Phu Quoc, Vietnam

A view of our pool at Saigon-Phu Quoc Resort and Spa.
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When we first started out on this trip, we were really proud of the fact that we were "flashpackers." What is a flashpacker, you ask? It is a "thirty-something backpacker who does the budget hotel thing

but jets around on internal flights or helicopters because they can't be

We will never turn into an F-word traveler, we said, not even when we are 90 and cannot dodge all those motorcycles coming at us so fast.

bothered with 20 hour bus trips." We eschewed what we called the F-word. The F-word stands for the Fodors (travel book) type of traveler. This is the type of traveler in Vietnam that stays at 4-5 star digs, rides around in an air-conditioned bus from tourist trap to tourist trap, and spends all their time getting spa services because it is so cheap - but really doesn't get a feel for the culture. We will never turn into an F-word traveler, we said, not even when we are 90 and cannot dodge all those motorcycles coming at us so fast. That is, until Phu Quoc. Phu Quoc has changed us into the F-word and we rather like it.

The view from our deck.
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We had made reservations to stay at a budget place that had a beachfront room for $20 a night. Great deal, right? When we arrived on Phu Quoc island, we had arranged for a ride to pick us up and take us to our new home for the next three days and three nights. We drove and drove past some really nice looking resorts and bungalows on the beach until at the very end of the beach, we hit our place. We were shown to our beach bungalow, which really wasn't a beach bungalow, but a dilapidated old room with broken shudders, peeling paint, rust everywhere, and in a state of general disrepair. Inside, there was a rock hard bed with sand all over it with rock hard pillows, no sheet and only a bedspread to cover you up at night with. Which I'm sure by the way it smelled like it had not been washed in awhile. The front door had a gaping hole of about ten inches from where the bottom of the door ended and the floor began. I imagined what things would be crawling into our room at all hours of the day and night. The bathroom had one of those "showers" where the drain is in the middle of the small bathroom and there was basically just a hose you hold over your head while standing in the middle of the small bathroom as you take your "shower." It smelled pretty bad. Adam looks at me and says, "Are you going to be able to do this?" So, we decided to walk along the beach to price some of the other beachfront hotels and resorts. The first one we came upon was Kim Hoa Resort. We asked to see one of the beachfront cabins. It was certainly a step up from our room, but not all that great. We asked the price and they said $35/night. Adam stepped back and said, "Do your thing." I began the haggling process. For some reason, they said they would not discount the price AT ALL. Now, this is Vietnam. The first price is never the going price. Especially since this was considered the off season on Phu Quoc and in fact their rainiest month. We could see that there was no one staying at any of the bungalows so could not understand why they wouldn't haggle with us. Adam and I walked away really stunned and could not figure why they wouldn't want to discount the price at all. We arrived and looked at the next three resorts which progressively got better and more expensive. Our faith was restored in the order of the world when all of them seemed willing to haggle over the price should we want to stay at their resort. The very last place was the most decadent of all. A huge resort with a swimming pool, two restaurants, a spa, beach bar, workout room, golf, pentanque (we still don't know what this is but it is listed as one of their amenities), tennis, and very beautiful grounds. We decided just to go check the price for the hell of it. As it was the off season, everything was half off and the receptionist showed us all of the available rooms. They were even running an even cheaper special for rooms with an ocean view for $42. We decided to go take a look at the room and for some (very smart) reason the woman decided to show us the beach front bungalow first. It was one of the most beautiful rooms we had seen, with our very own bathrobes and slippers and sliding glass door that leads to our own little stretch of beach. We asked how much the room was. $70. I know that really is not a lot of money for a room at this type of resort - even if it had been full price. But, you have to understand, being in Vietnam takes you into a parallel universe where $70 is A LOT of money. We are hesitant and then decide, yeah, let's go for it. Well, because of a little bit of a communication problem, the lady thought I was trying to haggle down the price even more and went down to $65/night. And then when I tried to explain what I really meant (basically only trying to discuss the number of days we were to stay), she went down another $5 to $60/night. By the end of this conversation, I had haggled an already half off price another $10/night without really meaning too. Yes, I am really that good at haggling, it just seeps out of me even when I'm not trying.

Adam in the water.
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What did Adam and I do for those three days at Saigon Phu Quoc Resort? All the things a good F-word traveler would do. We got some insanely cheap (but not too impressive) spa services, swam in the pool at night time, slept-in, swam in the ocean, had drinks at the little beach tiki hut, read for hours on our balcony looking off at the beach, read for hours on the beach chairs right on the beach, and ate a lot of really good food (they were very vegetarian friendly and made us the yummiest mixed veggie platter with rice for our dinners). The service was really great and we thought, oh, we could get used to this. We promptly dropped any plans we previously had of exploring the island and just stayed at the resort the whole time.

The resort, near the beach.
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Adam now.

This was the rainy season you know, so it was, well ... raining. The first day we got there though, we found it wasn't raining too hard. We sat out and really just enjoyed ourselves. Take some perspective here. Remember that this was Sunday. We had been going going going all day, every day up to this point, and more to the point, we had just gotten through our most hectic schedule. Remember Hue? It was a Thursday morning we woke up early at 3:30am, went to Hue, the next day had the boat trip, flew to Sai Gon Friday night, (boat trip day), and spent Saturday in Sai Gon, then flew to Phu Quoc on Sunday. We were exhausted! But, we were loving life. So, now we got to just relax. That first night we found ourselves in the pool, lounging, maxin', relaxin'. Ah yeah. We frolicked again, as it is, after all, a pool.

The proverbial "looking out at the beach with our feetsies visible" shot.
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The second day there, it day rain more and harder, but that didn't bother us. We headed out to the spa. We started pricing things. The facial was $4.25. Hmm, kind of pricey. Maybe I won't do that. (Remember please, that there facials are one hour and include a head and shoulder massage). Then there was the 1.5 hour hot stone massage. That was inordinately expensive. It was $17. (I'm converting here, it was all in Vietnamese Dong). So, we did that. They send you off in towels to the steam room first. After sitting in the steam for 20 minutes, (and by the way, I was soaked, just SOAKED in sweat, but not more so than a normal day in Hanoi or Hue), you can go shower, then they lead you to a room for your massage. It was alright. Not the best. She could have used more pressure. When I get a massage I expect to be HURT. I wanna feel it! It was very relaxing though, and it was so decadent. It was just so nice to be pampered and not be walking 10 miles and sweating profusely. We went for a swim that night in the pool, (no ocean once it's dark, too dangerous), and had dinner and partied. We ended the night in the room singing to the iPod and having a generally good time.

This is our bungalow. Seriously.
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The next day was great weather. Too quick little bursts of rain that lasted around 15 minutes each, and then we had the whole day. We headed to the beach. Lounging and relaxing. I knew I had to hit the water, after all, it was a touch humid. This wasn't like the still tranquil water at Ko Phi Phi in Thailand from our trip two years ago. No, this water had some bite to it. It was warm and fantastic, but the waves were coming in tossing you around. It was so much fun to run in and let the waves smack you around and you pranced through the waves, jumping into them or turning your back at the last moment. But this resort was protecting us. They had people patrolling the beach at all times, had ready lifeguards watching us in the water, every single moment, and always had a stationed lifeguard at the pool as well. The swimming was exhausting though, so we made our way back to the beach, where a cabana boy came running over with cushions for the lounge chair. He brought us some tasty beverages, (Saigon beer), and we kicked back.

Which way again to the mini-golf? Oh yeah.
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The first day, before we switched hotels to the amazing Saigon-Phu Quoc Resort and Spa, we were trying to figure out what to do with our days, at our "lesser" bungalow. We were going to rent a scooter and tour the island. Now, any westerner that rides a scooter in Vietnam is crazy, but we're not talking about a city here. There is nobody on this island, and we would have, of course, had helmets, no matter how crazy the Vietnamese would think we would be for it. We were so in love with our resort, that we never left the property though.  (Actually, we left once. We walked across the street to a stall to buy soda, Pringles and beer. We haggled with the woman, I LOVE speaking Vietnamese, and brought our stuff back to the room for in-room partying late at night).

Our bungalow is the one on the left. Beach? Straight ahead.
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It's weird. At some point in our lives in almost seems like we began to think that it was wrong to pamper ourselves. That it is wrong to be waited upon. That we had to push ourselves and go go go on our trips. I don't know why it was so hard to say, "Hey! We both work real hard. We're both super-passionate about what we do. Let's allow ourselves to relax and really treat ourselves." I mean, this resort was $60/night and at first we really were like, "No way! It's WAY too expensive!" Is it the American mentality of the need for achievement?  I don't know, but our senses came to us and we realized that there's nothing wrong with taking time out and just chilling. It was so absolutely worth it.

"Bar Sunsed." I guess it was actually "Sunset Bar", but due to the lettering, we decided to call it "Bar Sunsed." They would bring us drinks on the bar. "Charge it to the room my good man!"
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Before we sign off on Phu Quoc, Laurie talked about accidentally haggling down the price. As I remember it, this is the conversation as it happened. Remember, Laurie and I did not plan anything, we never thought that the woman was going to take us to see the bungalow, and when she did, we figured that we would humor her, be polite, ask questions, then check out the other, cheaper room. We'll pick a name for the woman. How about a common Vietnamese name?  We'll call her Tien. I like that name. She was nice. So, anyway, here's how it happened:

Tan Laurie and Adam, on the beach. Bar Sunsed is to the right, our bungalow to the left.
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LAURIE: "So, you said this one was $70 a night?"

TIEN: "Yes. During off season we offer half off."

LAURIE: "Oh. It's very nice."

TIEN: "I could maybe discount. $65 for the first night?"

LAURIE: "Oh. The first night? What is it after that?"

TIEN: (embarrassed). "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I can't discount more than that."

ADAM: "Yes, okay. We just meant, what if we stayed two nights"

TIEN: "Oh, we discount $5."

LAURIE: "Well, then, is it only discounted for one night? I don't understand."

ADAM: "We're thinking about the room for more than one night? Does it go up after that?"

TIEN: (uncomfortable, in a fun way, that we're driving such a hard bargain). "Okay, okay. We can discount to $60 each night."

LAURIE: (not really sure what's going on). "So, that's for all 3 nights? We need 3 nights. Does it go up after the first night."

TIEN: "3 nights? That is $180."

(Laurie and I look at each other).

TOGETHER: "Deal."