A long weekend in Phu Quoc - Day 1, Part 2

Georgia and Mackenzie were exhausted from the early start but we decided to keep them up until lunch time. What could be more refreshing than a stroll along the beach, collecting seashells and building sand castles?

Well, the girls didn't want anything to do with the sand or the stroll! The intention had been to walk the 3 kms along Long Beach to Duong Dong town, but they decided it wasn't safe to walk on the sand because they'd get hit by the waves!

Admittedly the water was a little rough (the red flags were up which meant proceed with caution!) but the water was nowhere near us. That didn't stop them from screaming as we tried to unsuccessfully coax them along the beach. After a painful 10 minutes we gave up and went back to the resort! Grrrr!

So while Rob took the girls for a swim in the pool, I headed back onto the beach to explore. I turned left out of the resort towards a few shack-style bars and restaurants to see if there was somewhere we could take the girls for lunch.

There were a few options fronting some rustic looking hotels (i.e. backpacker style!) with a couple serving up cheap Vietnamese food and offering beachside massages and tour services. Unfortunately as the tide was on its way in, I knew there was no way I'd get the girls to sit and eat lunch on the beach so I went back to the pool.

Bungalow dining on Long Beach

As an aside, the state of the beach in some spots on my walk was disgusting with lots of litter washed up onto the sand and floating in the water. It's disheartening to realise that the more upmarket resorts, such as La Veranda, clearly take the time to sweep the area of beach fronting their own hotel but don't bother to take care of the sand only a few metres away.

Back at La Veranda we met another expat couple, currently living in Hong Kong, travelling with their 17-month-old son. We made plans to meet up again after lunch and nap time.

This afternoon we took a taxi with fellow travellers David, Alex and son Hugo to visit some of Phu Quoc's tourist sights. First stop was Nuoc Mam Hung Thinh (near Duong Dong town markets), Phu Quoc's largest fish sauce factory. Ok, not exactly a likely place for sightseeing but given the sauce is touted as Vietnam's best (and we eat it almost every day) I was keen to see how it was made.

Unfortunately unless you take a guide along with you, or speak Vietnamese, there isn't anyone to give you an explanation of how the sauce is produced. But spend a few minutes in the shed with the giant wooden vats holding the festering nuoc mam and there's a good chance that you won't want to stay long anyway!

Fish sauce vats

The shop at the factory sells a range of the fish sauce, as well as other dried fish goodies. You can buy a 600ml bottle for only 40,000 VND but, beware, this is a trap for tourists. Your fish sauce will be confiscated at the domestic terminal by Vietnam Airlines because of its "smelly" and "corrosive" ingredients! Even if you do manage to sneak it through, if you're heading overseas it's unlikely that any airline will let you carry it. In short, don't bother!

Our next stop was a pepper farm. Yes that's right - from fish sauce to pepper - we were on a culinary tour of Phu Quoc! Vietnamese will tell you that Phu Quoc black pepper is among the world's best and a visit to one of the island's many pepper farms will give you a chance to see how it is grown as well as an opportunity to buy the product (most working farms have a stall at the front).  

Again, it would have been great to have a guide to explain how the pepper was grown, but our friendly taxi driver cum tour guide Mr Van Khoa did his best with his limited English!

Exploring the pepper garden

The three toddlers seemed to be coping with the confines of the taxi so Mr Van Khoa convinced us to continue further south to the Ham Ninh traditional fishing village.

For those of us living in Vietnam it was a bit of "same, same" in the bustling village, but the kids loved watching the vendors handling and selling the live seafood. Georgia and Mackenzie were particularly taken with the tanks of tiny seahorses.

The highlight of Ham Ninh is a walk along the pier at the end of the village market. Take the perfect tourist photo of the Phu Quoc fishing boats floating in the waters off the village; see starfish swimming in the crystal clear waters the island has become famous for; watch local fisherman load their catch onto the pier and enjoy the spectacle of the local kids playing soccer on a sand bar. 

As the sun was setting we headed back to La Veranda for dinner at the hotel and an early night, ready for another day of exploring tomorrow.

Travel tip: as the tourism industry grows on Phu Quoc there are more options for tours of the island. Most of the hotels offer their own tours, and there are a selection of smaller tour agencies around town. Another option is to grab a map of the island, book a taxi and do a tour on your own. This is a good idea if you have young children as it allows you to build your own itinerary and gives you the option of heading back to your hotel if the kids become cranky! Today we used local taxi company "Sasco". Two of the main taxi companies on the island, Sasco and Mai Linh, will offer you a set price for a trip (generally 550,000VND for 4 hours and 50,000VND per hour thereafter) or you can just pay by the meter.