Day 22 – October 9 – Phu Quoc Island

It poured most of today. Robin and I both had things to do, reading or writing or packing. We had breakfast and lunch at the hotel, which was great. Again, the fish and the fruit were great, I was very happy. Since being in Asia, I have tried various different types of jams and spreads that they give us, most of which have names in the local language which I don’t understand. They can be dark black with seeds or bright red and smooth. Most have been good, some have been near vomit-inducing. The hotel restaurant had two, one was fantastic, the other, vomit-worthy. So we stuck to the good stuff. Most of the morning was spent sitting on the restaurant’s veranda and looking at the majestic view. The storms rolling across the sea to the island were very interesting to watch, with bolts of lightening hitting the water sporadically.

Eventually we moved back to the cabin. Robin was walking down the stairs to grab something when one of the wooden slats which constituted a stair broke beneath him, causing him to almost fall face first into the dirt and mud. It seems that the volume of water that had fallen in such a small amount of time had taken its toll on the stairs, soaking it to the point of failure. Only a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things I think. We went about our day sitting on our deck, watching the storm, reading books, and writing. I was actually very pleased with our day. At lunch, we returned to the restaurant, where the woman who had checked us in had some interesting news. We had told her about Robin’s lost painting the day before, and she had called the hotel. As it happens, she used to work there and was friendly with the staff. Robin’s painting had been found and would be waiting for us the following day at the airport. Awesome! Wow, this place really was fantastic. Lunch consisted of fish and chicken with stir fry vegetables and rice. It was very tasty. We sat at the restaurant for most of the waning afternoon until dinnertime.

This was Robin and my final dinner. It had a dual feeling: excitement and sadness. There I was, losing my travel buddy, but I was about to begin a second journey, in effect. I’ll dwell on Robin’s awesomeness as a travel buddy later. This was a time for us to relive our adventure. So, we played a game of 3 questions. I have posted the video below, but here is a rough paraphrasing of our conversation, also.



Question 1: Favorite Guide

Robin: The Tam Coc anger management issue guide whose name we cannot remember. Robin really liked this guide for a variety of reasons. He got upset at everyone when they got upset at him for being a bad guide. The tour was not actually going as anyone had expected, so, obviously, some people were pissed off. This guide got back at them by getting angry at them. Then, Robin also liked how the guide and I had a discussion about Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman’s economic theory of the high savings rate in Asia having a large impact on the ease of credit in the Western world, creating a bubble that we saw crash in 2008. Also, I told him how some religious events in the US were dictated by the lunar calendar (Easter). So, now, Robin is sure that this guide will tell all of his next tourists that Vietnam AND the US use the lunar calendar.

Kevin: Man the kayak guide in Luang Prabang. I liked Man, the LP guide, because he was racist without knowing it. He told us how the Khmu tribe was better than all the other tribes, and all the other tribes were full of stupid people. Then he told us his boss, from another tribe, was the smartest man he knew. Great. Also, he was mad that we went too fast for him!

Question 2: Funniest Moment

Robin: Laos BBQ Dance-party. Robin enjoyed the insane backroom karaoke bar that we were brought to by our Laotian friends. The fact that I got them to believe I was a DJ, the fact that I WANTED to get them to believe I was a DJ, was pretty hilarious in its own right. But then we were supposed to sing a Laos song which we were completely lost on. Then I sang the Akon song, which was awful. Yeah, pretty hilarious.

Kevin: Robin’s Chicken Video. Looking back at the videos and the pictures we have taken over the past weeks, one stuck out to me. The night we spent at Lahu Village while trekking in the north of Thailand was an interesting one. After a couple of hours of wonderfully peaceful sleep, the chickens and roosters started clucking and crowing. It was awful. Not five seconds between noises. It was loud and obnoxious. Well, Robin shot a video of all this insanity at night. Watching that video later was hilarious. After about 45 seconds of this, he says, “F it, let’s go bowling.” I think he shared all of our sentiments perfectly.

Question 3: Favorite Moment

Robin: Kayaking in Halong Bay. These are personal moments that are hard to describe. Floating underneath the stone arches in the bay, slowly gliding across the still water, kayaking was an incredible experience in the presence of such stunning beauty. It was the freedom to go and do what we wanted, coupled with the knowledge that our presence here in Vietnam was a function of our freedom to be out in the world at large. This was a time when we had something very special.

Kevin: Beach in Halong Bay. Similar to Robin’s appreciation of the kayaking section of Halong Bay, I had a fantastic moment of reflection on the beach that day. After kayaking around for 30 minutes, we found our way to a deserted stretch of beach and sat there. We didn’t speak for a while. Over the course of several weeks, there hadn’t been much quiet time between the two of us. We had gotten along so well, that there were no indignant silent moments, we never got upset with each other. So, we spoke a lot. Here, on the beach, it was a private moment, to reflect on that moment, this trip, or our lives. I took this trip to have moments like this, in exquisite beauty to put the rest of my life into perspective. I won’t bore you with my thoughts on that beach, other than to say, it was relaxing and helpful. Life is a gift, and I treasured that moment, fully.

After three questions, we listened to a little Pearl Jam, laughed about the funny moments of miscommunication or random events. We laughed about Fofie in Luang Prabang, our bowling friends in Vientiane, the drunken tourists on the Halong Bay junk, and the rain at Angkor Wat. We amazed at how we hadn’t gotten into a single fight. And we toasted to the future, cause it’s going to be a bright one. If we could withstand the wrath of angry Tam Coc guide, we can do anything! Although, I’m going to miss you, Robin. You were a great travel buddy!