Showing posts with label Phu Quoc Island 富国岛. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phu Quoc Island 富国岛. Show all posts
Monday, December 16, 2024
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Monday, September 30, 2024
Monday, July 8, 2024
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Monday, August 15, 2022
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Savouring beachside indulgence at Sol Beach House Phu Quoc
Savouring beachside indulgence at Sol Beach House Phu Quoc
Having already visited Sol Beach House Phu Quoc once, I couldn’t wait to get back.
The sun, sand and chilled out, welcoming vibe of the resort called to me from my stuffy city-centre desk.
Without a moment of hesitation, I booked the one-hour 3:45pm flight out of Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc, excited to see the team I’d gotten to know during my previous stay, eat the delicious foods and see what new things the resort had to offer.
Remembering Sol Beach House Phu Quoc’s pet policy, this time, I decided to bring my Dachshund Roxie along.
Immediately welcomed by a familiar smile and crisp white Sol Beach House Phu Quoc tee-shirt, we drove the short 15-minute drive from the airport to the resort.
I was ecstatic to have made it just in time to drop my bags off in my ‘beach house’ room, get Roxie a treat in a specialised dog bowl and catch the sunset and weekly Market Street Food offer down on the beach.
Savory, melt-in-your-mouth tapas-sized bites of chargrilled meat and veg were exactly what I’d been craving.
Sated and ready to let loose and leave the week behind, I took Roxie back to our room for her evening snooze on the provided dog bed – Roxie was as welcomed a guest as I was – before I headed back down to the well-lit infinity pool where the in-house DJ played groovy, danceable tunes.
I met a few other couples and solo-travelers my age, enjoyed the warm glow of a couple of classic margaritas and resigned myself to a great weekend ahead.
Awoken by first light after a cozy night’s sleep, I slipped down to the beach for a little meditation and yoga.
Calmed by the ebb and flow of the ocean, I only realized the time when my stomach started growling. Enjoying a quick and healthy fruit, yogurt and muesli, I decided to save my appetite for The Kitchen’s ‘Wok Mania’. Wok-fried anything gives my taste buds a thrill.
In the meantime, to carry on my zen and relaxation, I hit Body & Sol Spa for a 180-minute Relaxing Haven session, including a sloughing body scrub, restorative body wrap, soothing aromatherapy and a positively glowing facial. Three hours later, I walked out feeling like a new person – fresh, supple, renewed and hungry!
Body & Sol Spa is the perfect place to indulge yourself
I realized all I seemed to do at Sol Beach House Phu Quoc was dance, relax and eat, but sometimes it’s what you need to realign with yourself and nature. ‘Wok Mania’ did not disappoint; with plenty of Asian delights to hit all the taste bud zones: salty, spicy, sour and sweet, I felt a twinge of regret that I couldn’t eat like this every day.
During my last visit I took an exciting and informative paddle boarding lesson and, so, decided to get some more practice; I booked some time the following day on the waves to make sure I would be able to maintain and improve my already waning skill.
It would be a full morning of paddling before rushing off to the airport, so I took Roxie down to The Shack with me for a bit of dinner and to listen to the in-house Cuban band – the only one in Vietnam!
Passion was certainly in the air, with rich percussion sounds giving even the least musical person a bit of extra rhythm.
Looking to try something new and unique to Phu Quoc, I ordered the Ca Trich: raw herring salad with coconut, fresh herbs wrapped in rice paper dipped in Phu Quoc fish sauce. Fresh and not fishy, with the cleansing taste of coconut, the more of this delightful dish I ate, the more I wanted!
Food and friends on the beach make for a perfect city escape
On my final morning, Roxie stayed behind after another quick breakfast and I hit the waves. Still no expert with a board, I grew more confident with each hour spent on the waves. I knew next time I’d be even more skilled and confident, maybe enough to bring a friend along and show off! My instructor stuck it out with me for two hours and taught me some secret tips to control the board – I would be an expert in no time.
Like all good things, this weekend had to come to an end. Roxie and I gathered up our things and said goodbye to staff turned friends, both new and old, and promised to come back as soon as we could. While waiting for my plane to board I wondered how I could convince my boss to let me work remotely from Sol Beach House Phu Quoc’s poolside. A girl can dream.
"Please visit www.melia.com for more information or to make a reservation."
~News courtesy of Tuoi Tre~
Having already visited Sol Beach House Phu Quoc once, I couldn’t wait to get back.
The sun, sand and chilled out, welcoming vibe of the resort called to me from my stuffy city-centre desk.
Without a moment of hesitation, I booked the one-hour 3:45pm flight out of Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc, excited to see the team I’d gotten to know during my previous stay, eat the delicious foods and see what new things the resort had to offer.
Remembering Sol Beach House Phu Quoc’s pet policy, this time, I decided to bring my Dachshund Roxie along.
Immediately welcomed by a familiar smile and crisp white Sol Beach House Phu Quoc tee-shirt, we drove the short 15-minute drive from the airport to the resort.
I was ecstatic to have made it just in time to drop my bags off in my ‘beach house’ room, get Roxie a treat in a specialised dog bowl and catch the sunset and weekly Market Street Food offer down on the beach.
Savory, melt-in-your-mouth tapas-sized bites of chargrilled meat and veg were exactly what I’d been craving.
Sated and ready to let loose and leave the week behind, I took Roxie back to our room for her evening snooze on the provided dog bed – Roxie was as welcomed a guest as I was – before I headed back down to the well-lit infinity pool where the in-house DJ played groovy, danceable tunes.
I met a few other couples and solo-travelers my age, enjoyed the warm glow of a couple of classic margaritas and resigned myself to a great weekend ahead.
Awoken by first light after a cozy night’s sleep, I slipped down to the beach for a little meditation and yoga.
Calmed by the ebb and flow of the ocean, I only realized the time when my stomach started growling. Enjoying a quick and healthy fruit, yogurt and muesli, I decided to save my appetite for The Kitchen’s ‘Wok Mania’. Wok-fried anything gives my taste buds a thrill.
In the meantime, to carry on my zen and relaxation, I hit Body & Sol Spa for a 180-minute Relaxing Haven session, including a sloughing body scrub, restorative body wrap, soothing aromatherapy and a positively glowing facial. Three hours later, I walked out feeling like a new person – fresh, supple, renewed and hungry!
Body & Sol Spa is the perfect place to indulge yourself
I realized all I seemed to do at Sol Beach House Phu Quoc was dance, relax and eat, but sometimes it’s what you need to realign with yourself and nature. ‘Wok Mania’ did not disappoint; with plenty of Asian delights to hit all the taste bud zones: salty, spicy, sour and sweet, I felt a twinge of regret that I couldn’t eat like this every day.
During my last visit I took an exciting and informative paddle boarding lesson and, so, decided to get some more practice; I booked some time the following day on the waves to make sure I would be able to maintain and improve my already waning skill.
It would be a full morning of paddling before rushing off to the airport, so I took Roxie down to The Shack with me for a bit of dinner and to listen to the in-house Cuban band – the only one in Vietnam!
Passion was certainly in the air, with rich percussion sounds giving even the least musical person a bit of extra rhythm.
Looking to try something new and unique to Phu Quoc, I ordered the Ca Trich: raw herring salad with coconut, fresh herbs wrapped in rice paper dipped in Phu Quoc fish sauce. Fresh and not fishy, with the cleansing taste of coconut, the more of this delightful dish I ate, the more I wanted!
Food and friends on the beach make for a perfect city escape
On my final morning, Roxie stayed behind after another quick breakfast and I hit the waves. Still no expert with a board, I grew more confident with each hour spent on the waves. I knew next time I’d be even more skilled and confident, maybe enough to bring a friend along and show off! My instructor stuck it out with me for two hours and taught me some secret tips to control the board – I would be an expert in no time.
Like all good things, this weekend had to come to an end. Roxie and I gathered up our things and said goodbye to staff turned friends, both new and old, and promised to come back as soon as we could. While waiting for my plane to board I wondered how I could convince my boss to let me work remotely from Sol Beach House Phu Quoc’s poolside. A girl can dream.
"Please visit www.melia.com for more information or to make a reservation."
~News courtesy of Tuoi Tre~
Friday, October 31, 2014
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Tourists flock to Phu Quoc prison
Tourists flock to Phu Quoc prison
The historical relic site of Phu Quoc prison has so far this year welcomed over 75,000 visitors, including 3,400 international arrivals.
Tourists take photos and watch pictures to display activties of prisoners in Phu Quoc prison in war time (Photo: Cat Tuong )
Phu Quoc prison is one of the most popular destinations for visitors when they set foot on Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang.
During the wars of resistance against French colonialists and US imperialists, many Vietnamese revolutionaries were detained and tortured in the prison, some 4,000 of whom lost their lives there.
The prison has since been named as a heritage site and its twelve sections have been restored. Many now preserve historical evidence of the atrocities that took place in the prison.
The restoration and decision to open the site to visitors benefits historical research and ensures that the heroic prisoners will never be forgotten.
~News courtesy of SGGP~
The historical relic site of Phu Quoc prison has so far this year welcomed over 75,000 visitors, including 3,400 international arrivals.
Tourists take photos and watch pictures to display activties of prisoners in Phu Quoc prison in war time (Photo: Cat Tuong )
Phu Quoc prison is one of the most popular destinations for visitors when they set foot on Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang.
During the wars of resistance against French colonialists and US imperialists, many Vietnamese revolutionaries were detained and tortured in the prison, some 4,000 of whom lost their lives there.
The prison has since been named as a heritage site and its twelve sections have been restored. Many now preserve historical evidence of the atrocities that took place in the prison.
The restoration and decision to open the site to visitors benefits historical research and ensures that the heroic prisoners will never be forgotten.
~News courtesy of SGGP~
Sunday, April 21, 2013
The life and death of Phu Quoc Island
The life and death of Phu Quoc Island
A gorgeous woman digging for a dinner of periwinkles on an otherwise touristy beach on Phu Quoc Island
Clouds swallowed the rice paddies outside Ho Chi Minh City minutes after takeoff; 45 minutes later, they parted over a scratch of red clay road and a verdant canopy—neither a sooty stand of street trees, nor a dusty rubber plantation, but a jungle so green it hurts the eyes.
Set just south of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc Island still vibrates with the croaks of tiny frogs at night. Strange beasts flee motorbike tires as they cut over soft sand back roads like a knife dragged over pound cake.
Despite an ever-increasing glut of hotels and tourists, the island’s petite denizens still jerk into paralyzing giggles when presented with a foreigner who commands a handful of Vietnamese words.
I hate so much to be telling this all to you because the less you know about it, the better.
It is hard to resist the conclusion that Phu Quoc would best be left alone.
But Quyen, a pregnant pepper farmer standing in the middle of nowhere, told me otherwise.
As hired hands plucked yellow and red pods from atop square ladders, she explained how she’d managed to learn English and build up her farm by working for a few years in a tourist restaurant.
Tourism, she thought, was a good thing. But I wonder for how long that would last.
Given its history, it’s amazing that the people of Phu Quoc permit anyone on the island at all.
The French used the place as a brutal prison for anti-colonialist agitators. The US-backed Southern regime kept it going as an over-crowded, poorly maintained hive of beatings and insurrection.
Their American advisors supposedly protested and then went water skiing in their off-time.
In 1968, the camp was shelled 37 times.
On May 1, 1975, a squadron of Khmer Rouge fighters blundered on to the island and used it as a waypoint to capture and murder 500 Vietnamese civilians living on an archipelago to the south.
Today, the pledge to seize Phu Quoc remains something like the promise of a chicken in every pot.
Members of Cambodia’s coalition opposition have pledged to take back the island–legally, this time—in the unlikely event that they win the general election in July.
Hun Sen responded to their pledge in a stormy five-hour address before the National Assembly in which he called his opponents “dogs.” Hun Sen pledged to stick to the French line that gave the island to Vietnam in 1939, while offering to sue anyone who claimed he had done otherwise.
“Not a single drop of seawater has been lost to Vietnam,” he thundered.
A Cambodian invasion seems about as likely a prospect as sustainable development, but the fight to let Phu Quoc be Phu Quoc extends to all fronts.
Australians, Germans and Swiss restaurateurs now ply their own mediocre cuisine astride the growing wall of resorts, guesthouses and hotels that hug the Jacuzzi-warm waters south of Duong Dong—Phu Quoc’s biggest small town.
Even here, a kilo of grenade-sized neon orange mangoes sells for a dollar and the island remains flush with beaches marred only by the odd lean-to.
“There are more monkeys on the island than people,” said Rory Miles—the Australian proprietor of the namesake Bar on the Beach, where I settled into a bungalow for US$35 a night.
Miles and his Korean-Australian wife relocated to Phu Quoc from Sydney a year ago and began building out a wooden deck and boat-shaped bar on the former site of a Mexican-themed hotel called Amigo’s.
“Last week we had 40 people dancing in the rain,” he said as he looked out to the empty beach, rubbing red tired eyes at ten in the morning.
When I asked which highway I should take to the southernmost town of An Thoi, Rory scoffed. The “road” remained a shambles of gravel, mud and passing busses and I’d be better served to head down an unmarked clay road that runs along the stunning western coastline.
The drive rivaled any I’ve ever taken and I suspect someone will see to that soon.
Few seem interested in selling Phu Quoc’s virginity save the touts who supply jaded Saigon businessmen with naked “unpolluted” island girls who swim around their boats all day in exchange for jewelry.
While the $180 million International Airport has attracted no international flights, it has brought in a Burger King and a half-built highway.
Idle steamrollers seem to crowd the lanes between the treeless clay hills, visibly chomped on by triple- toothed backhoe bites.
The island’s supposedly enchanted waterfall has been tapped dry by a cacophonous gas-powered pump and thoroughly littered with garbage.
Identical party boats serving mediocre lunches crowd the once-pristine archipelago in the south, depositing pasty snorkelers and the occasional bits of trash into increasingly murky waters.
Indeed, the only thing protecting Phu Quoc from itself appears to be a dysfunctional bureaucracy that seems to constantly trip over itself in its efforts to utterly rape the place.
Scores of investors have walked away from a multi-billion dollar casino complex scheme that was first unveiled in 2007.
The latest group of investors to pledge their billions to ruining the island stepped forward last November.
Environmental Energy Solutions Technology Inc. of the Philippines and its sad local partner have continued to push (like their dozen disappointed predecessors) for a provision that would allow every pepper farmer on the island onto the casino floor to gamble away his future.
～News courtesy of SGGP～
A gorgeous woman digging for a dinner of periwinkles on an otherwise touristy beach on Phu Quoc Island
Clouds swallowed the rice paddies outside Ho Chi Minh City minutes after takeoff; 45 minutes later, they parted over a scratch of red clay road and a verdant canopy—neither a sooty stand of street trees, nor a dusty rubber plantation, but a jungle so green it hurts the eyes.
Set just south of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc Island still vibrates with the croaks of tiny frogs at night. Strange beasts flee motorbike tires as they cut over soft sand back roads like a knife dragged over pound cake.
Despite an ever-increasing glut of hotels and tourists, the island’s petite denizens still jerk into paralyzing giggles when presented with a foreigner who commands a handful of Vietnamese words.
I hate so much to be telling this all to you because the less you know about it, the better.
It is hard to resist the conclusion that Phu Quoc would best be left alone.
But Quyen, a pregnant pepper farmer standing in the middle of nowhere, told me otherwise.
As hired hands plucked yellow and red pods from atop square ladders, she explained how she’d managed to learn English and build up her farm by working for a few years in a tourist restaurant.
Tourism, she thought, was a good thing. But I wonder for how long that would last.
Given its history, it’s amazing that the people of Phu Quoc permit anyone on the island at all.
The French used the place as a brutal prison for anti-colonialist agitators. The US-backed Southern regime kept it going as an over-crowded, poorly maintained hive of beatings and insurrection.
Their American advisors supposedly protested and then went water skiing in their off-time.
In 1968, the camp was shelled 37 times.
On May 1, 1975, a squadron of Khmer Rouge fighters blundered on to the island and used it as a waypoint to capture and murder 500 Vietnamese civilians living on an archipelago to the south.
Today, the pledge to seize Phu Quoc remains something like the promise of a chicken in every pot.
Members of Cambodia’s coalition opposition have pledged to take back the island–legally, this time—in the unlikely event that they win the general election in July.
Hun Sen responded to their pledge in a stormy five-hour address before the National Assembly in which he called his opponents “dogs.” Hun Sen pledged to stick to the French line that gave the island to Vietnam in 1939, while offering to sue anyone who claimed he had done otherwise.
“Not a single drop of seawater has been lost to Vietnam,” he thundered.
A Cambodian invasion seems about as likely a prospect as sustainable development, but the fight to let Phu Quoc be Phu Quoc extends to all fronts.
Australians, Germans and Swiss restaurateurs now ply their own mediocre cuisine astride the growing wall of resorts, guesthouses and hotels that hug the Jacuzzi-warm waters south of Duong Dong—Phu Quoc’s biggest small town.
Even here, a kilo of grenade-sized neon orange mangoes sells for a dollar and the island remains flush with beaches marred only by the odd lean-to.
“There are more monkeys on the island than people,” said Rory Miles—the Australian proprietor of the namesake Bar on the Beach, where I settled into a bungalow for US$35 a night.
Miles and his Korean-Australian wife relocated to Phu Quoc from Sydney a year ago and began building out a wooden deck and boat-shaped bar on the former site of a Mexican-themed hotel called Amigo’s.
“Last week we had 40 people dancing in the rain,” he said as he looked out to the empty beach, rubbing red tired eyes at ten in the morning.
When I asked which highway I should take to the southernmost town of An Thoi, Rory scoffed. The “road” remained a shambles of gravel, mud and passing busses and I’d be better served to head down an unmarked clay road that runs along the stunning western coastline.
The drive rivaled any I’ve ever taken and I suspect someone will see to that soon.
Few seem interested in selling Phu Quoc’s virginity save the touts who supply jaded Saigon businessmen with naked “unpolluted” island girls who swim around their boats all day in exchange for jewelry.
While the $180 million International Airport has attracted no international flights, it has brought in a Burger King and a half-built highway.
Idle steamrollers seem to crowd the lanes between the treeless clay hills, visibly chomped on by triple- toothed backhoe bites.
The island’s supposedly enchanted waterfall has been tapped dry by a cacophonous gas-powered pump and thoroughly littered with garbage.
Identical party boats serving mediocre lunches crowd the once-pristine archipelago in the south, depositing pasty snorkelers and the occasional bits of trash into increasingly murky waters.
Indeed, the only thing protecting Phu Quoc from itself appears to be a dysfunctional bureaucracy that seems to constantly trip over itself in its efforts to utterly rape the place.
Scores of investors have walked away from a multi-billion dollar casino complex scheme that was first unveiled in 2007.
The latest group of investors to pledge their billions to ruining the island stepped forward last November.
Environmental Energy Solutions Technology Inc. of the Philippines and its sad local partner have continued to push (like their dozen disappointed predecessors) for a provision that would allow every pepper farmer on the island onto the casino floor to gamble away his future.
～News courtesy of SGGP～
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Phu Quoc Airport opens
Phu Quoc Airport opens with inaugural flight from HCMC
Phu Quoc International Airport in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang received its inaugural flight carrying 68 passengers from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on December 2.
Phu Quoc International Airport received its inaugural flight on December 2 (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
On the same day, Phu Quoc Airport also organized 11 flights with a total of 1,000 passengers on routes HCMC-Phu Quoc, Can Tho-Phu Quoc and Rach Gia-Phu Quoc.
The International Airport broke ground in November 2008, covering an area of 905 hectares and built at a cost of VND16,206 billion (US$777 million).
After four years of construction, the first phase of the project has been completed at a cost of VND3 trillion ($144 million). An official inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 15.
In related news, Vietnam Airlines flight VN631 carrying 143 passengers from HCMC landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in Indonesia on December 2.
This is the first direct flight between Vietnam and Indonesia. In all there are now four direct weekly flights, departing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, leaving HCMC at 10am for a three hour flight to Jakarta. The same flight will return to HCMC on the same day at 1.45pm.
On this occasion, Vietnam Airlines is offering a promotion, in which one round trip ticket from HCMC-Jakarta will cost only VND2,905,000, a discount of 22 percent. The HCMC-Jakarta-Bali route will also be discounted by 11 percent to cost VND7,085,000.
The above discounted fares do not include taxes and other fees, and are applicable on tickets purchased from October 22 to December 31, for flights departing between December 2 and March 30, 2013.
～News courtesy of SGGP～
Phu Quoc International Airport in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang received its inaugural flight carrying 68 passengers from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on December 2.
On the same day, Phu Quoc Airport also organized 11 flights with a total of 1,000 passengers on routes HCMC-Phu Quoc, Can Tho-Phu Quoc and Rach Gia-Phu Quoc.
The International Airport broke ground in November 2008, covering an area of 905 hectares and built at a cost of VND16,206 billion (US$777 million).
After four years of construction, the first phase of the project has been completed at a cost of VND3 trillion ($144 million). An official inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 15.
In related news, Vietnam Airlines flight VN631 carrying 143 passengers from HCMC landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in Indonesia on December 2.
This is the first direct flight between Vietnam and Indonesia. In all there are now four direct weekly flights, departing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, leaving HCMC at 10am for a three hour flight to Jakarta. The same flight will return to HCMC on the same day at 1.45pm.
On this occasion, Vietnam Airlines is offering a promotion, in which one round trip ticket from HCMC-Jakarta will cost only VND2,905,000, a discount of 22 percent. The HCMC-Jakarta-Bali route will also be discounted by 11 percent to cost VND7,085,000.
The above discounted fares do not include taxes and other fees, and are applicable on tickets purchased from October 22 to December 31, for flights departing between December 2 and March 30, 2013.
～News courtesy of SGGP～
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