[RD] Backpacking Việt Nam (2019)

[warpus]

Snorkling Half-day Trip
Tuesday, March 19, 2019

In order to mix things up a bit I booked a half-day snorkling trip that saw us visit several beautiful beaches along the way. If I remember correctly we visited at least one of those smaller islands in the south.

For further context, my beach hut was a 20 minute or so walk south from Dương Đông, the largest town on the island. A shuttle bus picked me up from the resort and took me to the southern port at An Thới, where we boarded a medium sized boat that would take us sightseeing and snorkling.

The first stop was truly breathtaking. It's the same beach in both photos.

We took a 20 minute long stop here, time I used to go for a swim and dry off on the beach.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Chillin on the Beach

I spent most of the afternoon relaxing on the beach. The rise in temperature and humidity compared to central Vietnam was noticable, the water was nice and warm, the beach beautiful, my beach hut very close, and several bars and restaurants were nearby and right on the beachfront.. All these factors contributed to my decision to lazy around on the beach all day long and soak in the sun.

At one point a very friendly dog walked over and lied down right under my lounge chair. We instantly became best friends.

If you're wondering what book I was reading (you can see it in the first photo), it was Firstborn by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. I have a bit of a tradition to always have a sci-fi paperback with me when I travel, and at this point I was making my way through the Time Odyssey trilogy.

Hm. The dog is either pregnant or is nursing. Did she appear to be a stray?

 

[warpus]

Hm. The dog is either pregnant or is nursing. Did she appear to be a stray?

It was probably a stray. I just let her be and let her enjoy the shade

 

[Cutlass]

What did you think of the book you were reading?

 

[warpus]

What did you think of the book you were reading?

I liked that it gave us more hints about the firstborn from the Space & Time Odyssey series.. and from what I remember the story was written well. It was good to see certain characters back. But as a conclusion to either the overall Odyssey series or just the Time Odyssey series I found it a bit lacking. Still a fun beach read though, Clarke & Baxter seem to have good chemistry. I like the style of writing that comes out when they work together.

 

[warpus]

Snorkling Half-day Trip pt. 2

Vietnam has a diverse set of coral reefs along its coastline. We made stops at two bays for snorkeling purposes and I got to see some of the coral reefs up close.. Amazing! It was a fun experience to explore them and to swim among all the colourful fish. By the time we finished up our second snorkeling experience I was ready to head back though.. The salty water eventually gets to you and the boat rocking back and forth does not help either.. By the time it was lunchtime and we were presented with local seafood dishes.. I did not really have much of an appetite. I ate a bit but was looking forward to the next 20 minute long stop at a beach.

On the way back we spotted the world's longest cable car ride.

 

[warpus]

The Longest Cable-car Ride in the World
Wednesday, March 20, 2019

This relatively new attraction holds the "Longest non-stop three-way cable car in the world" Guinness World Record. It's just under 8 km (5 miles) long and offers amazing bird-eye views of tropical beaches and turquoise bays down below. When I saw it on the snorkling half-day trip I knew that I had to check it out.

The ride begins just north of the An Thới port town, at the southern tip of Phú Quốc island. You are taken to heights up to 174 m (570 feet) and transported south towards the smaller islands. One of the first things you see down below is the fleet of small boats docked near An Thới.

I was lucky enough to get my own car, allowing me to move around and get photographs from whatever vantage point I wanted to.

 

[Birdjaguar]

How was the snorkeling? Did you find Nemo?

 

[warpus]

How was the snorkeling? Did you find Nemo?

The snorkeling was great, I was in the water for probably over an hour overall. Lots of different kinds of reefs to look at and occasional groups of coloured fish swimming by.

 

[FriendlyFire]

So many small fishing boats.
I did a quick scan of the headlines and it seems that there's been a large increase in the number of fishing vessels and with it depletion of fish and sea life.
Its not as bad as things are in China so theres still time fix things but or poorer countries once they past the tipping point there not going to be a way to easily fix things unlike a wealthy nation like Japan.

How was the fish numbers there when you went snorkeling ?
Did you get to see the insides of some of the boats ? Some of them will be floating homes with families living inside.

Also I spotted one of the beach buildings which is frightening close to the sea. Not a good sign for such a low lying island

 

[warpus]

How was the fish numbers there when you went snorkeling ?
Did you get to see the insides of some of the boats ? Some of them will be floating homes with families living inside.

The fish numbers seemed respectable, at least compared to what I remember seeing in Thailand back in 2013. I definitely saw more fish here here, although it wasn't an overwhelming number of fish either. Nothing like what you usually see in TV ads or movies. So, I wasn't constantly surrounded by groups of fish, but would instead run into a school of fish every once in a while and could usually see them in the distance as well. Fish of various colours and sizes, etc. I was very happy with what I ended up seeing, it was probably my best ever snorkling experience in terms of the underwater sights.

I did not get to see inside any of those boats, but we did visit a floating village @ Hạ Long Bay earlier on in the trip. We did not get to step foot inside those structures either, but we docked there and got a close look at a couple others from what I remember as well. I can't imagine living on water like that, I don't think I could do it

 

[warpus]

I had a scheduled bus ride back to my resort, so I had to time my return accordingly. The cable car ride lasts about 15 minutes in each direction, so it wasn't really an issue, just something I had to keep in mind. I knew that I would explore a bit once I got to Pineapple island, although I wasn't really sure what I would find there.

I found the cable car ride a bit exhilarating at times, especially when you were taken all the way to the top of one of the support towers. I'm still slightly afraid of heights and that contributed to it a bit.. as well as the fact that there was nobody else in the car with me... but when you get pulled to the top of one of these support towers and then go over the 'hump', you definitely feel it! It's similar to what you feel when you're at the top of a rollercoaster right as it's going over the hump and beginning to drop. I felt it in my stomach each and every time

Looking down at the beaches below made me wonder how nice it would be to lie on that white sand with almost nobody else around. Some of the shots also reminded me of something you might see in a top-down video game

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Looking down at the beaches below made me wonder how nice it would be to lie on that white sand with almost nobody else around. Some of the shots also reminded me of something you might see in a top-down video game

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..."

This photo reminds me of Gilligan's Island.

 

[warpus]

Pineapple Island
Hòn Thơm

The cable car takes you to Pineapple Island, the largest of the islands just south of Phú Quốc island.

When you get out of the car you find yourself in a bit of a construction zone. The buildings just near the cable car terminus station are all finished, but what's lacking is any sort of activity. No stores or vendors are open, there's almost no tourists walking around, and there are various structures still under construction nearby, especially at the Aquatopia water park.

I did enjoy walking through the almost finished parts of Sun World , even though there was not much to really do, not even a place to stop for a drink. It was almost a bit eerie how quiet and empty it was.

 

[Birdjaguar]

google Earth shows it may be a bit more complete now.

 

[warpus]

google Earth shows it may be a bit more complete now.

You're right, it looks like it's all complete now, judging by the photos I'm finding online.

Unfortunate timing with COVID coming down like a hammer just a year or so after my trip.. This place will probably draw lots of tourists once things open up again.

 

[warpus]

A shuttle service set up near the cable car station ferried tourists to and from a nearby beach. There was literally nothing else to do here so I jumped on board

This beach was really beyond beautiful. I spent about a half an hour here getting my tan on and going for a swim. There was a large tent-like structure set up nearby with food options, but the prices seemed high and the food looked average at best from what I could see. Instead I jumped back on the cable car and ended up with enough time to order a coffee and a bowl of phở at a nearby cafe. After that I was back on the bus and heading back to my beach hut.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

A shuttle service set up near the cable car station ferried tourists to and from a nearby beach. There was literally nothing else to do here so I jumped on board

This beach was really beyond beautiful. I spent about a half an hour here getting my tan on and going for a swim. There was a large tent-like structure set up nearby with food options, but the prices seemed high and the food looked average at best from what I could see. Instead I jumped back on the cable car and ended up with enough time to order a coffee and a bowl of phở at a nearby cafe. After that I was back on the bus and heading back to my beach hut resort.

Is there any special occasion connected with that hammock out in the water?

 

[warpus]

Is there any special occasion connected with that hammock out in the water?

No special occasion, just part of the various structures and decorations they put up to appeal to tourists coming here I think. There was a large blown-up play thing out on the water for kids to climb as well, with waterslides, etc. Also a sort of open air cafeteria, bathrooms, showers nearby, and a couple other structures. Think resort style amenities, i.e. I think they just put this up to spice up the beach a bit

 

[warpus]

A Walk to Dương Đông

Back at the beach hut I rested a bit and decided to walk north towards Dương Đông, the largest town on the island. I picked out a restaurant that claimed to sell the best phở here, about an hour away on foot. My plan was to slowly walk down the only road north and see what I run into along the way. I was hoping to also find beach access points and maybe explore a bit and end up at the restaurant by supper time.

About 20 minutes into my walk I stopped at a nice looking restaurant for a drink. The mural on the wall caught my eye

The iced coffees were really good here; I ended up having two of them. I could not resist ordering two appetizers either.

Having refueled I was ready to continue my walk to Dương Đông.