Phu Quoc sunrises are early and sunsets are late, making for long days that could pack in an enormous number of activities. As part of a package tour that seemed to include most of the important attractions of this tiny island, it would make sense to divide these into those preceding and following the lunch, respectively. The lavish spread left us speechless and suitably languorous, but after a few minutes of a power nap, most of us made our way into the gently caressing waves that are the main attraction at Sao Beach.
Refreshed and reignited for the rest of the day’s events, we were then transported to the Coconut Tree Prison- so called probably to detract from the cruelty and savagery that unfolded here in the years during the Vietnam War, perpetrated upon the communist prisoners of war. Against the stark sunlight, the lifelike installations depicting the various forms of torture inflicted upon the inmates seemed to take on a life of their own, perhaps honoring the dead and departed in the only way possible.
Thus humbled, and not a little unnerved, it was therefore appropriate that we should end the day with something straight out of a fairy tale- the dizzyingly opulent Sunset Town with its iconic ‘Kiss Bridge’ that is almost the best known cultural symbol of this unique island.
As the hordes of tourists, revellers and visitors in general stumbled across the vast expanse of this manmade entertainment district, I managed to find some relatively secluded lanes where the shopfronts were just getting ready to open for the day, and where the sandy shore providing a lovely view of the bridge was yet not overrun by the chairs and tables that would be set up soon after for one of the most epic seaside light and laser shows anywhere in the world.
