Palm Trees and Warm Water – March 2019
We spent a week on the lovely, peaceful Vietnam island of Phu Quoc. After staying a week or so in Ho Chi Minh City, the island with it’s low-density population was a very welcome change! And of course the warm water, white sand, palm trees, and beautiful sunsets were a plus too! We were tempted to never leave our beach-side accommodations, but we did motorbike to the south and north ends of the island to do a bit of exploring.
Kiki Coconut Beach– While staying at the four bungalow resort we snorkeled around colorful coral, walked along the beach, watched the large lizards, lounged in the hammocks, and enjoyed good food which was served for guests at one large outdoor table. Our wonderful, multi-lingual hosts would often sit down and chat with us and other visitors during the evening meal.
Morning shade on our beach 
Bungalow #3 
Outdoor dining 
Waiting for that next coconut to fall 
Very comfy hammock! 
Yes, people do walk on this pier. We did not. 
We saw many fishermen letting out and pulling in their nets. 
Fisherman guides styrofoam raft to his fishing boat 
Talkative lizard 
Very curious lizard 
Sunrise 
Sunset
Sun World’s Hon Thom Nature Park– We travelled south on the motorbike to start our cable car ride to the entertainment center on Hon Thom island. This Sun World location opened a year ago and is still a work-in-progress. We saw glimpses of the amusement and water parks under construction. The only thing to currently do on the island is go to the beach, shop at the gift store, and eat at the restaurants. We enjoyed the cable car ride the most as we had a great 360 degree view of the islands and many colorful fishing boats. And we now have bragging rights for riding on the world’s longest sea-crossing cable car, almost 8 kilometers in length.
The three-cable system is supposed to be the safest type of cable car in the world. 
Beginnings of a water park 
This beach looks fun! 
One of the many murals in the cable car lobby.
Coconut Prison – After visiting Sun World we went to Coconut Prison, now a historical site and was used by the South Vietnamese government in the 1960’s to incarcerate communist prisoners. The first security feature we noticed was the fencing which consisted of 8 “walls” of barbed wire. During the war guards and dogs walked between the “walls” to assist guard tower officers in watching over the barbed perimeter. We toured several long, aluminum buildings used as prison houses and we saw replicas of punishment and torture techniques performed on prisoners. Like the prison we visited in Hanoi, the explanation signs were anti-American. The signs at the Phu Quoc prison referred to the South Vietnamese government during the war only as the American-puppet administration.
Barbed wire “walls”
Ho Quoc Temple– What a beautiful view of the Gulf of Thailand from this hillside temple complex, the largest Buddhist temple on the island.
Guard statue 
Roof ornament 
Bonsai with prayer ribbons 
Starfish Beach– When we read the descriptions of this beach at the end of a very poor dirt road we assumed it would be a hidden gem with very few visitors. Boy were we wrong. Now tour companies bring large van loads of visitors from the nearby popular hotels to see the white sand, blue water, and abundant red star fish. Despite the crowd, it was a nice break from the motorbike ride to walk in the warm water while looking at the beautiful star fish and additional ocean creatures, including striped fish plus a few sand dollars.
Road Art– A unique feature we liked about Phu Quoc was the topiary art along the center divider of main roads and in the middle of traffic circles. Below are pictures of our three favorite topiaries.
