Phu Quoc Island

Ok so a few more photos of Phu Quoc Island.  We splashed out and stayed in a really fancy place and somehow we all got upgraded to presidential suites! The resort was called Saigon Phu Quoc and it was a really great place to stay.

The beds were HUGE.

We went to a couple of pearl farms on the island.  The had so many different sizes and colours of.

There is a pepper plantation on the island.  They let you wander around and have a look at the trees but there is no formal tour as such (there is really no tourism industry set up on the island).  The also sold some products at the farm, a really nice mix of salt and pepper that you commonly see on the tables at restaurants (usually it has salt, pepper and msg and then you squeeze lime over it and dunk your food into it) and a pepper paste that we have used since we have been home as a coating on steak. Delish!

It was amazing to see the place so untouched by tourism... yet.  I wonder if I came back in ten years if I would recognise it? This photo is on the way back from the pearl farm, lots of tiny shack type houses along the beach, dirt roads and not another tourist in sight.

There is a famous fish sauce factory on the island - again no formal tour in place but they let you go in and walk around.  The smell is COMPLETELY OVERPOWERING - fish sauce is pretty much just made from rotting fish after all....!

We had to get up and have a look in the big vats at the fish sauce fermenting.  There is only about half our group here - the other half were a fair distance away avoiding the smell!

Cocktails on the beach. 

One of the guys was sick while he was over there and opted for some traditional medicine to help him get better - this is the aftermath of 'cupping'.  From what I understand hot cups are placed on the skin and as they cool they suck the toxins out of the body (and leave funny looking spots).  Its not my cup of tea but he seemed to think it helped him so there you go!


Leaving the resort to fly to Saigon... they gave us cool hats so we had to get a photo.....

The boys too!