles that were set before us.
After dinner we headed back to shore, and then were deposited back at our hotel. We walked over to Jess’s hotel, then caught a taxi with Jess and her entourage to Buddy’s Ice Cream, a café recommended in Lonely Planet.
In typical Vietnam fashion, we rushed to the café to meet its listed closing time of 9 pm. We got there at 8:45 and asked them if there was time to order. They said that yes, it was fine. We got our ice cream, and then relaxed there until 10:00 pm. When we left the café showed no signs of closing. *shrug
Claire and her friends Stephanie and Erin came to join us at Buddy’s Ice Cream, so for a brief time all the ETAs on Phu Quoc were united. It was sadly short-lived, though, as Claire and her friends were going to be heading back to Long Xuyen the next day. We all had a fun evening hanging out, and I wish I could’ve spent more time chilling with Claire and her gang.
On Wednesday we woke up, got breakfast and got on a boat with Jess and her family and boyfriend to go snorkeling.
On the boat with Kathy (Jess's mom), Kelsey (Jess's sister), Jess and Shehan.
View from the boat
Part of the island's fleet of small boats
We stopped briefly for some fishing (groan). But wait, I actually caught something!
The tiniest fish
It was easily the smallest fish that anyone caught on that trip, and that I think deserves special commendation. Plus, my fish got thrown back into the ocean, so it got to survive the experience, unlike the unluckier larger fish.
Anyways, after fishing we set off again until we reached a small beach. People grabbed flippers and snorkels, and then we jumped into the water.
Shehan, Jess, Myself and Quan with our snorkeling gear
Ah, snorkeling. I have had the good fortune of snorkeling in some exotic locations—Egypt’s Blue Hole, Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas in Mexico—but no matter the location, I have always found snorkeling a magnificent activity. You put your head under the water, inhale through a tube that makes your breathing sound strangely like Darth Vader, and stare out into a world that is thoroughly and fascinatingly alien.
Whole worlds lie underneath you, with denizens that cut through the water with simple grace while you flounder about on top. You kick up your flippers and dive closer, and within a few kicks you are close enough to touch strange corals, writhing plants (or are they animals?) that dance with the water, and brilliantly colored fish that dart away at the very thought of your presence.
The clearest water is murkier than the air, and so it is possible to lose sight of all the other swimmers around you. You view only the world around you, a tiny microcosm of a world unfolding before your eyes. Anything manmade in the ocean stands out as a glaring obstruction, an alien monument, incomprehensible and unnatural. A ship’s anchor, an old fish trap—objects that would barely attract curiosity on the surface—jut out from the sands, looking stranger and more alien than the brain-shaped corals that surround it.
But then your breath grows short, and the pressure builds in your temple, a reminder that this is not your world, and that the very medium of this world is hostile to your existence. You break for the surface, inhaling deeply, and wiping the saltwater from your eyes. Then you put your mask back on and dive back in.
In between our two snorkeling spots we had a delicious lunch on the boat. We also had a lot of time to relax and sunbathe on the top deck. It was really great talking to Shehan, Jess’s boyfriend, Kathy, Jess’s mother, and Kelsey, Jess’s sister. They were all really friendly and a ton of great company on the trip. It was fun talking to them about their experiences in Vietnam so far, and what they thought about the country.
On our second snorkeling stop, we were also allowed to jump off the top of the boat. So I did that. About ten times. I have no regrets.
On the way back in we all laid on the deck and read or sunbathed as our boat cruised back. It was so relaxing that I fell fast asleep, and if it wasn’t for Kathy waking me up, there was a strong probability of me getting stranded.
After snorkeling we took the bus to Sau beach, and relaxed there for a little while before heading back.
Yep, beach is still gorgeous
Chilling on the beach
Photoshoot
That evening we headed our separate ways for dinner, then reunited at Jess’s hotel.
Quan and I stopped for ice cream
It was glorious
We had a relaxing night of drinking champagne (Quan’s present), playing pool and ping-pong while playing dance music in the hotel’s game room. It was a fun night, although I still can’t believe Quan and I lost that game of pool to Kelsey. Gaah.
On Thursday, Quan and I rented a motorbike to go exploring around the island. Last time I was in Phú Quốc there was a kennel that we went to that was overrun with puppies. I was adamant about going back there and seeing the dogs again, and so that was our first destination. We knew the kennel was in An Thới, on the south side of the island.
We set off armed with a tourist map and immediately got horribly lost.
It was, to be fair, not entirely Quan’s fault.
The map we had was pretty terrible, and Quan wanted to avoid taking dirt roads, which was a fair point. However, as I was driving and Quan was navigating, I feel justified in saying it was mostly Quan’s fault.
We ended up on a curving, snaking road that was not on any of the maps, and that cut through dense forest and people’s backyard. The road was not only dirt, it was mostly sand, which made handling the bike almost impossible. Our navigation was confined to Quan yelling “An Thới ở đâu?” (Where is An Thới?) to random people we passed. Driving on a motorbike through a terrible little dirt road...It was actually some of the most fun I’ve had in Vietnam.
This is what the road looked like
Stopping for a water break
Posing with our trusty bike
On the left, nothing but jungle
On our right...basically the same
We finally reached the kennel, and the puppies were exactly as adorable as I remembered. There were actually fewer puppies than last time, and more full-grown dogs. These included a gorgeous tiger-colored dog that I hadn’t seen last time, as well as some of the larger dogs I had seen before. It was a very nice trip, and the owner of the kennel recognized me and asked about my friends (Trevor and Stephen).
Puppies!
Quan chilling with a puppy
This color of dog is literally called "tiger-colored," and it is worth about $1,500
My addiction for cute furry things sated, we set off for our next destination, the Coconut Prison. The Coconut Prison was a prison used by the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces to hold suspected communists. The camp has been thoroughly reconstructed, and it is one of the more interesting places to visit in Phu Quoc.
Finding the prison was a nightmare. The signs for it are nonexistent, so we kept asking people were it was, and then we would keep going until someone told us to backtrack. We finally reached the prison, only to find out it was closed for lunch. Great.
We also found this thing on the way there. Not really sure what it is.
Well, luckily Sao beach was nearby. We went back and relaxed on the beach while we had lunch, then headed back to the prison.
The Coconut Prison is a pretty striking place. They are not shy about depicting torture, either the implements used or wax models recreating various horrible punishments.
The entrance to the compound
The museum, where various tortures are depicted
The recreated camp itself is huge and imposing, sentry towers and barbed wire, with the infamous “tiger cages” and prisoners kept in huge steel sheds.
The "tiger-cages," tiny cages made of barbed wire where prisoners were exposed and unable to move.
A shed that held suspected VC members
I’m not saying I believe in ghosts, necessarily, but that place had some seriously bad ju-ju. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
After the prison, we had originally planned to head north to see the forest, but instead we decided to just head back to the beach. Going around Phu Quoc by motorbike was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I got to see so much more of the island than I did the last time, when we took a taxi to some pre-arranged tourist sites. Cutting through dirt roads, biking through the heart of the island, we saw a lot of wilderness, a lot of people’s houses and a whole different glimpse of the island.
We also got to see a lot of development. Phu Quoc is still relatively undeveloped, except for the stretch of resorts along Long Beach, but that is changing fast. Property has been bought, plans are being laid, and resorts are being planned from end-to-end on the island. All around the island scenes like this are taking place.
I realize there is a debate here between environmental protection and economic development, and I don’t really want to get into a huge discussion. But all I can say is, Phu Quoc is a lot like paradise and people are chopping it down to build resorts.
Roads being cleared
All the trees being cut down
After finishing our motorbike tour we chilled on the beach for a while.
Straight chillin'
Just another day at the beach
One more Phú Quốc sunset
Then we went to get dinner at the night market with Jess, Kathy, Kelsey and Shehan. At the night market there are huge displays of freshly caught fish, shrimp, lobster and clams. You choose what you want to eat, then they throw it on the grill for you.
At the night market
With Quan and Jess making the choices, we had a fantastic seafood feast, all for less than $20 total. We would all be leaving Phu Quoc on Friday, so this was a great way to finish up our stay on the island.
A delicious dinner
After dinner we did a brief tour of the night market and did some shopping, then headed back to our hotels. We said our goodbyes, with much hugs and many promises to see each other again soon. On the way home I successfully convinced Quan to race Jess’s taxi back, and we headed to bed sad that our vacation was over, but thoroughly refreshed.
On Friday Quan was leaving in the morning, but I would be leaving in the afternoon. I said goodbye to Quan, he was an excellent travel buddy and roommate and I would love to travel with him again soon!
After that I spent the rest of the day lounging around the beach. I spent my last few hours in Phu Quoc doing nothing fancy, just relaxing on the beach while reading a book.
Last picture from Phú Quốc
I treated myself to
a lunch at one of the resorts, then caught a cab to the airport. There, there
were as little problem, as my travel agent had booked me for the wrong day. So,
a slightly upsetting situation, but I was still able to get onto the flight on
standby.
My Phu Quoc vacation
was a lot of fun, and I had a great break seeing so many Fulbrighters! Tyler,
Michelle, Quan, Claire and Jess, spending time with just one of you is a treat,
but I felt incredibly spoiled getting to chill with all of you! Phu Quoc
remains one of the coolest places I’ve seen in Vietnam, and it’s really hard to
beat a good day at the beach.
Hell of a way to
ring in the New Year.
Thanks for reading,
see y’all later!
Peace,
Jefferson
*obligatory puppy picture. You're welcome
No comments:
Post a Comment