Quoc Continued (Special Guest Writer: Ryan)

2:59 AM

Family friends of ours, Monica and Tim, came to Phu Quoc during their holiday vacation time for the Lunar New Year called Tet. They both teach English at language centers in different parts of Vietnam. It was great to meet up with some people we know and pick their brains a bit. Monica was thrilled to be in Phu Quoc because it has been so cold up north. They both decided to get their SCUBA certifications during their trip, so Beth and I signed up to join them on both days of their dives.

On the first day of diving, we went to the northern sites. A boat picked us up at the beach we were staying near and took us to Turtle Island. The visibility was much less than what we experienced in Thailand but the water was really calm and the diving was easy. On the second day, we went to the southern dive sites. The scenery at these sites was wonderful with big rock formations scattered throughout the bright blue water. Underneath the surface was a totally different story. The conditions were much worse with only 1-3 meters of visibility and a strong current. It was great practice for us since we were pretty spoiled in Thailand, having 30 meters of visibility and weak currents if any. Although conditions weren't ideal, diving in Phu Quoc was a great experience. The corals are very healthy and colorful, but there is much fewer fish than expected. The Dive Masters on the boat made a few comments mentioning that if we wanted to see the fish, we'd have to go to the local night market. The market was full of restaurants with tons of fresh fish on ice displayed. As tourism grows on the island, more and more fishermen are earning a living supplying restaurants with seafood. This plus the fish sauce industry Phu Quoc is famous for, have diminished sea populations and conservation efforts are just getting started.

There was a local carnival in full swing for the Lunar holiday. It begins with rows among rows of different plants and flowers traditionally given over Tet, very similar to the Christmas tree stands we have at home in December. Behind the flowers and plants were a few carnival rides and games like homemade ring toss and Plinko for children but the main attraction was the show on stage. On stage were two transsexual women in short sparkle dresses and platform high-heels. They were singing a song which we figured out to be a continual jingle used to call out numbers drawn similar to Bingo. The woman in the gold dress gave us a smile and wink while waving her arm welcoming us to join the audience. We watched the women take turns singing the jingle until someone finally had "BINGO" and walked to the stage to claim his prize. We're not 100% certain on what the entire prize package was but it contained a standing fan, tin of crackers, and a bunch of what looked like ramen noodle packs. It was great to see such joy brought to the man for winning ordinary household items. It reminded us of what our parents would put in our stockings on Christmas. While walking to our scooter, we noticed a family following us with big curious eyes and wide smiles. When we got to our scooter the family handed over their children for us to take pictures with... No problem! Not a word of communication between us but after at least 50 pictures of us with the kids, then Beth with all of the women, and me with all of the men, we were on our way back to our rural bungalow. Saturday night was the big Tet celebration with a concert and really really impressive fireworks. By the end of the next week, all of the festivities were over and gone but the sidewalk karaoke parties never end.

Having Monica and Tim to hang with really helped in figuring out how to eat here. We discovered Hot Pots and pretty much ordered one for dinner each night after. Hot Pots are meant for sharing and became a way to try many menu items while keeping the meal affordable. They put a burner on the table and bring out a big pot of broth to start boiling. Then they bring whichever ingredients are included with the Hot Pot ordered which include a protein, different veggies, herbs, chili peppers, and either rice or rice noodles. Once the broth is boiling, you just dump all the goodies in, let it cook, and make individual small bowls of soup. On our first solo attempt at a Hot Pot, we had no idea what each ingredient brought to us was. It came with a fish paste on the bottom of the plate topped with a sliced green vegetable called bitter melon. Our waiter turned on our burner and walked away so we figured it was time to start dumping in our stuff. At the time, we thought the fish was just two or three fillets laying next to each other, rather than the paste it actually was. An older man walking around, who was obviously the boss, shouted out to our waiter to come help us since we were about to do it all wrong. We learned that we were to turn the plate to it's side and spoon hot broth onto the paste while breaking off chunks to cook. The fish paste turned out like a fish sausage dumpling and wasn't bad. The bitter melon was GROSS! It is indeed very bitter and Beth wasn't able to keep it in her mouth for a second before having to spit it out. I figured that the longer we cooked it the easier it would be to eat, but that wasn't the case. What did work was filling my bowls of soup with a ton of fresh chili's. After starting a fire in my mouth, I ate every piece of bitter melon in the pot.

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.