Can't remember if I mentioned it, but flights prices off the Island literally doubled on the 31st of December. When I arrived for my flight I kind of figured out why, the place was packed. People were arriving (to depart) by the busload.

In a minute I'll describe my arrival and departure from the airport in Ho Chi Minh City (OMG), but first back to Phu Quoc Island.

It turns out there was a music festival not too far from the area I was staying (the reason for everything being booked up) with an estimated 10,000 attendees over a 10 day period. Mostly under 30, many openly gay (not that there is anything wrong with that, just an observation) you could tell the festival goers by their wristbands, and there were many. So restaurants were busy, as were the beaches if you didn't go early. Here a couple of pictures early.

And I figured out why the beaches were cleaner, they belonged to the resorts and were "Private". How's that go "take paradise and put up a parking lot". A clip from the evening before I left.

It's almost 11am New Years Day here, and almost 8pm on the West coast of The US. So happy New Year's Eve, and Happy New Year from the East coast of Vietnam!  (Da Nang).  I stayed out till 11pm, had a few beers (quite a few) and some air fried potato wedges (big plate of em, $2.59) Total evening (6 hours) cost me $11.94 including a $2.00 tip! Gotta love that😄

Gonna save the nightmare airport story for next blog (coming shortly) So stay tuned travel fans. Here's a picture of my $8.00 hotel room in Dan Nang, 5-minute stroll to the beach.

The picture above is looking North from where I am Now.

Don't remember if I mentioned it, But decided to spend my last 3 days on Phu Quoc Island about a mile further North up the road. Found a hotel for $15 a night, booked three nights. A little further to the beach, about an 8-9 minute walk, but a bit better beach too (cleaner).  Gorgeous Day at the beach today, but didn't bring my phone for pictures, hope it's nice tomorrow to get pictures. Warning! It will make you jealous if you love the beach and aren't at one currently. Here it's the Gulf of Thailand, the water is pretty calm and warmer than in Da Nang where it's South China Sea (Vietnamese call it the South Sea) with cooler (not cold) water and surf.

I sorted out the credit card problem I think by going to the website and updating my travel itinerary and dates. Next day was able to book my flight to Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang on the same day, New years eve. I booked the very first hotel that I stayed in the day I got to Vietnam. I got a message thru the booking site from the receptionist saying; "Thank you for booking our hotel, are you the guy that stayed in November in room 204? If so looking forward to seeing you again".  Made me feel a little special!
Yesterday (new hotel arrival day) I mainly just wandered around, there is a larger city about 2 miles further North from here, I walked to where I could see the city, thought about walking further, decided not to and walked back.  Picked up a six pack of the local's favorite beer, Bevina. Cheap ($.43 a can)  4% alcohol by volume (Bud Light is 5%)  for my evening in the room. 

 My first morning  I had no hot water, sucked it up and took a cold shower. Then went to reception with my laundry (2 pounds, $1.08 washed dried, and folded) and told them about the lack of hot water. So Mom (manager) calls Daughter (speaks better English) and we go to the room so they can see the problem. I show them no water flows on the hot water side, Ok, Ok we check! On the way out of the room, Mom sees the empty beer cans on the top of the fridge (6) and says "You drink lot of beer!"  I laughed, and said, "Yes I do!"  Mom and daughter were laughing on the way back to reception.  I thought it was funny too!

Will post more pictures tomorrow (weather permitting) Phu Quoc has been a good experience, but so far have been more impressed with Da Nang because of the cheaper accommodations, and the close and very nice beach. And the beach area East of Hoi An!  Enjoyed Hoi An City too, if it hadn't been raining so much it would have been awesome!
I have no idea what made me so sick my second week in Da Nang, though I suspect Dengue Fever (mosquito-borne). There is no vaccine and no cure currently, you can get it again, but if you survive the first infection your chances of a second infection are reduced. I'm using repellant every day now.
There are no guarantees in life, you can eat healthily, not drink, not smoke, and not take chances, but that won't necessarily mean you will live to be as old as me :)  And you could die bored!

In short, I'm having a blast! Every day is a new adventure, I'm bucking my fears of what I don't know, I'm pushing myself beyond my comfort zone, and being rewarded with fabulous memories. Glad you're along for the ride.
P.S. Don't comment on my beer consumption, I'm 71, Retired, and on vacation! Cheers. 

I don't know what my logic was for choosing to stay way at the bottom end of Phu Quoc Island, probably figured there would be beaches all around me (there wasn't), but more likely it was the price.
I cut my stay short down there mainly because nothing was conducive to a non-Vietnamese speaker. If it wasn't for the manager of the place I was staying at I could not have talked with anyone. If you want the pure Vietnam experience, that was a good area to visit. Wasn't working for me.
So I picked an area up near the airport that seemed to have a lot of hotels, picked a cheap one and booked 3 nights. The area is very touristy, with signs and menu's in English and Russian, everything is pretty much walkable, and the beach is 5 minutes walk. Not a great beach, but adequate.

I asked the hotel if I could stay a total of a week, limited English speaking guy hemmed and hawed, spent ten minutes on his computer and finally said OK, can do. So I'm thinking if I stay till the 31st  maybe I can fly to Cambodia. But no flights from the island to Cambodia got to fly from Ho Chi Minh City. Bummer. Tried to book a flight, credit card not working :(  Worked fine for the flight here! Can't call the bank, no phone, and even if I did have a Vietnamese sim card I'd have to have international calling.  OK, I can book through a travel agency for cash (ATM card is still working) but the ATM's give a max of 3,000,000 dong, about $128.  No banks in the area, so ATM it is, fees and exchange difference and all.  

Oh and come to find out fares off the Island double beginning December 31st, go figure!  So I decide to go back to Da Nang (still cheap there) rest a bit there and get the credit card deal sorted out, then think about Cambodia. Anyway it's been fairly nice in this area, a couple of thunderstorms that dumped tons of rain, but island storms don't last long, 10 to 30 minutes then move along out to sea. 

Access to cash and credit for booking flights is one of the biggest concerns and worries of a traveler especially internationally. Raymond told me I should carry a second credit card, I didn't listen. I figured I'd covered my butt when I let the issuer know I was traveling to S.E. Asia and gave them the dates. If something can go wrong it usually does. 

Decision Made!

The decision was made by the committee (me, myself, & I ) to head south to Phu Quoc Island, about the farthest south you can go in Vietnam. It's not even on my Vietnam map. Vietnam Airlines flies there but not direct from Da Nang, I had to go thru Ho Chi Minh City, so I booked a hotel super close to the airport after my flight from Da Nang to connect to the flight the next day to Phu Quoc. My first mistake was to let a scooter taxi convince me (with a super low price) he'd get me there quick. it was less than 1/2 mile to the hotel but after twenty minutes of the guy pointing out the wrong places and making u-turns, I told him to pull over and gave him the 30K dong ($1.30) said goodbye and walked with Google directions the 1/4 mile to the hotel. It was about 86 degrees, probably 80 percent humidity and when I arrived at reception no one spoke English, UGH! Got settled in the room but the internet didn't work, went to reception, managed to google translate the problem. I had to check-in for my flight to Phu Quoc in a few hours so I could select my seat and hoped they would get it fixed by then (they didn't). Went to a cafe and did it there. Got the seat I wanted :)

Da Nang Airport.

Arrived at Phu Quoc Airpot after a great and shorter than scheduled flight, a beautiful new airport, got my bag and headed out the doors, spotted a concession with beer so I took a break and watched from a table as the taxi drivers descend on the exiting travelers, I was in no rush. I had contacted the property about a shuttle, they replied the didn't have one, but gave me their address in Vietnamese and said show this to the driver and he will bring your directly here for about 250,000 dong ($10.73). 

So while sitting there enjoying the cold beer a driver walks up, sits down and asks "where you go", I show him the address and he say's "Yes, yes I know",  I ask how much? He does something on his phone and says 150,000. I said you sure? He says yes, no more, 150,000.  So I say OK, and I learn another lesson.

My hotel is at the southernmost tip of the Island, the Airport is about a third of the way to the northernmost part of the Island. After we exit the airport the driver seems to be heading north, once the meter reaches 100,000 I ask the driver to pull over, and ask him to call the property, yep he was going the wrong way.  Oh sorry, sorry! He covers the meter with his hand and says only 350,000 as we're passing the airport and the meter is at 200, 000.  He's looking pretty stressed as he drives, and about 10 minutes later he says to me "Another beer? I said yes, sure. He spots a little store a way down the road and pulls over and comes back with two beers, hands me one.

When we arrive at the hotel the meter is 480,000, I gave him 500,000 ($ 21.45) and when he tried to give me the change I waved it away and said "no worries". He gave me a hug. Hey, the guy bought me a beer, and taught me a lesson, have the taxi driver call the property before leaving. 

The weather is nicer down here, I'm near the ocean, but don't seem to be near a beach, so my location choice was off, but the place is pretty good, the beer is cheap ($.50) and the place is only $13 a night. Can't have everything I guess? 

Checked out of the Homestay in Hoi An City, and managed to get checked in to my hotel about 1pm with no rain. 20 minute Taxi ride $6.44 (with 50% tip). After settling in took a walk to the restaurant/bar at Hidden beach I spent time at last week. The storm damage they had suffered before I arrived 2 weeks ago had worsened and is now threatening the structure of the restaurant it's self.

 And sadly, the storm is still continuing. While I was there the wind was blowing, and the waves were rushing up the beach. As I left the rain began again and has continued for the last few hours. The Place I'm at now is really nice, very modern room, beautiful pool, and $20 a night with breakfast included.

But I'm now questioning my stay on Cham Island, I have until tomorrow night to cancel without charge. The first question is, do I want to be on a probably overcrowded ferry (they always are) on stormy seas?.  And if the weather is bad, even pristine beaches won't get me any sun time, and even though the place is cheap, the money might better be spent on a flight south to where the weather is significantly better. I'll make the decision tomorrow.   In the meantime I have a cold, it's not causing me great discomfort, and I'm still a very happy camper (even though I'm not camping).  And by the way, great to have you along for the ride.

It has rained every day that I have been in Hoi An, luckily there have been periods of dry times so I was able to go walking, sightseeing, a find places to eat. But I don't leave my room without my umbrella!
I decided I was going to check out Cham Island off the coast east of here. First I'll spend a couple days back at the beach near where I stayed last week so I can bicycle (or walk) down to the pier where the ferry leaves from to check the schedule and price, can't find anything on it on the internet. The place at the beach looks pretty nice and has a pool. 5-8 minute walk to the beach if the sun decides to peak out while I'm there.
One small problem, I woke up this morning with a twinge in my chest, I think I'm coming down with a chest cold. Great!

 Roast Pig anyone?

Family that run this homestay (below)

Link to updated photo Album  (highlight, left click, select go to)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EMQAHeCorAqAgica7

Hoi An rain!

Left the Blue Beach Homestay about 11am on Friday morning, kind of sad to leave, Ha (grampa) and his wife were great to me while I was there. Ha gave me a parting gift, a package of the green tea they served every morning, and his wife gave me a hug. I should have gotten a picture of, or with them. Hindsight.
Arrived In Hoi An to my Homestay via taxi, wasn't that far, maybe 6 Km (less than 4 miles) it went quickly until we got into town, then traffic everywhere! My Homestay is just across a short (and narrow) bridge to the south of Old Town. Very modern, clean, and comfy. Breakfast included, and has Netflix. The only thing missing is a fridge :(

 South end of the bridge, Thu Bon River (below).

It rained off and on that first day, sometimes hard so I purchased a compact umbrella from a street vendor. 

At one point in the afternoon, I was walking around Old Town as  it began to rain and I spotted a restaurant the gal at the Craft Brew place had mentioned, Hola Mexican Restaurant. She said it was good so I ducked in for lunch.

Pulled pork taco's, Really good! I'll probably eat there at least once more before I leave Hoi An. 

Brings us to today, Sunday. Yesterday it sprinkled a little throughout the day, so I walked around exploring the area I'm staying in. Looked like a pretty big wedding party on the main street south of me, Didn't want to be rude so I refrained from taking pictures. Then later in the evening I ventured into Old town and found a restaurant listed with  Tripadvisor, and had dinner and a couple of beers. Pretty good, but overrated.  

Today, on the other hand, has rained pretty heavy since dawn, and the forecast shows 100% rain till dawn tomorror, a good day for TV I guess. 

Rained off and on pretty much of yesterday so I mainly hung out at the room watching TV, thank goodness there are a few English language channels.

Today, on the other hand was beautiful! So I took a little longer walk to see if I could find an ATM . 

Actually found An Bang Beach, busier than my area, more shops, restaurants, Even a place with Vietnamese craft beers! Had a 4 beer sampler for about $8. Won't do that again .

Found the ATM, actually two. The cool thing about the Craft beer place, gal working the counter spoke perfect English, she was from Hong Kong and travels. Really great to have someone to be able to chat with. Then walked about a half hour back down the beach to the area near where I'm staying. Had a snack (crispy wontons, and a couple of local beers) at a restaurant on the beach, for about half of what it cost me for the craft beer sampler. And thought about how freaking lucky I am to be hanging out on a beautiful beach in South East Asia. Also where I am now, if I smile and wave at someone, they smile and wave back, even the guys working construction, way better vibes here. 

Kind, of excited to see what staying in the city of Hoi An will be like, I know there will be lots of food choices!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EMQAHeCorAqAgica7

 Need Gas?

 Interesting concept, rocks between chain link, cool!

So Friday morning I left Da Nang, hired a private car to drive me the 25 - 30-minute trip South to my homestay in Cam An, a beach town just East of the World Heritage city of Hoi An. The homestay is basically Two rooms built above a family home on the beach road. There is Grampa, Grandma ( my hosts) and misc. adults, teens, and children. Can't tell who actually lives here (it's a good-sized house) people are coming and going normal family stuff, but always kids around. Breakfast is included and always includes some fresh fruit and green tea.

The price per night is $15, it's a 5-7 minute walk to the beach, and I've been treated fantastic, the room is clean, modern, and the bed is comfortable.

 

I'm thinking I may book a week in Hoi An, it's supposed to be a super picturesque destination.  And I'm just playing it on the fly anyway.  Some observations: Quite a few westerners in the area I'm in, I'm guessing Scandinavian for the most part, haven't interacted with anyone but the locals (to the extent of doing business) It's cool, I'm comfortable, enjoying being at the ocean, feeling pretty safe, my appetite is returning, and learning to ask for "spicy"!  A few observations locally: There are dogs, small ones. There are cats, small ones. There are Rats, large ones. Conclusion; Dogs, Cats, beware! 

I'm probably just tired, but I swear I saved a post to continue it later, can't seem to accesses it now, Crap! All those words of wisdom lost :(