I woke up at 4 am and took a taxi to the airport to fly to Phu Quoc Island. This is one of the hottest places to go at the moment where tourism is not too developed yet. Most of the beaches here are clean with white sand and blue water and not big waves. Anyway, it was a pleasant flight and I arrived safely after 50 minutes from Saigon. Thanh Kieu Resort sent a member of their staff to pick me up from the airport and I don't think I could have found the hotel without him, because the roads here are confusing and he had to turn down many narrow lanes with just enough space for a car or a couple of motorbikes.
It's really quiet in Phu Quoc at 7 am and everything seemed still sleepy. I went down to the hotel's private beach for breakfast as I had to wait until 11. 30 am for my room. I met a German guy who was also waiting for his room. The receptionist came to the restaurant to meet me to give me some travel tips about Phu Quoc and he reckoned that we should hire a cab for half a day to discover the south of Phu Quoc for $15 each and I think that's not a bad idea. I agreed with that and started the trip with the stranger from Germany who is not really fluent in English but I was sure we would have a good day.
The car came in 20 minutes which was so fast as I thought it would take him at least 45 mintues to prepare. The diver was a really helpful and friendly man as he gave me all the information about Phu Quoc, where to go after the tour, what to eat and where are the best and cheapest places to eat, and any other places of interest.
To be continued
2 comments:
Wow,Such a nice place to be. You are such a lucky guy on earth
Mary
Hello VNGod,
I love reading yor blog. I am planning my 5th trip to VN in December 2009 and plan to fly to Phu Quoc from December 29 to January 1.
Already most of the hotels I contacted directly report they are fully booked. I wrote to Thanh Kieu and Mr. Anh replied that both beachfront and garden bungalows are available. I asked him to reserve a beachfront room and he did.
Next day he wrote that mistake was made - we are moved to garden room - whic is disappointing but ok.
I asked a travel agency if they could find any rooms. First they said no. Then they said yes but showed me rates that are double what you see on the internet. They even quoted Thanh Kieu at double my reservation cost.
So I am very nervous. It is me, my husband and 7 year daughter. We have 14 days in VN and 3 in Phu Quoc. I don't want to arrive and be told there is another mistake and we do not have a room. I am scared we would have a very hard time finding a room so close to New Year's Eve. Plus we would hve to hire a motorbike to go find another room and don't want a $10 backpaker place with cold shower, no fan and bad bed.
What do you think?
many thanks - Ellen in Philadelphia
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