VIETNAM - Phu Quoc - Part 1

Next on my list was the island of Phu Quoc (pronounced foo kook) south of Vietnam. The flight from Ho Chi Minh City was very short... 30 minutes! But I almost missed my flight because I didn’t understand the intercome people when they changed the gate. But luckily other foriegners didn’t get the message either so they waited. Once I landed I quickly hopped on a motorbike taxi balancing my huge backpack in between me and the driver. But I made it just in time to see the sun low in the sky as I drive to the small town of Duong Dong. It was such a relief to be out of a bustling city like Ho Chi Minh! I got to the hotel and change quickly into my beach ware to go run to the water to see the sunset. I dove right into the water as the sun disappear and I must admit I did a little dance because I was so happy. The water was warm and salty, but perfect. I got out and walked Long Beach until I decided to explore the little town. There are no maps of this island so I just wandered off into the dark streets following the crowds to see where it lead me, and in doing this I found the Phu Quoc Night Market! So many lights and vendors selingn interesting stuff, from flavored nuts, clothes, seafood, sourvenora, and my favorite... ICE CREAM! They had two types of ice cream, the flavored ice cream rolls and classic coconut milk ice cream which was bomb! Got it ever night on the island. I could decided what to get for dinner so I got ice cream. The next day I was up early and got breakfast at my hostel which was two eggs and a large baguette, which was so good since I haven’t had eggs in a while and it was nice to taste something familiar. I also order a traditional Vietnamese coffee which has sweetened condensed milk in it. And oh my god, THE BEST COFFEE EVER!!!!!!! Sorry Cuba but the Vietnamese have won this war. I wanted a second glass but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep for 3 days with the amount of caffeine and sugar it had. After breakie I walked the street to find the beach entrance and marked my territory for the rest of the morning laying in the sun and doing an occasional dip/snorkel in the ocean. I found so many sand dollars! But don’t worry I made sure they were dead if I took them. Although laying on the beach can get a little tiresome I decided to explore the beach a little more and I found myself walking into resorts and laying by there very fancy pools. And no one noticed! So I was using high end resort facilities without having to pay which was pretty awesome. I started to get hungry so I found a cheap spot which lead to an encounter which would change the fate of my night. As I sat down at the resturant a Russian man was just finishing and gave me a recommendation of what to eat. I didn’t listen and got something else but he was very friendly it seemed. I got steamed rice, grilled eggplant, and a papaya smoothie which was soooooo good!! I soon went into a food coma/sunburn coma so I went back to my hostel to sleep. I slept till sunset! And I walked the beach until I found a sunset bar which is where I ran into the Russian guy again! He wanted to buy me a drink at the bar so I took advantage and asked for one of those cliche coconut drinks. But I told the guy I was from Canada for some reason and good thing I did because he started to rant to me how much he hated the US... I also managed to tell him I was a lesbian just so he knew I wasn’t interested in him, because he was more than twice my age. I didn’t expect things to last log but then again I was wrong. He insisted on taking me to dinner and riding on his motorbike. Since I couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough I had to go along. On the bike we go to the Night Market and the whole way was him trying to convince me to not be a lesbian. We got to the resturant and it was really expensive so I just kept taking advantage of the opportunity of having a free meal so I got the most expensive fish! The whole dinner though was listening to him talking about is “illegal” smuggling business in Russia. He says he can’t be too specific about it but I was basically shitting myself the entire time because he kept a saying how he doesn’t like Americans and he doesn’t understand why I said I like girls. I had to keep making up stories of growing up in Canada, though I don’t know anything of the country. Risky business! But oh well! After dinner we walked the market and he bought me coconut ice cream, fruit, and jewelry. I guess you could say I had a Russian mafia pimp for a night. I was stuffed to the brim with food and was getting tired so I asked him to take me home. He let me drive is motor bike too! After we dropped me off I couldn’t finally take a breath and realize what I had just endured. Know I had to avoid him in this small town...