VIETNAM - Phu Quoc Island - 7th to 11th March 2026

DAY 19 - 22 - Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc left me with mixed feelings, it is afterall quite controversial...a plan by Vietnam in 2017 to identify a paradise island to completely transform and development into a huge (European themed) series of complexes, to compete with Bali and Phuket, for the SE Asian, Indian, Chinese and Russian markets....Covid stifled it, but development continued with an attitude build first, the tourists will come later...but there are a lot of empty spaces....  

I stayed at Khem Beach (total Russian, which I'm not totally comfortable with)  which I thought was a quieter part, I clearly did not research enough, all along the beach are top end brand new complexes....although I walked to the end of the beach and came across a Vietnamese kitchen on the beach....I ordered a mixed fish noodle broth...and all the ingredients came on my table, including a cooker for me to cook...out came ChatGPT, and cooked away....and it was delicious! 

 

 

 
 It’s an island clearly being reshaped at speed into a major resort destination, and in places that ambition is very visible. Large developments dominate parts of the coastline, from vast hotel complexes to surreal themed (hilarious) towns with faux Mediterranean streets, Roman-style amphitheatres and even Bavarian castle-like architecture(the funniest). In several areas the scale of construction feels far ahead of the number of visitors actually there, creating the slightly strange impression of grand places waiting to be filled. It’s not hard to imagine how different the island must have felt only a decade or two ago.

 

But travelling around the island by scooter revealed another side that still exists if you take the time to look for it. The east coast in particular felt much closer to the traditional character of the island. At Ham Ninh, houses stood on stilts over extremely shallow water and fishermen wade far out into the sea collecting shellfish from the tidal flats. Near Hòn Một Island, a rickety wooden bridge leads across to a tiny mangrove-covered islet where locals fish in the shallows. These stretches of coast feel quiet and unpolished, with fishing boats, nets drying in the sun and small village life continuing much as it always has.

 

Further north the island becomes quieter again. The road winds through forest and rural areas before reaching Rach Vem, where the shallow water is famous for red starfish — although now also famous with tour buses and day-trip boats. Continue a little further and you reach the far northwest tip at Gành Dầu Cape, where the atmosphere changes completely. Sitting on the rocks at sunset, watching fishing boats heading out across the Gulf of Thailand while a couple of local kids were fishing close to me, it’s easy to imagine how peaceful the island must once have been.

  

I also spent a couple of good days diving around the small islands south of Phu Quoc, which was the main reason for me coming to the island..first dive total friggin Russian but rescued by Joe a Frenchman...but 2nd day out more mixed with some nice French girls, and much better diving..... The diving here is quite variable — visibility can be limited and the reefs are generally patchy compared with places like Bali. But the better dives revealed colourful soft corals, plenty of reef fish and an impressive number of nudibranchs, which made for some enjoyable macro life even if the big pelagic encounters found elsewhere in Southeast Asia are largely absent. ** 3mm shortie tried 3kg but went up to 4kg

One of the most pleasant surprises was Sao Beach, particularly the quieter northern end where white sand, palm trees and fishing boats in the bay created the sort of tropical scene people imagine when they first hear the name Phu Quoc. Arriving late in the afternoon after most visitors had left made it feel calm and unhurried.

Overall, Phu Quoc isn’t my favourite place in Vietnam, and it’s probably not somewhere I’d hurry back to. The pace of development suggests the island will become even more heavily resort-focused in the years ahead. Yet despite that, there are still small moments of authenticity and beauty scattered around the island if you’re prepared to explore beyond the obvious tourist spots. Those quiet discoveries — fishing villages, sunset viewpoints, and unexpected wildlife underwater — ended up being the parts of Phu Quoc that will stay with me the most. 

 

 

 

 

 

VIETNAM - Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) 3rd to 7th March 2026

Chu Chi Tunnels - this was a wide exit!

War Remnants Museum - Very Explicit

DAY 15 Tues 3rd March
Ho Chi Min City
Mad queues at Danang, possibly due to middle East conflict? Arrived OK and in a nice boutique hotel in what is a quieter but cool suburb of the city, Ben Thanh. Went for a walk to the main center market, even though I have little interest in markets, and my stomach won, and went for a meal in a small local restaurant....guy showed me how to fold the food up in lettuce leaves with spices and cut veg...it wor alreyt....after, a quick spin around the market, quick! Then decided to head to seedy Street just to check out....this is Bui Vien - and what a shit street....stereotypical of what I naively thought was a Thailand thing, but apparently all of SE Asia has them and the associated sex tourism, including paedophilia 🤷‍♂️🙈(

Bui Vien Street - Shit Street

Ho Chi Min - entrance to shit street, not sure he'd approve!

So, loud neon bars, dancing girls (looking bored and disinterested), mainly tourists of all tribes, groups banging out western rock stuff (one guy did smash the Purple Rain guitar solo) but significantly old single men....had a beer at the Pasteur Ale place (must be a chain, same as Hanoi) and "tribe" watched....had a 2nd walk along it, as even more active when dark....more bored girls out, "mathage Sir mathage" constantly and encouragement to go in bars....

Wandered away, and went to a yoghurt place and read my book, chilled, watching the world pass by occasionally....my gaff, was actually close by (Ben Thanh Boutique Hotel - really nice....very narrow and long...this is historical from French tax laws based on property width!)...and passed a series of cool eateries etc with hardly a western face...and those small child chairs (a giveaway to authentic Vietnamese eateries).

Pancake mistake before reading up!

My Gaff  - narrow buildings due to French rating method based on width

  

DAY 16
Full Saigon / HCMC Tourist Day
Got a Grab bike to the War Museum, was pre- warned about how explicit, draining and emotional....clearly fully biased against the US...but full rooms dedicated to the impact of the war, Agent Orange including birth defects later, the brave journalists and photographers that showed the horrors of what the US were doing to the American people, that turned the US public against the war...including the iconic Napalm Girl photo (we later passed the exact road where this occurred). 

Independence Palace

Where the Vietcom tank barged through

 

Independence Palace

Post Office - designed by Eigfel

 

Had a coffee (condensed milk) at a small chair place....reflected, read up a little on the other side of the coin, atrocities by the Liberation Army, Vietcong....including the Hue massacre....

Next stop the Independence Palace (government HQ)....presidential rooms, office, cabinet rooms and the bunker area below the palace....

The Gate at the Independence Palace

Post Office

 Next stop the Post Office, designed by Eiffel, with tourists, mainly young granary tribes, writing postcards to send home, bless!

Famous photo - Napalm Girl

 Had a plan to visit a different District, to getaway from the centre (District 1) and somehow the River View Park didn't exist....so eventually I came back (dodgiest Grab bike yet!)....walked across some big roads, one, I jogged to get to the side of a local family...they know how to do it!

Walked across other recommended roads, viewing what was the highest skyscraper (has a sky roof view) called Bitexco Financial Tower...861 feet...architecture inspired by lotus bud....then back to the gaff for a reset, and booked Phu Quoc flights, and from there to Hanoi...all set!

In the evening I used G Maps to pick a nearby Vietnamese restaurant....and had a great meal at the Street, great atmosphere too.

The Street restaurant- very cool

 

DAY 17  Mekong Delta tour
Booked through Klook again, very efficient....guides tend to WhatsApp the night before to update on pickup plan. Full bus with a batch of Indians, 2 young Japanese boys, and a Canadian woman....wasn't expecting not a lot, but in fact had a great day....yes, we did do the tourist stuff: the ubiquitous pagoda stop, although it was very impressive! Eventually we got a boat to Thoi Son Island where we had some musical and singing entertainment 🙄...and all the tourists were taking photos of crocodiles, catfish and even snakes....even though they are bred for farming....food or handbags! Suffice to say, Mr Hypocrit here did have his photo taken with a snake....we then went on smaller traditional boats down the Ben Tre river, couldn't see much, as each side was thick mangrove....visited a coconut candy making place, and it was very tasty...and a decent meal on the way back....a fine day!

Mekong Delta

BTW the delta was key in the war, the Vietcons used it to hide in the difficult landscape and the Yanks had trouble finding and fighting them...a lot of Agent Orange was used to clear the mangrove...

DAY 18 Chu Chi Tunnels tour
Another efficient 8am pickup with a good mixing the mini bus...with a good 90 min drive to the Chu Chu Tunnels, and for us the less touristy and authentic ones at Ben Duoc.

 

Chu Chi original tunnels 250km 3 levels down to 10m

Stopped at Quang Minh Handicapped Crafts centre / workshop where apparently victims of Agent Orange were or are employed to make some beautiful egg shell  based drawings....I bought two, £60 - that is steep for Vietnam...but it was (supposedly) going to a good cause, or was it? Later in the souvenir shop, they were selling for just 300k - but according to ChatGPT there are mass produced cheaper ones...I hope so, it caused some laughter and consternation at the time!

 The tunnels were amazing, that anyone could live down them, and this area there were 250km of them...we all experienced going down, and for me they were very tight...my main issue were my long legs....very sweaty dusty and of course claustrophobic...there was a 60m challenge on one stretch, with 15m escape holes, I lasted 30m! We were also shown the various traps the Vietcon set up, using poisoned sharpened bamboo canes...from false forest floors to swinging mechanisms if a door was opened. They were not designed to kill, but to  make the victims very sick...to destroy their mental health, and for fellow US soldiers to witness their suffering...

We had a nice sociable meal on the way back, and  numbers were swapped for an evening social.

On return I had a first 2 hour siesta, and felt so much better in the evening...

Joe and Otto (Brit and US) agreed to meet at the Street near me, and we had a combo for 4 to 6, and it was excellent...the atmosphere in there was excellent again, and very busy, we managed to get a table only on the 3rd floor. We then each got a Grab bike and reconvened at the Saigon Saigon Hotel roof bar, where the US journalists used to use as a meeting place...we split at midnight. Otto (really cool interesting guy) was catching a boat on the Mekong to head for Cambodia, and Joe was off to Da Nang....best night yet! Shame we had to split....