Phu Quoc

We settled down in the town of Duong Dong for five nights as it makes for a perfect base to explore the island from. We went mountainbiking without luggage (weeheee it feels so light) and soon discovered that the main roads are more like professional motocross tracks leading through eroded gullies and over narrow bamboo bridges. Naturally there were no cars and trucks kicking up dust like on the gravel roads where the visibility can drop to something like a foggy day in Edinburgh. We passed long stretches of deserted white beaches where fishermen shared their grilled fish and sake with us and cycled through forests and over hills. We also visited the two water rapids and swam in rockpools and took a day out to go on a snorkeling and fishing trip where Kiki emerged as the natural talent catching more fish than the rest of the group together. According to gossip the island is on the brink of being heavily developed and we are glad we took this detour to visit.

exploring the market

water feature

cycling the 'main road'

dragonfruit, our favourite!

being invited to eat fish with fishermen

Kep to Phu Quoc Island (Vietnam)

Day 1: 57 km, Kep - Ha Tien (Vietnam)
Day 2: 91 km, Ha Tien - Rach Gia
Day 3: Rach Gia -(boat)- Phu Quoc, 24 km cycling on island from ferry landing to Doung Dong

We were sorry to leave Cambodia just as we had become fluent in broken barang cambodian. Luckily for us the only noticeable difference after the border apart from the language was that vietnamese moped drivers wear helmets and that the road was suddenly paved. Oh, and the food's better too, and they use Dong not Dollars, and there's toiletpaper as the bumgun does not seem to be fashionable here, and more shops... We got used to a better infrastructure pretty quickly, although we miss the open friendly approach of the cambodians.

our power juice

vietnamese wedding procession

kids admiring kiki's bike

Rabbit Island

As Kep is good for crab but not so great for swimming we took a boat to a small island where we spent the next two nights in a very basic bamboo bungalow on the beach surrounded by coconut trees, cows, pigs, chickens and dogs. On the last evenaing we ordered a chicken dish to have a break from the seafood. The waitress looked at us and pointed at the chicken running past our feet. We nodded thinking she was just confirming what type of meat we wanted, not actually picking our dinner. But it all became clear when they started chasing after that chicken for the next 20 minutes and eventually circled it in in the kitchen area with Bea's help. Not only was this the freshest chicken we ahve ever eaten but also the freerangest one, uncomparable to a supermarket chicken. During the day we felt like lazy foreigners playing in the water with inflated truck tyres (great fun to be had with these) and reading books on the beach while the locals were fishing and running up and down coconut trees, but we got used to it in no time.

view from our temporary home

nightfishing

Kep

From Kampot we cycled the 25km to Kep, a popular seaside town with abandoned villas and a well known crab market. As the area is also famous for its pepper cultivation, we tried out the local speciality 'Kampot Pepper Crab' in a seaside picnic, which did not disappoint us.

Kampot

From Sihanoukville we decided to treat ourselves to a taxi back the 100km to Kampot as we have already cycled it in the other direction. Kiki liked the journey so much that he went back and forth again some days later as we were stuck for cashpoints in Kampot on the bankholiday weekend. It was worth the taxifares just to see two people share the drivers seat for 100km - the driver was sitting on a passenger's lap, i wonder how much that passenger paid for the privilege.

From Kampot we had planned to cycle up to Bokor Hill Station (40km distance from the foot of the hill and 1000m higher) but the friendly old man running our guesthouse had advised us against it as the road was too bad. Being all responsible we booked an oranised tour in a jeep to get to the top instead. It took two hours along a bumpy track, during which we felt like ice cubes in a cocktailshaker. As being thrown about was not enough to deal with we also had to stay alert to duck out of the way of branches trying to decapitate us. We probably could have cycled it but at the same time we were glad we did not have to. Having reached the top we visited some impressive buildings that were abandoned in the 70's. Especially The grand casino, which used to be a french palace, has a lot of atmosphere about it.


no problem

abandoned casino

grand ballroom, casino

church

view from casino

orange moss in kings palace

stupid

fighting with branches