Frog’s legs, minibuses and Vietnam

After our night on Koh Rong we travelled back to the Cambodian mainland, arriving around 5PM. We only had one last night in Sihanoukville before leaving for Vietnam first thing the next morning so we decided to stay in the Serendipity beach area rather than head back to peaceful Otres. When we arrived at our guesthouse I handed over my booking confirmation from Agoda only to be met with looks of confusion… I had booked a stay for the 30th March. It was the 10th. This is what happens when you get so relaxed you forget what day it is! Luckily they DID still have rooms, which were lovely, so we settled in. As we were having an early night ahead of our travels the next day, dinner was pretty much the only thing on the agenda. We headed to a place called Manoha which is listed as one of the top budget places on trip advisor. The restaurant serves traditional Cambodian food with some French dishes. We spotted frog’s legs on the menu and decided to give them a go. To go along with the cliche, they really DO taste a lot like chicken, just less meaty and more bony. So we had our frogs legs, a beer or two and went to bed.

Jack about to demolish a frog’s leg:

When we were picked up the next day we quickly realised we had got a bit of a crap deal as the minibus was going all the way to Vietnam and we were the last people to be collected, so we had to sit on the temporary fold down chairs at the very back. The bus was so full that all of our luggage had to be tied to the open boot with ropes. It was a tight squeeze. When it looked like they were going to try to squeeze another person on to the bus a huge Russian guy exploded that perhaps they could sit on his head before shooing them away – tensions were running high! Jack and I decided to entertain ourselves by taking photos of people carrying ridiculously large items on bikes and motorbikes.

Anyone for supernoodles?

This vehicle better not reverse:

Eventually, we crossed the border at Ha Tien and JUST made it to our ferry across to Phu Quoc island in time. We arrived early evening and got a taxi to Long Beach with a Swedish couple who were on the bus with us. We found a great (and super cheap) beach hut and headed out for some food – a traditional noodle soup, or Pho – which was absolutely delicious. We then met our Swedish friends for a few drinks in a lively beach bar. Once again I can confirm that I can’t tell the difference between Cambodian Angkor beer and Vietnamese Saigon beer. Same same.

Today started with breakfast and people watching on the beach.
Ice Ice Baby:

I got some pineapple from this lovely beach seller:

The beach here on Phu Quoc is stunning, endlessly long with soft sand and clear water. After enjoying the beach for a few hours we got bored of sunbathing (it’s a hard life) so we decided to hire a motorbike and explore the island. Phu Quoc is actually pretty huge and we wanted to see the main town as well as some of the small villages and hidden beaches we’ve read about. Here are some of the photos we took today on our travels…

These gorgeous girls in a small village shouted hello and wanted to have their photo taken:

Rustic river living:

Testing Jack’s driving skills:

Some young friends having a laugh and a swim by the bridge in Duong Dong:

Ice being chopped up and sold at the market:

On our way home we encountered rush hour in Duong Dong, it was literally a sea of motorbikes all trying to squeeze through a small space and cross a little wooden bridge. Jack drove like a pro while I took loads of photos and filmed the madness!

The queue for the bridge:

A view of rush hour:

We’ve only been in Vietnam for a day, but we’ve already encountered some of the friendliest people we’ve met on our trip so far. As we queued for the wooden bridge in rush hour today an elderly man next to us realised we were westerners and said “Hello”, when we smiled back and spoke to him he said “God bless you”. Lovely.

We’ve got the bike for the day tomorrow too so we’ll be back online soon with more photos.

I’ll leave you now with a warning. Please take heed.

Love to everybody xx