Phu Quoc – “The sea will be more beautiful when you arrive”

Post :Lam Linh

Sun, wind, blue sea and long, flat sandy beach

The small and pretty Duong Dong town is located next to the long beach, where islanders often take a walk every morning, welcoming the sunrise starting from Dinh Cau cape. There are many motels here with prices from 250,000 VND/2 beds or more, clean and facing the sea. Duong Dong is the busiest town of the Pearl Island with many restaurants and services. In particular, the night market held every evening attracts a lot of tourists to visit. The market sells all kinds of delicious, nutritious and cheap seafood, serving customers from 6pm - 10pm.

You can easily rent a motorbike to go around the island. The red dirt road running from Duong Dong town to An Thoi town is quite beautiful, along the blue sea, sand dunes and tall green coconut trees. Along this road there are many pearl making facilities that you can buy as gifts. New resort campuses are being planned and in the near future, this coastal road will be an ideal resort for tourists when coming to Phu Quoc.

The small town of An Thoi, located not far from the wharf, is quite simple. The resorts and hotels are located along the sea from An Thoi, running around the 150km long coastline with beautiful beaches, long white sand banks and big waves. The resort campus hugs the beach, cool with the blue of the sky and water, the rooms welcome the sunlight and face the sea, fully equipped with prices from 1,000,000 VND or more. The most prominent of the dozens of beaches on the island is Sao Beach, a crescent-shaped beach with clear blue water and flat white sand that always attracts many visitors from all over the island. After a day of playing in the water and watching schools of small fish swimming, the restaurants are ready to serve fresh and cheap seafood. Don't forget to try shark hotpot and sea urchin - specialties only available in Phu Quoc.

During your trip around the island, don't forget to bring colorful bikinis so you can jump into the sea and play with the waves that constantly crash onto the clean white sand at any time. An interesting picnic on a deserted beach with friends and relatives can be easily done with a few pre-purchased items. Amidst the wild and generous natural scenery of sun and wind, your vacation will have many lovely memories. A popular activity is scuba diving to see coral. Scattered around Hon Thom, Hon Roi... are beautiful coral reefs. More than ten minutes by boat from Hon Thom is the squid fishing village, which sparkles at night with dozens of fishing boats shining with light.

Rambutan, fish sauce, pepper and seafood

Phu Quoc Island has 99 mountains and hills covered by lush green primeval forests with many waterfalls and streams. Along the road running around the island, if it is a summer day in June, you can stop by a rambutan garden in the harvest season, with red ripe fruits all over the garden. The owners of the rambutan garden are ready to invite you to enjoy the sweet ripe fruits just picked from the trees. You can pick any fruit you like yourself or buy it to take home. But be careful with the black ants with a sweet tooth crawling all over the tree, ready to jump on you at any time. Rambutan at the garden is cheap, you can buy it while taking photos and posing in the garden.

Phu Quoc Island is also famous for its fragrant pepper gardens. These gardens are concentrated above, near Ghenh Dau. The road to the southern side of the island passes through pristine forests, along deserted slopes. Phu Quoc pepper has a more aromatic, spicy and stronger flavor than many other peppers from other regions, including red pepper. The pepper is selected by Phu Quoc people from ripe fruits and divided into 3 types: red pepper, white pepper and black pepper.

Phu Quoc pepper is famous for its plump skin, firm seeds, spicy and aromatic flavor that is unmatched anywhere. Phu Quoc people preserve pepper growing not only for economic purposes but also for its great cultural and tourism value. Pepper is a local specialty and a unique gift for tourists from near and far. If you are lucky, you can also come to the rows of coffee trees in bloom. There are not many coffee gardens like the sunny and windy Central Highlands, but the blooming coffee trees attract bees on the island, creating a rare beauty for Phu Quoc.

After an exploration trip to the green pepper gardens, remember to visit the famous fish sauce factory called Nha Thung. Phu Quoc fish sauce is not only famous in Vietnam but also known in many countries around the world. Fish sauce is produced in large wooden barrels. In the past, fish sauce barrels were often made of boi loi tree because this tree is soft so when the rim is not open, nowadays this type of tree is hard to find so people use jars and bottles. The barrels are rimmed with rattan which is abundant in Ong Tam mountain and the North Island. Phu Quoc fish sauce producers only use one type of anchovy as raw material. There are many types of anchovies: Striped Pepper, Chalk, Red Rice, Flat Rice, Striped Phan, and Coal Rice. The type of anchovy that makes the best fish sauce is Striped Pepper and Coal Rice.

On the last evening on the island, my friends and I decided to camp by the beach, grill fresh squid and sip sweet sim wine. Under the starry sky, the sound of waves and the constant wind, Phu Quoc left me with many beautiful memories. The green island district is on the rise with many scenic spots and beautiful, pristine beaches.

The Thanh