Phu Quoc, Vietnam – My first Snorkling experience

I have just reached Cambodia from Malaysia after a 10 day transit and planning a short trip again makes me excited, also the thought of snorkeling is all the more fascinating as I have wanted to do it since long. Had to put in a bit of effort to get the Cambodian visa extended and also get Vietnam visa. On Friday we also come to know that Monday is a holiday as well and we can extend the trip to another day J .

Day 1 – The day of mishapps

So as planned we reached the Cambodian border late night on Friday and took a hotel. Got up early morning to cross the border, this was my second border crossing on land and the first one on foot as we had to walk across and get something to reach Ha Tien. We got the immigration done by 7:30 and were hopeful of catching the 8 O’clock ferry to Phu Quoc, so we got 3 motorbikes and headed straight to the port, as we got down on the port a guy said that the boat has already left at 7:15 today as it was a long weekend and many people were travelling.

This was a blow to us as we were hoping to reach Phu Quoc by 10:30, he also told us there is no boat today and we have to go to Rach Chia to get another ferry, he was kind enough to take us to a bus stop where he said the bus would arrive in 25 minutes and we can go to Rach Chia, we had coconumt water and were lazing around when the bus came, the conductor got down and asked us to pay for the ticket in advance and the ticket was 500,000 d per person, it seemed a bit more but since we were not used to the place and it was put on us suddenly and the bus was honking, we gave him the 1,500,000 d and boarded the bus, within 5 minutes of boarding things started to seem fishy, and when asked about the ticket we were told it was just 30,000 d … and then everything started to make sense, we have been conned on just setting a foot on Vietnam, he also charged us 20 times the ticket cost and almost half our planned money was already gone, all 3 of us were feeling bad especially me and Gladston, and wanted to do something bout it, but the problem for us is we are just going to spend 2 days here and we don’t really have a choice to either njoi and go after something that we might not be able to find at all. Parthi had already stopped thinking and told us that we better forget if we want to njoi the rest of the trip, so we headed to Rach Chia.

The bus dropped us in Rach Chia and we had to walk around 2 Km to the port in the sun which was a bit of a diconcern, plus we were got willing to take help being afraid of going for a ride again. Reaching Rach Chia another scam unfolded as we got to know that the tickets for the ferry were unavailable and we needed to buy them in black, normal price 270,000 d per person and we would get it in 400,000 d per person, we had already been cheated and this really didn’t seem nice, so we decided enquiring everywhere, and finally managed 2 tickets for 300,000 d and one for 350,000 d which was more but not 20 times at least. We headed in the boat and reached Phu Quoc.

We couldn’t change currency in Rach Gia and were almost out of cash when we reached there and the first thing we wanted to do was to buy a ticket back to Ha Tien on Monday afternoon, the ticket Parthi enquired was 190,000 d and we didn’t have enough money to buy it, it was 4 already and we haven’t had much since morning and a bit tired and disappointed we got to the city and Gladston withdrew cash from the ATM, and we started enquiring about the ticket and the ticket to Ha Tien was not available, this made me panic a bit as I had to leave to india on Tuesday and it wouldn’t look nice if I have to delay the ticket for another day. So I tried my best to find the ticket and couldn’t L , it had just not been our day and wasn’t seeming to get better either. It was around 6 and Gladston said better to find a hotel and lets try for the tickets later, I wasn’t sure if I should give up but I had no option, so we rented 3 motorbikes, one was the same guy I was searching the tickets and 2 more to head to Mango Bay which Parthi really wanted to check out as it was only 5$ a night, on the way Gladston’s bike got punctured and me and Parthi carried on to check the hotel, it was a luxurios Bunglow type hotel along the sea and costed 88$ pre day, Parthi was impressed and wanted to stay, but I didn’t want to spend money unnecessarily and I knew Gladston wouldn’t either, so we called Gladston and he immediately asked us to come back, since we were on 3 different motorbikes in a new place, it was really difficult to coordinate and wasted another 45 minutes and now I was starting to feel really bad, I still couldn’t forget we haven’t got the tickets back.

The guy took us to a hotel called the Moon Resort which was ok and also by the beach,
we liked the place and took it, tired and hungry I really needed to take a bath and eat something, a bath was really refreshing and we headed to the Indian restaurant across the road for dinner, the food was really good and it calmed me down a bit, and Gladston admitted that the Hotel and the food were the only 2 good things that happened to us today, we had also enquired about the snorkeling tour and the motorbike guy fixed a tour for 15$ per person for the whole day and that looked reasonable. His name was ‘Wow’ as pronounced. He also took us to the night market and we walked our way back. The day had finally ended.

Day 2—New Day New Beginning

We got up early and got ready for the tour, we had to go to the An Thoi island and it was a long van ride to reach there. On our way we stopped at a pearl farm where they saw us how they extracted pearls. We had a look around the place and the pearls seemed overly costly, but Parthi seemed obsessed on buying oval shaped pearl necklace for his mom and if it was not for Gladston he would have got something really overpriced.

Soon we boarded a boat and were ready to head to the sea, it was a long boat ride before we stopped at a small fish farm and I had my first encounter with the Puffer fish, it looked really cute, with the help of Gladston I understood how to hold a crab as well, and also posed to get a click with a sea turtle.

It was 11 and we were still on the boat and I was beginning to feel if the day is going to be as bad as it was yesterday. And then the boat was stopped and we were asked to jump in to snorkel, Gladston had already told us how to wear the equipment and how to use it as well, so as soon as he got the signal he was off, but me and parthi were noway entering the water without his help. I was not comfortable jumping and Parthi doesn’t know swimming at all. After some time we jumped with the help of a rope, but still weren’t ready to let go of the rope, Gladston called and said he will hold hand and take us along, so I was the first to go, he took me along and I put my head down and as I started see little fish around my eyes went wider and there was a huge rock right infront of us and I was thinking that we will crash into it :P .. Gladston stopped near it and told me to stand on it while he gets Gladston, he also told me that I can swim around and come back to this rock, but I was pretty scared standing there and did not want to move an inch, but the current of water and the flippers weren’t helping a bit and I was getting really scared. After some time Gladston got Parthi on top of a rock as well and came around me and we swam for a bit together and I did not hold on to Gladston that time, Gladston dived a few times and showed me a few fishes and sea urchins, I was amazed to see them and my interest was growing, now I was feeling more comfortable with the life jacket and decided to follow Gladston wherever he went, the whole world was so mystical and I really wished that I hadn’t stayed so long in the boat, I really wished we had an underwater camera to capture all the beauty. Soon it was time to head back and I swam all the way to the boat on my own, I was growing in confidence and was just waiting to get the next swim.

It was time for lunch and it was served in the boat, the lunch was really royal and we had fish, tofu, rice, noodles, crab ( Gladston had bought em at the place we stopped ) and we had a plentiful, I also dared to eat crab which was actually quite nice and I did not get the rashes I thought I would cause of the allergy. Soon it was time to jump and I did not wait for Gladston and jumped alone, swimmed across till the beach and looked for corals, this place wasn’t that good and there were all dead corals, we ended from here soon and left for another place, now I had no problems jumping in the sea and doing snorkeling alone.

The third place was supposed to be really good and it was a nice place where we saw a lot of fishes some I know were the zebra fish, sea urchin, a variety of clown fish and many more, I wish I could dive and not just snorkel, the water world was drawing me towards it and I wanted to be a part of it, Gladston said he wants to go around the small island and look for some big fishes and if I wanted to come along, I was up for the challenge and we swam together across it, as we reached the other side the water was really deep, felt a bit scared for a moment but then realized I need only 7 feet to drown and the depth doesn’t matter, so kept swimming without any problems, the whole round did not yield much but just added on my confidence in the life jacket and we headed back to the boat.

This was our last snorkeling stop and now it was time for some fishing, it was not as inventive as in Cambodia but was pretty much the same, and the boat guys took us to the right place and I manged to catch a fish soon enough, the locals were catching a lot of them and I seemed to be the only one else to catch as well, Gladston and Parthi did not manage t catch a fish L and I managed to catch 3 :D .. but the star was the british lady who caught one fish that was 3 times bigger than what anyone else had caught.

From there we headed back to the port, meantime Wow had called and told that he couldn’t get the tickets and I really feel happy that I didn’t let that ruin my day. We headed to the Sao beach from there which was a beautiful white sand beach, and all I wanted to do there was sit and relax. The tour was over and the guy dropped us back to the hotel, we tried to arrange a squid fishing tour but were unable to find a gud rate so decided we would go kayaking instead. Wow was present at the hotel and we decided to go search for the tickets again, Gladston volunteered and Wow said that he will return in an hour be ready by then.

I got to capture yet another beautifull sunset while Gladston and Parthi headed on a kayak, I felt really happy clicking some nice shots as I haven’t been able to in the last 2 days, and soon it was my turn to kayak. I know Gladston is already suffering from tennis elbow and did not want him to make too much effort rowing and I wanted to do the most of it. So we began and Gladston as always pushed us to reach another far point and we did it with ease, with the boats coming in from everywhere and the light fading it was best to head back and so we did, and I rowed like crazy to make a good speed and it all ended up well.

We took a shower and Wow was here to take Gladston along and we headed to the Indian restaurant, I knew Gladston wasn’t optimistic in getting the tickets, but I knew he would not put any less effort though, we had just ordered a starter and Gladston was back , as he approached he signaled a thumbs up and I was delighted to see that, he had managed to get the tickets and it was a great relief, we tipped Wow and his first reaction was “ Are you sure?”, he was so surprised to get the tip and we asked him to pick us up early morning and take us to the harbor.

We couldn’t stop discussing as to how different people are as we got conned on the first day and everyone trying to take extra money from us and how Wow was trying to help us save every bit without any regard for money whatsoever. The day was a real opposite to yesterday, and everything fell in place, I thanked god for a great day and went to bed.

Day 3 --- we head back

We got ready and Wow was on time as usual, he was elated by yesterdays tip and was buzzing with energy. We had decided to rent a bike and go around the island and we never got a chance, so I gave my bag to Wow and asked him to ride, I drove till the harbor and was ready to leave, he left us in the boat and said goodbye.

The boat ride as we had stool tickets that means not the regular ones turned out to be on the back seat, but we had no regrets and njoied it to the optimum, we reached Ha Tien at 10:45, but had to wait for the bus till 1 and finally reached Phnom Penh at 6.

All in all it was a great experience of some good things and some lessons to be learnt. I njoied the trip and ended it on a high note.