Phu Quoc

From Kampot we took a bus for 45 minutes to the Vietnamese border. We had arranged our visas in Luang Prabang. One unlucky couple who had not done their research were turned back because the visa is not available at the border. They would have had to return to Sihanoukville, a three hour drive.

While we waited for our passports to be processed we entertained ourselves by watching the loads being hauled by motorbikes. This one had a bit of a skid and nearly tumbled his load.

And this is a load of beer - on a bicycle!  (But the grey thing is not on the bike, in case you were wondering.) The building on the left is a casino under construction.  To join the three other casinos we saw at the border.  And locals aren't even allowed to gamble there. We think the intended clientele are the Chinese tourists. Note the handful of passports in Mr. Green-checkered Shirt's hand. We actually don't get to see the immigration officers ourselves. 

Sadly, we did not get the Superdong ferry to the island of Phu Quoc. No doubt it had air-conditioning, while our boat doubled as a Swedish sauna!

This picture is especially for Jane and Dounya - two of my readers. Those towers back there beyond our resort are a mini-Petronas Towers (for the rest of you, the towers are an iconic part of kuala Lumpur).

The first resort we stayed in was set back a long way from the beach behind a swath of wild grasses. The restaurant was on the beach, and the lean-to you see here was the kitchen! Thought you'd be impressed. The woman squatting is washing the dishes.

The water might have been lovely to swim in, except for this ugly blob - a nasty jellyfish. The young men in the water removed it to the beach, but even then, one found that after only a minute tiny somethings would sting the body, so a swim lasted a minute.

We ate our last meal at an Indian restaurant. Here's Ganesh at the entrance.

And our food. Rice Pulao with green peas, aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower) and Chicken Kashmiri with a huge naan. They were tasty dishes, but although we asked for medium, there was barely any heat - too many wimpy palates around I guess.

The sea was very calm. This is the biggest wave we saw.

This young man in his sou'wester was using this winch in partner with another young man to haul in a huge net. He used both his hands and his feet to operate the machine.

How neatly he stored his rope.

A final image from Phu Quoc. The stand up crossed oars rowing style is common to much of SE Asia.

And so we left Phu Quoc, leaving behind my two dollar straw hat from Angkor Wat. Not deliberately. It's one of the few times we have left a place without taking a last look around our room. Sigh.