Monday January 23

Our week has gone by quickly, but as expected as it’s only been a week!

We had another delicious breakfast and then made our way to the pool for the time we had left at the resort.  I ventured a walk down the beach a bit (ours was definitely the best hotel!) but I didn’t make it too far as the heat and sun were a lot, and the water very warm and not refreshing at all!

We split a pizza and then, unfortunately, had to make our way back to our room to get ready for our flight.

The hotel offered a shuttle service to and from the airport (only about a 10 minute drive) but we really liked this as it made things easier!

We pulled right up to the airport, which literally had 2 cars in front of it, checked our bags, walked thru security and there we were ready for our flight!  I think from the time we left our hotel in Phu Quoc to the time we were back to our hotel for the night in Saigon it was a total of 3.5 hours, definitely not bad for a few nights of R&R!

We decided we wanted to try and take the bus from the airport to our hotel (the same one we stayed at before).  There had always been the bus 152 from the airport to the city center, but we had read that within the last year they added the 109 bus which is larger and has more space for luggage.

Since we were staying our last night in the same hotel, we left our big suitcases and just took our small ones to Phu Quoc, so we figured this would be a good time to try out the bus.  When we first arrive, with our normal size suitcases, it’s just too much work to do anything besides a taxi.

Anyway, we really liked it!  The ticket taker spoke great English and was very helpful (the ticket takers on the #3 bus don’t speak any English - or at least not to us).

It was a quick walk from the bus stop to our hotel (again, not too bad with just our little bags) and then we checked in to another, smaller apartment for our last night!

We (again) have had such a great trip and I am so grateful to have the best travel buddy a girl could ask for!  Thanks for everything Mom, I love you so much and love our trips together!

Sunday January 22

We actually set an alarm this morning (on vacation???) as we wanted to make sure we made the breakfast which we had heard awesome things about, and WOW was it good!

We were first surprised to see how many people are actually staying at the hotel!  During the day yesterday there were seats at both the pool and beach,and we are wondering what people do during the day!  The island is very up and coming, but there isn’t a ton to do.  There is a prison that was used during the War (no thanks for us on vacation) and there are other beaches and then there is a Vinpearl amusement park which we think maybe families might go to!

Anyway, the breakfast was the biggest buffet breakfast we have ever seen, it was crazy!  We liked that we filled out these little forms for eggs/omelets that they would come around and pick up and then return with our order!

After an awesome breakfast we decided to, wait for it – plop ourselves by the pool again!  We spent a little time at the pool and a little time at the beach, mostly in the shade, as the sun is HOT!  There is a nice breeze though which means the heat (85ish) feels nice.

They came around at one point offering quick back massages in the hopes to get you to come to their spa.  However, their prices were VERY expensive (even more expensive than at home) so we decided to look up another place on the island that was cheaper.  They also came around with green tea ice cream, which wasn’t our favorite but was very refreshing. 

We made appointments at the other massage place so we headed inside to shower and changed and then got a cab.  We hadn’t been outside of the hotel yet, so didn’t realize we really could have walked.  The cab starts at 10,000 VND and that’s exactly what it costs when we got there, ooops!

This place was no frills (with the cost to match which was nice) and it was so nice to enjoy a massage!  The beds here are comfortable, but we are still a bit sore from the orphanage and just traveling in general.

From there we got a cab (more reasonable this time) to the night market and the more downtown area of the island.  The night market was nice to walk around, although mostly seafood, sort of like the Portsmouth of Vietnam!  We started walking back through the town (not a whole lot, some restaurants, hotels, some shops) and then decided to take a cab back to the hotel.

We decided to try the other restaurant tonight and I think you would all be proud, we had Pho!  It was delicious!  We also spent our dinner learning new things (thanks to Google)  For example, there was a nice live band that was playing music (soft American rock) and Mom was saying how they didn’t sound Vietnamese, but were!  We then started learning about why they might sound American when singing.  We learned a few things but the most interesting was about how when people sing they have to slow down and pronounce words more clearly, and their tone becomes more neutral, and American English and a very neutral tone!

We were also interested in why it is suggested that you check in 3 hours early for an international flight and only 2 for a domestic.  We understand that when leaving another country (us leaving Vietnam) we need to go thru passport control, etc. but when we left from Boston, why did we need arrive so early?  It felt, for us, no different than leaving to go on a domestic flight.  Check your bag, go thru security, and arrive at gate. 

Anyway, we really ponder life’s questions while we are in Vietnam, although our concern is that next year, if asked why those who speak with accents don’t sing with them, we wont remember, so hence, the blog post!

Saturday January 21

We know from Long and others that many Vietnamese return to their hometown for Tet which starts January 28.  We were a bit concerned about how busy the airport might be, especially as we were flying domestic, so decided to leave plenty of extra time.

Because we are going back to the same hotel Monday night (Mom is so smahhht!!) we left our big luggage there and only packed a small bag to bring with us for our relaxing weekend, so this made it so much easier to manage!

We got a cab to the airport and were pleasantly surprised that the traffic was not bad at all and we made it in ~30 minutes which was what we expected.  The domestic terminal seemed busy, but the line for Vietnam Airlines was not that long and within 30 minutes we had checked our bags and made it thru security!

We were also pleasantly surprised that they have made some updates to the domestic terminal!  The first time we flew domestic it was hot, a bit dirty and had limited food options!  It now is much cleaner, has AC and a lot of food options including a new food court this year!

Since we had a little over 2 hours before our flight, we decided to treat ourselves to a foot massage, and it was so lovely!  We have seen the spa before but have never used it as we have never had enough time!  We also treated ourselves to some Burger King, and then made our way to gate 7, which is where our flight was **supposed** to board!

However, at gate 7 there was a 12pm flight for Hue boarding.  Our flight (at 1155am) was nowhere to be found.  At 1153am (plenty of time to spare) the board displayed that our flight was delayed until 1225pm and we would board at gate 5!

The flight was quick, 40 minutes of going up to come back down!  The Phu Quoc airport is very small and our bags came off quickly and we were on our way!

Our hotel had a free shuttle service so we were happy to see them waiting for us and off we went!  Our guy asked if we had been here before and when we said no he asked if we wanted to learn more about it.  He spent the next few minutes talking and literally all I got out of it was something was “4 km” away.  When he finished, he asked if we had any questions, to which we responded, “no thanks”.  After comparing notes, the “4 km” was all we learned!  Normally after comparing notes we do better!  Oops!

 One thing that is very different at the luxury hotels in Vietnam is that you never, EVER, go to the check in reception.  They have desks and people there, but you are always brought to the lounge for a welcome drink and that’s where the check in process takes place.  Cool facecloths and 4 types of cold teas later, we were ready to rock!

Mom, being the best Mom ever, got us a room overlooking the water and it’s just beautiful!  After getting situated, we headed down to the pool for a late lunch at the pool bar.  We shared a pizza which was delicious and then plopped ourselves next to the pool for the afternoon.   

It was so lovely to relax and (in the shade) the weather is absolutely perfect!  The sunset over the ocean was beautiful (we told the sun to say hello to all of you) and then we headed back upstairs to the room to get ready for dinner.

 

We decided to have dinner at the Italian Restaurant at the hotel.  We knew there was both an Italian Restaurant and an Indian/Vietnamese/Grill Restaurant (yup you read that correctly) so we knew the Italian one was the one for us.  We were a bit confused when we went to the Italian one but it seemed like the hostess was walking us down to the other one, and after we sat down realized that was not the one we wanted, so walked back (literally a minute) to the Italian Restaurant.  At first we were the only ones there, but it quickly filled up by 730pm and we had a lovely dinner!

After an awesome FaceTime with Nate and Dan, and then Dad, we called it a night!

Friday January 20

Mom and I both agreed we would sleep until we woke up!  There wasn’t any urgency to set an alarm, and since I had slept so poorly the night before, a good night sleep was needed.

More sleeping meds definitely helped!  With such a short trip, we wont even adjust to the new time zone before its time to come home so we slept in and had a relaxing morning!

We were so excited that our friend Long was going to be able to meet up with us today and come to the orphanage!  We decided to take a taxi, as we had our normal bags of stuff (electronics) but we also had all the medicine we bought (2 bags worth) and we had t-shirts with the kid’s faces on them made so we brought those too!

Long, Bob & Dorothy

We found Cap in the hallway playing with a car and he was so excited to see us that he dropped the car, grabbed our hands and pulled us inside!  He was ready to go and went and got strollers for the group!

We learned that the kids you take out on the first day become the kids you take out for the week, as everyone helped us get Dorothy and George in strollers so we could go out.  They were cutting down some limbs near our usual spot, but we still managed to sneak in! 

Thoung, Long & Me!

It was so nice to have Long to translate!  At one point he offered George the iPod but George said to him he wanted to wait for the iPad, oh geeze!  We did our best to spread the two iPads around.  Both Bob and Thoung like, and are very good at puzzles, so we often try to get them to do puzzles and the other kids (who are more limited) on the iPads.  Its so fun to see their minds work and to challenge them!

At one point we looked over and Cap was playing solitaire on the iPad, HA!  At one point he got stuck so I had to move some cards for him.  I don’t think he had a clue what he was doing, but he sure was having fun!

We headed back in for mealtime and since I wasn’t really given someone to feed I ended up helping George eat!

We helped to clean everyone up and Mom and Bob took on sweeping duty.  Bob loves Mom so much it’s so sweet!  He’s been very cuddly the past few days and just likes to go up to her to give her hugs.  They also make an awesome team that Mom is sweeping up in piles and he goes around with a dust pan to get everything and put it in the trash.

Mom & Bob

As we were finishing up, the workers translated to Long that Bob was so sad after we left last year and would ask, from morning until night, where we were and when we were coming back.  While this is obviously very sweet, it also breaks our hearts.

They, and Long, tried to do a better job this year of explaining to Bob that today was our last day and then we had to go back home and Long was sweet and said that we would make new memories and have lots of fun next time we were back. 

It was also nice as most of the other volunteers had left, and most of the kids had gone back to their rooms, so we were able to give the workers thank you notes and it was so perfect to have Long there and translate our thanks to them (and theirs to us) and then we took a group picture!

It’s also so tough leaving, but we try not to overthink it, in the hopes that we have given the kids a great week, and memories to last the next 365 days!

Tomorrow, we had to Phu Quoc, an island off the coast of Vietnam.  We have been looking at this as our little weekend away spot for a few years but it just never worked out.  Phu Quoc is developing very quickly into a tourist hot spot, so a lot of people have said to check it out before it becomes too developed! 

So, we are looking forward to a little R&R before returning back home!