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Other Hot Pots weren't nearly as hard to assemble. Shrimp, squid, actual fish fillets, are all familiar to us and by the last dinner on Phu Quoc our waitress complemented us on how well we know how to eat Hot Pots. Please note the chicken pecking under our feet...
Another fun way to dine is to order BBQ. We went out for BBQ with Tim on his last night on the island for farewell dinner and drinks. Similar to a Hot Pot, you get to cook your food. A small bucket lined with cement is brought to your table with burning charcoal inside and topped with a wire grilling surface. You pick your protein and out come the side vegetables and rice. We opted for beef, which comes as very lean, thin slices, and frogs which come gutted and chopped into several pieces. The frog came to the table first so we tossed it on the grill. The three of us get lost in conversation when a woman, who was obviously the boss that night, comes to our table explaining that they will cook the frog for us. She tells us that frog is very difficult to cook and that they see foreigners mess it up all of the time, while turning a few pieces revealing the burnt undersides. Another lesson learned but we still got to cook our own beef.
Having our scooter rented for a few more days, we took some time exploring the island. We discovered a really nice beach on the other side of the island that was loaded with Vietnamese tourists making for an interesting place to see how others vacation. The beach was really crowded and didn't have much shade so we walked to a far end and settled in the shade of a palm tree. We found some bamboo which could be used as Devil Sticks and had a tennis ball to throw around while swimming. While sitting on the beach, a local guy came out of the jungle with a branch of green berries. Asking what they were, he offered some to us to try. He ate one and we followed his lead. I'm not sure if he was playing a trick on us, but these things were nasty! They absorb all of the moisture out of your mouth and taste like poison. Not wanting to insult him, we pretended they were good and he went on his way. Moving on from the beach we noticed just how much construction is underway. Billboards everywhere showing new development plans and huge resorts mimicking images of Dubai. Beth kept singing the "Little Boxes" song from Weeds as we drove around. Phu Quoc will be a totally different place with tourism growing so rapidly. We visited Phu Quoc Prison which only has a few remaining barracks from when the island was used as a internment camp for captured North Vietnamese. There were 45 detailed methods of torture used with statues to demonstrate each method. Deeper into the undeveloped parts of the island lay fishing villages where the road turns to a hard red clay with some serious ruts. Any child we passed would yell, "HELLO!!" All but the one who was too busy crying so hard and making the saddest face but still found the energy to wave at us. Taking the scooter on this road was a challenge and with daylight fading and the high possibility of popping a tire, it took forever to get back to a paved road. By the end, we were both covered in red dust with Frida-like eyebrows.
- 2:59 AM
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