Quan Lan Island

Quan Lan Island is ‘coming out’ as a holiday destination for both local and western tourists. Though still not on the typical tourist itinerary, the island is situated in Bai Tu Long Bay in the Van Don District of Quang Ninh Province, home also to the world famous Halong Bay. With an area of 11 square kms and around 6000 local residents, it is worth visiting for its beautiful white sand beaches and lush green countryside. Mass tourism is yet to make an impression here, which is another bonus. This is probably because Quan Lan is not the easiest place to get to and involves some travel challenges.

The journey takes a full day of independent travelling, first by public bus from Gia Lam bus station in Hanoi to the ferry terminal in Hon Gai. This four hour trip is not for the faint-hearted as the moves of these bus drivers would not be out of place on an F1 race track – in fact, my friends and I abandoned the bus less than halfway to Haiphong after several near misses. I called for a private car from one of the roadside restaurants which did blow the budget a bit but we wanted to arrive alive! From the ferry terminal, it’s a further four hours on an overcrowded boat. So it might sound like a horror trip but it's truly worth that much travel time to reach this great island.

Five years ago on my first trip here, in a week I only saw two other tourists. I had to order my meals in advance and rent one of the local’s motorbikes to get around. Since then, guest houses have tripled in price and, like in other tourist spots, the owners make heaps of money on national holidays and long weekends by charging unbelievably high rates for quite basic rooms. Some charge 400,000Vnd for a double room with a fan or 600,000Vnd with air-conditioning, keeping in mind that electricity is a new commodity on the island only supplied from 6 pm to 11 pm. If you are lucky and the guesthouse has its own generator, you will be supplied with power overnight. These days, food is served by some small restaurants and guest houses though menus do not exist and what you eat depends on what came over on the ferry and what last night’s catch was. Asking the price before ordering is necessary if you don’t want to run out of money, which we nearly did! Some restaurants take advantage of the isolation of the island to charge wildly inflated prices. I had to bargain for every single dish which is not much fun. Compared to five years ago, the residents of the island are more commercially-minded. I can understand that they want to raise their standard of living but it made me angry some times. When I questioned one of the local business owners about the obvious changes in the cost of everything, he said that “five years ago we were dumb.”

The one-road village of Quan Lan has changed quite a bit with many new houses beside the few remaining traditional ones. A wander through the narrow alleys reveals some century old scenes of rural life, though; cottage gardens, courtyards spread with drying food produce, women hand-washing clothes and children playing with stones and sticks. Almost every single house has a dog or two, which are not really aggressive but they do tend to bark during the night and sleep during the day!

Outside of the town, renting a motorbike or bicycle is the preferred option although there are dozens of xe lam (tuk tuk) drivers roaming the streets. This form of transport is quite expensive for tourists and, again, requires hard negotiation. We had to pay 100,000Vnd for a seven kilometre round trip, while motorbikes and bikes can be rented for 100,000Vnd and 50,000Vnd per day, respectively, plus petrol.

So, with the wind in our hair and a beach in our sights, we toured through the stunning green fields of young peanut plants and rice. A few days spent on one of the islands isolated beaches is a million miles away from the chaos of Hanoi and at least a few kilometres away from the negotiation for our evening meal. That’s the great attraction of Quan Lan Island.

Quan Lan Island
Bai Tu Long
Quang Ninh Province

Rainbow Bar

The Rainbow Bar in Phu Quoc is the coolest and most relaxed bar on the island. Located right on the beach, furnished with simple tables and chairs and hospitable staff, it is the place to while away a few hours over drinks, a meal or a book.

During my recent trip to Phu Quoc, I visited this bar at various times of the day and enjoyed at least one meal here on each day of my stay. One particular dish which I couldn’t resist was their sour fish broth, a specialty of the south and one that is real comfort food for me. As a son of the south, raised in Nha Trang, I have very fond memories of my mum and sister cooking this soup at home. The Rainbow Bar produces a very fine version of it.

The French owner of the bar understands the need for drinks to be cold in this tropical climate. The beer was frosty at all times and he was mindful of wine drinkers, too, making sure that the bottles are cellared and stored adequately and served at the correct temperature. I enjoyed some lovely Chilean Sauvignon Blanc one evening.

The Rainbow Bar opened on the island five years ago after a successful period trading in Nha Trang, also beachside. When the local government reclaimed the land to develop the foreshore, the owner was forced to re-locate and saw the potential of Phu Quoc as a growing tourist destination. He hasn’t looked back since.

It’s easy to understand why. He has a great location. Who wouldn’t want to sit overlooking the sea, watching seafood grill on the evening barbeque, beer in hand and sunset in view. The seafood needs to be ordered in advance to avoid disappointment so I found myself planning my dinner at breakfast time. A fluent speaker of Vietnamese, the owner is a great resource of information on the island.

All in all, the Rainbow Bar is my kind of place.

Thanh Kieu Resort In Phu Quoc

Thanh Kieu sounds pretty much like thank you in English. Quite a clever, catchy name for a resort when I think about it. Easy to remember, too. Thanh Kieu Resort in Phu Quoc is located right on the beach, hidden away from the dusty red clay road. Surrounded by a tropical garden of bamboos, palms and tropical plants and flowers, this hotel is a little piece of paradise that I really feel like keeping secret.

A family business where most of the staff is related to the owner, the accommodation consists of mostly thatch-roofed bungalows with terraces overlooking the beach. A couple of newer bungalows with tiled roofs have been built recently but are simply equipped in exactly the same way, with two beds and the necessary mosquito nets, fridges, fans and cold water bathrooms. Well, to call it a resort might be a bit of an exaggeration but considering the beach is right outside, a hammock swings in the sea breeze and the weather is hot, there isn’t much call for a room with much more than the basics. Let’s just say, for me, it’s a resort.

On the hotel’s beachfront, two coconut palms grow almost parallel to the sand. I could’ve sat all day observing the simple things around me, sipping on cold mango juice and taking the occasional dip in the sea. The thing is, though, that the hotel’s chief receptionist, Mr Tuan is rich with knowledge and ideas about how to while away the time on this island. But there is no pressure. I just appreciate it when I’m kept well-informed of the activities and places of interest on offer. When I was feeling energetic, I took his advice to visit the pepper farms and the beautiful deserted star beach. He also directed and accompanied me to the night market for a taste of the local seafood. Good service is hard to find sometimes. Not here.

Established for around three years, no restaurant exists yet. This does not present any problems as the same plot of beachfront is occupied by the very casual Rainbow Bar. In the mornings, I just fell out of bed, wandered a few steps and ordered scrambled eggs on fresh round knots of bread. In the evenings, magnificent fresh seafood and tall cold bottles of beer were the perfect way to finish the day, whether it was an active one or a lazy one.

At night in bed, the fan whirs, the sea ebbs and flows and I think I must be dreaming. When I wake up, I realize it’s just another day in paradise.

Thanh Kieu Resort Coco Beach
100C/14 Tran Hung Dao Street
Duong Dong Town - Phu Quoc District
(84).(77).848394
Mobile: 0919 707 576 - 0917 200 725
Email : thanhkieucocobeach@yahoo.com

Yen Tu Pagoda II

The weather at Yen Tu was terrible with heavy rain and strong winds on the morning of our climb. We had to buy simple plastic rain coats to keep warm. The rocks we were climbing over were really slippery so we had to climb up carefully. We were the first group at the cable car station but we weren't the first group on the top of the mountain as there were hundred of people already up there. I couldn't believe my eyes. If they were there that early it meant they had to climb during the night in the dark. They had all settled down to nonstop chanting in the rain with their raincoats on. It looked surreal. We were on the top of the mountain at the bronze pagoda and it seemed the wind would blow everything away any minute, including the chanting ladies in raincoats. It was also a little bit scary. This was truly a memorable trip for me.

This small pagoda is made completely of bronze and everyone tries to reach the pagoda then touch it hopefully to get some blessing from the gods. I tried to take some photos but it was not difficult as there were too many people and also the strong wind and heavy rain. I was quite surprised about how religious these people were, some were 70 to 80 years old and had by-passed the cable car, choosing to walk from the base to the top in such horrible conditions. Some of them may not have been able to afford to buy tickets as it's quite expensive(140.000vnd).

We stayed there for around 20 minutes and walked down again for lunch before heading to other temples and pagodas on the way back to Hanoi. I'm sure this would be a more beautiful place with amazing surrounding view if we came here on a clear day. Hope the weather is good on my second trip back.

To be continued.

Welcome Mum To Hanoi

After almost 10 years, my mother returned to Hanoi for the first time. She was so excited about it as she could visit her home-town, her relatives and me. It was a great chance for me to show her around Hanoi and the north and do some pagoda trips during the special pagoda festival season.

My mother is 73 this year and she loves traveling. In fact, when she worked for the government rice company, she took business trips on trains all overVietnam. But after she retired, she has had no time to do anything because she's been helping to raise my brother and sister's children. We decided to treat her to a trip abroad last year and she went to Malaysia and Singapore and really enjoyed it. She said to me that Hanoi has changed so much since her last trip here. She's had many conversations about the changes in Hanoi to the taxi drivers, her relatives and even my foreign friends.

My Mum's tour of Hanoi and the north has included Yen Tu Pagoda, Perfume Pagoda, Tam Dao, Ba Chua Kho, Tam Coc - Bich Dong and most of the interesting places around Hanoi plus eating Hanoi street food. I will write another post about her trips soon.

Yen Tu Pagoda

Last week, I joined a trip with my friend's company to Yen Tu Pagoda, the most holy and highest pagoda in the north and in fact, the whole of Vietnam. We started our trip at 3pm the day before and arrived at the base of the mountain after two and a half hours in the bus. The weather wasn't good as we expected as it was raining the whole day before and it meant the road was very wet, slippery and dangerous. We stopped at a small temple on the way and then spent almost an hour at Thien Vien Pagoda. After that we went straight on to Giai Oan Temple for 15 minutes of praying to release whatever we had done wrong in the past year, before heading up to buy cable car tickets for the next day. We decided to sleep overnight on the chieu nghi(sleeping mats) in Ngoc Hai restaurant, right next to Hoa Yen Pagoda then take a cable car at 6 am the next day. We hired the whole second floor of the restaurant for the 39 people on the trip. A few of us stayed at the place to prepare the dinner while most of our group went to Hoa Yen Pagoda for a short prayer.

The Sofitel Plaza staff, who I was invited to travel with, were really organized and had everything imaginable prepared, including a great dinner with lots of vegetables, cheeses, ham, boiled eggs, tofu with tomato sauce, chicken, square cake, sticky rice, bread, butter and of course, lots of wine, beer, soft drink and juice. I've never ever joined such a trip like this and just loved eating and talking with them. I found out that one of the ladies works in the hotel kitchen so no wonder she did it so amazingly well.

After dinner, everyone went upstairs for a nap trying to save energy for the next day but only a few of the women went to bed as most people started playing games. I couldn't sleep very well because whenever someone won the game of cards a cheer went up. It seemed to keep going from 9 pm until 5am. It's truly amazing that they still looked fine the next day and walked so fast up to the top of the moutain. There must have been something special in the chicken porridge they had for breakfast.

Tobe continued

Phu Quoc Town

Phu Quoc is a really hot place for people who need a relaxing time on a beach which is still wild, quiet and peaceful. Phu Quoc people are generally friendly, sweet and helpful. The small town on the island is very interesting, surrounded by the ocean and people here rely on fishing and tourism for their daily income. Even though they all know that their small beach town is a great destination, everything seems very cheap here compared to other beach cities in Viet Nam which is good.

However, it's hard to get a good room here without making a reservation at least three weeks in advance as I did. I was so lucky to get the only room left on my arrival. You may get a cheap and doggy room for about $12 to $15. In Phu Quoc, a variety of tours also can fill your schedule up: daily boat trip, squid fishing in the evening or visiting the north and south of Phu Quoc in a full day trip. If you don't choose the beaches near your hotel in the town, there are some more remote beaches that are incredibly beautiful. It might be just you alone on the whole beach. Paradise!

Along the main road leading to the south of Phu Quoc, there are many joint-ventures and local companies investing in big and high class resorts, also an international airport. It seems to be one of those situations where development is necessary but I hope it doesn't ruin the simple atmosphere of the island. It's annoying getting covred in dust on the roads here but I suppose you can just dive into the water at the beach to wash it off!

Anyway, Phu Quoc is still a beautiful place and worth staying for a few weeks just to relax. For the next couple of years, even though the development is fast, it will be possible to have a great holiday here.