Phu Quoc Island

Ahhhhh, Phu Quoc Island. Phu Quoc Island sits in the Gulf of Thailand just below Cambodia (incidentaly, Cambodia claims it). It is pretty quiet these days. There are a few towns and tourist attractions here (like a fish sauce factory and pepper tree plantations), but we have mostly stuck to the long white sand beaches . . . an excellent place for us to recharge our travel batteries.The first two days here were spent on the beach in front of our hotel reading, playing chess, swimming and just vegging out. We are staying at an excellent place- $8 a night buys a simple but nice bungalow-type room about 50 feet from the ocean, $.65 buys an ice cold bottle of Saigon Beer, $2 buys a good meal, and the long beautiful (nearly abandoned) white sand beach out front is free. An excellent place to sit and enjoy complete peace and quiet. We were disturbed only by the occasional fruit vendor, a woman offering massages (I took her up on it), and a herd of cows.The Vietnam government has evidently recognized the earning power of this place-- and there are plans for further development (we saw quite a bit of construction), an international airport, and a visa-free zone. Can't blame people for trying to make a decent living, but we definitely feel lucky to have gotten here before it turns into Phuket.Unfortunately, the good weather did not last. The last two days have been unseasonably rainy and grey. No complaints, though- we have not seen any real rain since New Zealand. It was kind of comforting to sit under the veranda and listen to the rain and feel the ocean breeze. Today it was nice enough for us to rent a motorcycle and ride around the island a little. If you take a close look at the picture above, you may notice something new on Andrew's left wrist. . . here, let me give you a closer look:Yup, in a small market in a small town at a small booth in the Mekong Delta Andrew finally found the classic Cassio calculator watch he's been looking for. It's a brilliant fashion statement AND has a multitude of everyday uses (it has already been extremely handy for currency conversions.Tomorrow we will go back to Saigon and then head north up the coast. We're hoping this trip has added enough to our reserve of energy and enthusiasm to make it through the next few months and still be glad we're traveling. The distances we are planning to cover on the rest of our trip through Vietnam, China, Mongolia, and Russia are much greater than what we've gotten used to in Thailand, Lao and Cambodia. . . and we still plan to make it over land. It is a rewarding way to travel, but mostly it appeals to our stubborn (and cheap) sides. I have a feeling exhaustion or lack of time might cause us to pony up the extra cash for a flight somewhere in China.