Crossing into Vietnam from Cambodia was relatively easy (apart from the guy demanding $2 US per person before we could pass, just because he could) after being slightly intimidated we entered Vietnam. I was filled with anticipation and excitement as Vietnam had been on my must list for a long time...the streets instantly changed from bamboo stilt houses of the Cambodian countryside to brick and plaster painted in pastels, a larger degree of wealth was clearly evident. There were so many more people walking the streets each donning a cone shaped bamboo hat and studying us inquisitively. We made our way to Ha Tien where we boarded the ferry to Phu Quoc Island. The boat ride hurled us into culture shock where we quickly learnt that their where going to be a few differences from quiet and chilled back Cambodia/Laos. It was Loud, they where so loud, it was obviously not rude to stare for very long periods of time, there was no such thing as personal space, the young children were confident and chubby and loved to annoy mike by hitting him on the head and taking his sunglasses (I couldn't stop laughing which didn't help the situation). Once arriving on Phu Quoc we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of screaming motorbike drivers wanting to take us to our hotel...it all happened so quickly and all of a sudden I was on the back of a motorbike with my 15kg pack slung over my drivers lap watching Mike disappear in the distance. Wow...it was adrenalin, fear, and a feeling of "this is crazy fun" mixed all into one as we zoomed over bumpy roads to catch up with Mikes driver (who was happily chatting away to Mike in Vietnamese). Our introduction to Phu Quoc, shaped the rest of our stay which resulted in some very memorable motorbike experiences. Phu Quoc was a large beautiful island with a long stretch of beach and paradise coves. Some of the island is slowly becoming a package tourists dream but SLOWLY enough to share the beach with the local kids and dogs still ensuring an authentic experience. On other parts of the island there was dense jungle, and thriving towns, colourful markets with everything from half dead chickens, to cabbage to dogs in cages (soon to be on the table...which I plead ignorance too). We hired a motorbike for 3 days and Mike found it a true rush driving through this crowded marketplace with thousands of honking Vietnamese, while in between cursing I held my breath. One day we set out across the island in search of "Sai Bao" which is described as the most pristine beach in Vietnam. We had had a huge thunderstorm the night before so the roads were quite muddy so the journey took longer than expected but once there it was worth it. The sand was white and the ocean clear as we sat in the warm water watching the dark clouds in the distance roll in. We were quiet happy to be swimming when the rain and mist settled in, the beach transformed into a lord of the rings movie set. Once the salt started to sting our eyes, skin wrinkle, and hair stand up on our arms we ran for shelter as the rain pelted down and wind roared. We had heard about these soaking monsoon rains but our entire trip it had only ever rained for 30 minutes or so each day. This time it was different, cold and threatening. We decided to wait it out and ordered soup to warm us up, there was no way were going to dry out in a hurry. The soup arrived on our table...the consistency of uncooked egg whites with meat, with a stench of fish that had been sitting in the sun. Mike told me it was dog in vomit and that was that, there was no way we could eat it and there was no way Mike was paying $200000 dong for it...all of a sudden I was following Mike, trying to keep up in the stinging rain and wind, weaving behind palm trees hiding from the staff. As soon as we got to our motorbike we knew we were in trouble, it had flooded and we were knee deep in muddy water. Somehow we managed to get the motorbike out and skidded as fast as we could away from that place. 1km down the road we realised that we had successfully "done a runner" from dog in vomit in the torrential monsoon rain on a flooded back street in Vietnam and it was hallirious. It wasn't entirely over though, it poured for 5 hours straight, some roads were impassable, we were drenched,freezing and muddy, and Mike had to pull out some serious motocross skills to get us home in one piece. After warming up back at our hotel I realised that was one of the most adventured packed, adrenaline filled afternoons I had ever had.
Crossing into Vietnam from Cambodia was relatively easy (apart from the guy demanding $2 US per person before we could pass, just because he could) after being slightly intimidated we entered Vietnam. I was filled with anticipation and excitement as Vietnam had been on my must list for a long time...the streets instantly changed from bamboo stilt houses of the Cambodian countryside to brick and plaster painted in pastels, a larger degree of wealth was clearly evident. There were so many more people walking the streets each donning a cone shaped bamboo hat and studying us inquisitively. We made our way to Ha Tien where we boarded the ferry to Phu Quoc Island. The boat ride hurled us into culture shock where we quickly learnt that their where going to be a few differences from quiet and chilled back Cambodia/Laos. It was Loud, they where so loud, it was obviously not rude to stare for very long periods of time, there was no such thing as personal space, the young children were confident and chubby and loved to annoy mike by hitting him on the head and taking his sunglasses (I couldn't stop laughing which didn't help the situation). Once arriving on Phu Quoc we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of screaming motorbike drivers wanting to take us to our hotel...it all happened so quickly and all of a sudden I was on the back of a motorbike with my 15kg pack slung over my drivers lap watching Mike disappear in the distance. Wow...it was adrenalin, fear, and a feeling of "this is crazy fun" mixed all into one as we zoomed over bumpy roads to catch up with Mikes driver (who was happily chatting away to Mike in Vietnamese). Our introduction to Phu Quoc, shaped the rest of our stay which resulted in some very memorable motorbike experiences. Phu Quoc was a large beautiful island with a long stretch of beach and paradise coves. Some of the island is slowly becoming a package tourists dream but SLOWLY enough to share the beach with the local kids and dogs still ensuring an authentic experience. On other parts of the island there was dense jungle, and thriving towns, colourful markets with everything from half dead chickens, to cabbage to dogs in cages (soon to be on the table...which I plead ignorance too). We hired a motorbike for 3 days and Mike found it a true rush driving through this crowded marketplace with thousands of honking Vietnamese, while in between cursing I held my breath. One day we set out across the island in search of "Sai Bao" which is described as the most pristine beach in Vietnam. We had had a huge thunderstorm the night before so the roads were quite muddy so the journey took longer than expected but once there it was worth it. The sand was white and the ocean clear as we sat in the warm water watching the dark clouds in the distance roll in. We were quiet happy to be swimming when the rain and mist settled in, the beach transformed into a lord of the rings movie set. Once the salt started to sting our eyes, skin wrinkle, and hair stand up on our arms we ran for shelter as the rain pelted down and wind roared. We had heard about these soaking monsoon rains but our entire trip it had only ever rained for 30 minutes or so each day. This time it was different, cold and threatening. We decided to wait it out and ordered soup to warm us up, there was no way were going to dry out in a hurry. The soup arrived on our table...the consistency of uncooked egg whites with meat, with a stench of fish that had been sitting in the sun. Mike told me it was dog in vomit and that was that, there was no way we could eat it and there was no way Mike was paying $200000 dong for it...all of a sudden I was following Mike, trying to keep up in the stinging rain and wind, weaving behind palm trees hiding from the staff. As soon as we got to our motorbike we knew we were in trouble, it had flooded and we were knee deep in muddy water. Somehow we managed to get the motorbike out and skidded as fast as we could away from that place. 1km down the road we realised that we had successfully "done a runner" from dog in vomit in the torrential monsoon rain on a flooded back street in Vietnam and it was hallirious. It wasn't entirely over though, it poured for 5 hours straight, some roads were impassable, we were drenched,freezing and muddy, and Mike had to pull out some serious motocross skills to get us home in one piece. After warming up back at our hotel I realised that was one of the most adventured packed, adrenaline filled afternoons I had ever had. 
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