Phu Quoc

On the road again. Literally, we were up at 12:30am in the middle of the night to catch our bus to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). We were told to be ready for a 1:30am pick up. We stood on the roadside and waited and waited and it finally showed it`s bright lights at 3:30am. Many buses went by, so needless to say we were a little concerned. We had the whole back section of the sleeper bus to ourselves, five loungers to sprawl out on. It made for a much better bus trip! The seats were worn and comfy, we were tired so anything at that hour feels good!
Got to the airport with lots of time to spare, had noodle soup for breakfast and people watched for the remaining few hours until we boarded our flight to the isle of Phu Quoc. We were picked up by the hotel staff and whisked to our new digs. We had a nice little room with a pool and on the ocean. Dinner oceanside, and a good nights sleep. Got up, rented a moped and checked out our new surroundings. Yellow flowers everywhere!!! They're purchased from the markets and displayed around homes and restaurants. Much like we do with our Christmas trees. It is Tete, the biggest celebration of the year. It's described as everyone's birthday, a time to reflect , and welcome in the new year. We could feel the vibe and excitement leading up to their special day. A time to spend with family and friends. We saw men with rakes and hoes, they clean them after harvest and place them on their relatives graves to celebrate hard work and a good harvest. They also placed yellow flowers on the grave sites.
We went into the city and watched a local woman have her beach chairs taken away by the mafia. She was very upset as it's her livlehood. It was quite the commotion and we felt sorry for her. Obviously only certain people are allowed to rent chairs at that spot in town. She had taken her moped and hid it down the street then came running back to yell at the officials. We guessed she hid her bike so they wouldn't take that away also.
Later we drove around and tried to find a new place to stay as the hotel was booked and could only give us 5 days, after a few hours of bumpy dirt roads and rejection we decided to park and do some beach pounding. After a lot of sorry we are booked, and at the second to last hotel on the strip, they were able to accommadate us for the remaining time we have on the Island. This place is small and booked for Tet and the Chinese New Year. They coinside with each other indicated by the amount of Chines families arriving by the busloads.
Laundry day, sniff and sort, we have it down to a science. Had dinner at a french restaurant, run by a Vietnamese and Russian couple. Listened to the Philipino band, two girls in go go boots and hotpants with a guitar player. They played chick hits from the 70`s -90's. This night we were the minority as it filled with Russians. Regular portions of food for us, twice the size for them. They would bring in their own large bottles of vodka and drink shooters with their meal. We've seen this in New York City but still a sight!
Valentines day and Tet, enjoyed each others company and had a nice dinner ocean side.
Then it was our 15th anniversary on Feb 15'th. We lucked out and were able to enjoy a quiet day by the pool and had a fab dinner at an East Indian restaurant. Part of the same chain in Mui Ne and it's definitely the best! Up and packing then off to our next hotel. It's a cute little bungalo and they said we can have it for as long as we like. It's a bit more than we budgeted but after all it`s our anniversary week and sometimes you just gotta splurge, but we think we're worth it!