A little known island (for now) just off the South West coast of Vietnam but in fact closer to Cambodia which can be see on a clear day, and it's one of the few places in Vietnam where you can watch a sunset.
We stayed at La Veranda on the west coast. It's a truly glorious hotel exuding calm and gentle efficiency. Colonial in style set on the beach and sitting in luxurious tropical gardens. It's the best hotel on the island and as we had the best room in the hotel then suffice to say we must have been in the best room on the island! We had the La Veranda Suite which is spacious and beautifully furnished. French style patterned tiles on the floor, plantation shutters on the windows, a comfy 4 poster canopied bed with soft pillows, a huge bathroom with two sinks, large bath and a walk in shower. It had it's own wide verandah with comfy wicker chairs and loungers and then the beach separated only by a small area of garden. We loved it and who wouldn't and a perfect place to finish our trip of a lifetime.
Our 6 days on the island were fun and restful and it was really rather lovely to unpack our suitcases and not have to re-pack them again for a while. For the first 3 or 4 days we didn't venture very far at all, but lazed around the pool and on the beach with just a short wander up or down the sand to little restaurants at mealtimes, or ate at the lovely garden restaurant at the Veranda. The hotel is wonderfully situated on it's own piece of private beach. It also has a gorgeous pool with dark blue tiles and hovering above the water are small dragonflies of the exact same colour blue. The hotel have thought of everything! The staff are so incredibly attentive. The majority are from the island and we were told that training is very extensive during the low season and it shows - the service is exemplary.
On Saturday evenings the hotel has a beach barbecue which is both delicious and incredibly romantic. The tables are moved onto the beach and arranged along the seashore and laid with white table cloths, the best crockery and glasses and of course candles. A wonderful buffet of salads and delicious local fish and shellfish are arranged in a boat with an ice sculpture as it's centre piece. There's also delicious marinaded beef and chicken dishes, noodles and wonderful tiny desserts so that you could have several without feeling too guilty!
The hotel loves to give their guests little treats, usually in the form of something yummy and sweet and which we came to look forward to. Late morning they would come with cold towels and a small dessert to the beach and pool or wherever you happened to be sitting. And mid-afternoon the same thing would happen and there would always be a little treat in your room when you returned from dinner that had been put there by the turn-down staff.
Either side of the hotel along the beach there is an abundance of small restaurants serving great and very reasonably priced vietnamese food. Easy to have dinner and several beers for $5-$10. Our favourite was Mai's House where we ate several times. The ribs we especially liked which they cooked in honey and also with lemongrass. Yum.
On the beach you could have a massage. Local girls had set up Sun beds at various points. The girls were very funny and quite persistent. A constant call as you passed "you want massage, me #1, accompanied by a vigorous chopping motion! Watching them walk up and down and work on the beach would make us laugh as they dressed as if it were a cold day in the UK - scarves, jumpers, pedal-pushers,hats, masks over their mouths and socks with flip flops. They chattered to each other constantly making it very difficult to enjoy their promise of a relaxing experience!
In town each evening there is the 'Night Market'. Lots of little stalls serving true Vietnamese food. We feasted on clams baked on the BBQ and lovely spring rolls which you put together yourself and always washed down with some local beer. It was great and we wished we'd discovered it earlier.
We hired a guide for half a day almost out of guilt as we'd hardly moved from the tranquil surroundings of the Hotel. In our air conditioned taxi and with guide Hua ([pronounced how)in La Veranda uniform we headed to the north of the island. Our first stop was a fish sauce factory which is extremely famous on the island. Huge wooden barrels each filled with ten tons of Anchovies! - what a pong but fascinating. We bought two tiny bottles to bring home but we had to leave them on our verandah at the hotel because even though they were completely sealed and wrapped in plastic they smelt dreadful and we had visions of arriving home with them having permeated everything in our suitcase - that's if the sniffer dogs at Heathrow hadn't got us first.
Next stop a pepper plantation. We had visited one in the Central Highlands but being further south it is warmer so the peppercorns were far more advanced in their growth and so here we had the opportunity to buy some. The farming as with most crops in Vietnam is hugely labour intensive, harvesting, watering and the like are carried out by hand.
Our third stop was a short walk into the rainforest which is now protected. Some very unusual trees. One I particularly loved. It was tall and strong with big nobbles like footholds, as if it was inviting people to climb into its branches.
We drove for a while and then stopped at a small village on the beach, here a longtail boat took us out to a fish farm floating offshore. It was basically a few planks of wood tied and nailed together floating about on plastic barrels. This basic construction housed two fish farmers and 4 pools where they were rearing the fish. Apparently they stay in the same place for 3-6 months then get towed into fresh waters. Not sure they move very far, just round the island a bit, they had lived on the floating farm for five years.
Finally we reached a beautiful beach just north of Long Beach. Hardly a soul on it. The sea looked so inviting but when we waded into the crystal waters there were hundreds of hard jelly type sacs floating in it, about two inches long and hollow with a small black "egg" inside. We decided that these were probably squid egg sacs.
When we returned to the hotel we realised that Hua isn't in fact a guide at all but one of the front desk supervisors which the juniors found highly amusing and wanted to know whether their boss made a good tour guide. As a young man of 23 from the island of Phu Quoc his career is going well. When we were driving around Susan Boyall came on the radio who is currently very popular in Vietnam. Interested to see who else is making the Phu Quoc airwaves we asked if he knew of Lady Gaga, he said he did but much preferred Susan!
The island has an abundance of squid and fishermen go out every evening in their boats which are specially designed with 6-8 powerful lights to shine down onto the water to attract the squid to the waters surface and aid their capture. Around full moon the fishermen don't bother going out as their ploy doesn't work as it's too light everywhere. During the day other fishermen are all busy hauling in the fish either to eat, sell at market or for the fish farms.
Finally it was time to leave our luxury beach residence and head to Bangkok for the last leg of our incredible journey
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