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  1. #51
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    Wayne Kerr's Avatar
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    The last day of the trip turned into a beauty. I reckon that any trip in southeast Asia is incomplete if you don’t have some sort of memorable encounter with a pig and find a dick of some strange critter in a market somewhere. Anyway I wasn’t to be disappointed this trip, but the bloody pig this time brought on a nasty case of post inebriated anxiety about the prospect of one day having to return to my homeland and put up looking at all the big barge arse sheilas there. As for the animal dick I stumbled upon … well that just scared the clappers out of me.


    ^ The scene I came across when stumbling up all bleary eyed for breakfast on my last day – at first I thought my hosts had taken the good old Vietnamese hospitality too far and we were going to do “Moo Hun” Vietnam style, but I soon realised it was a religious offering .


    ^ View from the back-end of the pig – apparently the sucker weighed in at 105kg. This got me thinking about some news I received recently about one of my ex-girlfriends in Australia that recently hit the 100kg mark – shit I remember her as a hot, leggy blonde that used to go surfing with us and went like the clappers on the work bench. Anyway these strange thoughts ended up being all too much for a hungover Wayne Kerr and I decided it was best to skip breakfast and get our morning meeting over and done with so I could have a beer as soon as possible .


    ^ Local commune office on the east coast of Phu Quoc Island – I spent a few hours here before ducking off to a local fishing village to find a beer and a bite to eat


    ^ Small fishing village on the east coast of Phu Quoc Island we went to for breakfast - cop the serenity


    ^ This lady had crabs


    ^ We found these lovely looking marine snails which we thought would go down best with beer at 9.30am in the morning


    ^ Start of breakfast – the idea was to eat all the guts out of the snails and put the empty shells in the bowl in the middle


    ^ Half a dozen beers later


    ^ The lady selling the shells also had some live seahorses – Vietnamese “Vitamin V”


    ^ We also lucked upon this dugong dick – all I could think of when I saw this sucker was that I was very lucky indeed that I hadn’t been born a female dugong. Note the barbed head with the large testes sewn on down below. The only wanted about US$2 for this .

  2. #52
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    After breakfast I had a few spare hours before my flight so I decided to see some sights. The headland temple in town was the highlight. I also checked out the “1000 Star Hotel” for the Kerr family trip there in July. The 1000 Star is bloody cheap at about US$10 a night, but the rooms are set off the beach a bit and I’m pretty sure we’ll be hitting the Kim Hoa beach front bungalows again next time around.


    ^ The headland temple on Phu Quoc Island


    ^ View from up on the headland looking north


    ^ View of the fishing port – unfortunately my mobile phone camera really let me down taking the pictures from up there


    ^ Tried to stand right out on the cliff to get a good pic of the beach and boats but this bloody tree got in my way


    ^ Some great rock pools around the headland – I’ll be going back there with Wayne Jnr in July


    ^ The shrine in the temple


    ^ View from rooms at the 1000 Star Hotel on Phu Quoc Island – this seemed very quiet and relaxed and at US$10 a night it would be a bargain


    ^ Rooms at the 1000 Star are very basic but you’d probably spend most of your time on the beach anyway


    ^ View of the beach from inside the open air restaurant at the 1000 Star
    Last edited by Wayne Kerr; 04-03-2007 at 10:21 PM.

  3. #53
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    We really got caught up in the Lunar New Year (Tet) celebrations over lunch. The beer really hadn’t worn off after breakfast, and since my flight to Bangkok wasn’t until 9.30pm there was really no point in holding back beer wise. Following our 1pm flight from Phu Quoc I had about 6 hours drinking time in Saigon, and since the airport was so hectic with the overseas Vietnamese coming home for New Year we pissed off to my mates home and drank all manner of things. Anyway not many photos from here on in, but there is one of Ms. Phu Quoc competition that you may like.


    ^ Departures at Phu Quoc Airport – they are always run off their feet


    ^ The main tourist type product at the airport is the good old Phu Quoc fish sauce. This stuff is actually quite tasty and nothing like the shit made in Thailand. I hate Thai fish sauce with a passion but the Phu Quoc stuff is tasty and has a very high protein content – this is excellent if your kids are into the stuff. Anyway the only problem is that you can’t take it on the plane and have to order it in the airport then pick the bottles up in Saigon. It is so bloody complicated that no one actually does it. The airport is also a great place to buy a stuffed marine turtles just in case you need another endangered species to put up on the trophy shelf – I’d buy one except the fine for bring one into Thailand is about 500,000 baht.


    ^ With all the pictures of beaches and stuff I didn't take too many of the Vietnamese girls. I think I mentioned earlier that it is generally thought that the good looking Viet girls are far better looking than the good looking Thai girls. This is a rule which I previously thought only applied to Hanoi, but there were loads of super hotties on Phu Quoc Island too. Anyway while we were having a few beers at Phu Quoc Airport I snapped this shot out of the local tourism magazine to remind of how attractive many of the girls are there.
    Last edited by Wayne Kerr; 05-03-2007 at 01:57 AM. Reason: Wayne Kerr F-ed Up Again

  4. #54
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    Vietnam Airlines skids off HCM runway

    Hanoi (dpa) - A Vietnam Airlines plane skidded off the runway when its brakes failed during an emergency landing in Ho Chi Minh City, but all 70 passengers and crew were unhurt, an official said Friday.

    The ATR-210 plane en route to southern Phu Quoc Island had to return to Tan Son Nhut Airport in the city 15 minutes after takeoff Thursday because the hydraulic-system pressure had dropped below normal, according to a release from the airline.

    The plane, carrying 65 passengers and 5 crew members, landed properly but could not stop in time and skidded 25 metres off the runway due to the malfunction of the brakes, which were powered by the hydraulic system.

    "One of the valves of the hydraulic system had broken, leaving the plane unable to retract its landing gears so it had to return," Tran Van Mai, the state carrier's Ho Chi Minh City maintenance director, said Friday by telephone.

    "It might have been a mistake by the manufacturer," Mai said, adding that the plane is only five-years-old.

    Vietnam Airlines has had a string of technical problems this year, including three emergency landings in February during the heavy lunar new year travel season.

    The state carrier also had a turbulent year in 2006, with a series of scandals, including allegations that it paid millions of dollars for the wrong kind of engines for its jets and that some of its staff have been involved in drug and cigarette smuggling operations.




  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by [SIZE=2]Tran Van Mai[/SIZE]
    "It might have been a mistake by the manufacturer," Mai said, adding that the plane is only five-years-old.
    Or maybe the fact that it has never seen a qualified mechanic in any of those 5 years...

  6. #56
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    Truly outstanding thread.
    should be compulsory reading.

  7. #57
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    terrific thread WK!! thinking of heading back to asia not too far in the future with the wifey who is vietnamese

  8. #58
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    Anyway, back to the road ...

    Well … what a couple of weeks. Just back in from another trip to Phu Quoc. All things going well I should be back on the island early next month so I guess if I’m gunna get some more stuff in here I really should work out how to add an “s” to the end of “Expedition” in the thread title.

    This trip I stayed in 2 hotels. The first was high end, but the US$40 a night wasn’t that bad. The second place set me back US$8 a night, and I enjoyed it much more than all the highfalutin crap at the flashy joint. I’ll try to get some info about both places in here over the next few weeks.

    Anyway, here are a few pics of my first afternoon there this trip – a couple of kilos of marine snails, quite a few too many icy beers, and a friggin great sunset were just what I needed to get into the swing of things .


    ^ The Saigon Phu Quoc Resort – this was where I was holed up for the first week


    ^ Here's the pool at the Saigon Phu Quoc Resort - the beer at the pool side bars was always icy cold


    ^ These were the first things on my agenda. They're strombus snails at about 50 baht a kg and some of the tastiest critters I've ever eaten .


    ^ More strombus snails – a Phu Quoc Island specialty


    ^ This was my favourite restaurant on the island, but I found a better one just yesterday. Anyway this was the site for the first snail feast. Its in Ham Ninh commune on the east coast of the island – was great to be treated to a sunset like this whilst enjoying way too many cold beers .


    ^ More sunset shots – Ham Ninh commune is about 15 minutes by motorcycle from the island centre. Four of us stuffed ourselves with snails, blue swimmer crab, and beer for bout 350,000 dong (say 700 baht).

    Overall a very enjoyable start to the trip

  9. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr
    I really should work out how to add an “s” to the end of “Expedition” in the thread title.
    'Tis done.

  10. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
    'Tis done.
    Cheers old chap.

    Anyway, back to the road ...

    The next day was stuck inside an office, but I was fortunate enough to be treated to a seafood BBQ at the Saigon-Phu Quoc Resort’s Sunset Bar in the afternoon. Of course this turned into a 6 hour drinking session with the Vietnamese guys I was with and some very, very friendly young Vietnamese and Cambodian waitresses .

    The island is only a stones throw from the coastal provinces of southern Cambodia, so most people seem to speak Vietnamese and atleast some Khmer. There always seems to be one person who can speak Thai a bit too. Anyway, here’s a few pics and vids.


    ^ Bar Sunset on Phu Quoc Island


    ^ Was tempted to take a one of the kayaks for a paddle but a cold watching the sunset seemed much more appropriate


    ^ Now this is life – cop the serenity

    Here’s a few vids of things down on the beach before it got too dark ...
    Attached Files Attached Files

  11. #61
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    The BBQ put on at the bar each night is first class … they charge the equivalent of about 500 baht for all the beer and seafood you can drink.


    ^ A young bloke cooking up a storm


    ^ I reckon there’d be more than 500 bahts worth of seafood on the grill but I reckon I must have finished double that … and all this before they even brought the crabs out .


    ^ There seems to be an endless supply of ultra cheap blue swimmer crabs on the island

  12. #62
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    Anyway things got a little messy towards the end of the night. One of the young waitresses offered to take me for a ride around town on her motorbike. She ducked off to doll herself up a bit and on her return I realised things could get interesting.

    Here's a vid I pulled off whilst sitting on the back of her bike ... I'm really going to have to improve my video technique to prevent shadows ending up in wrong spots again .
    Attached Files Attached Files

  13. #63

    R.I.P.


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    I think she sussed what you were trying to video

  14. #64
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    Got some better ones later, although I recall your warning earlier on in this thread

    Anyway, back to the road …


    I guess one can’t go about having fun with young sexpots all night and not expect to have to do some work the next day to replenish the bank account … so the next morning it was up at 6am to piss off to the small island commune I visited at the start of this thread.

    With the onset of the southwest monsoon the entire community has shifted to the northeast side of the small island, and I think somehow they treat this place as a temporary abode as it is a friggin filthy shithole. It also where all the fishermen's knocking shops are. Fortunately my favourite restaurant was in easy walking distance. I guess pictures are more interesting than words so here goes:


    ^ Fishing port right on the southern tip of the island … just a stones throw to the hundreds of small islands to the south of the main island


    ^ A nice boat anchored up off the commune I was visiting



    ^ The coastline looks friggin awesome but on closer inspection you'll be disappointed


    ^ It quickly came apparent that the locals treated this place about as good as the Pattaya City Government treats Jomtien Beach


    ^ Wasn’t much better up the other direction


    ^ Things got worse as we walked up into the commune


    ^ A shot back down to the coast once you get past the small market and move into the knocking shop area.


    ^ I’ve spent a fair bit of time in small southeast Asian fishing communities over the years so its pretty easy to spot the local knocking shops … the girl on the left was playing with condom full of water and showed me how she’d fellate it … when I pulled the camera out she hid it with her right hand under her legs. According to my Vietnamese mates the going rate is about US$3 for the fishermen.


    ^ Fortunately my favourite restaurant was only about 200 metres from the shore (about in the centre of the island). Those who have read this from the start you may recognise these blokes. This time they had cold beer for me, but still it was expected that I down at least 20 glasses of the local rice wine with them .


    ^ When we stumbled back down onto the beach I looked up and thought this could be a lovely place if they cleaned up all the shit .


    ^ When we were cruising off this fish trader wanted us to buy this endangered species of sea turtle of him ... only wanted equivalent of $15

  15. #65
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    ^ All I can remember (well all my camera can remember) after getting on the boat was finding my way onto the back of another motorbike

  16. #66

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    Looks a bit better than the motorbike taxi drivers down the end of my road

  17. #67
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    Did she sell you her starfish?

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
    Did she sell you her starfish?
    Starfish ... she was more like a mermaid on speed

    Anyway, back to the road ...


    After about a week at the Saigon-Phu Quoc Resort and too many pissy nights, my plan was to spend another week exploring some of the Island's coast by boat during the day. First step was to find a cheap hotel to hang my hat. The Kim Phung Hotel in the town centre looked good enough and was a bargain at US$8 a night. I ended up checking out of the place after a week and the total bill was less than 1 night at the resort.


    ^ The Kim Phung Hotel in downtown Phu Quoc


    ^ The rooms are up the back behind the hotel ... note to myself to be more careful of the steps when stumbling back home pissed next time .


    ^ Lovely little courtyard ... most guests sit around out here at night drinking and eating .


    ^ Right in the middle of town in close proximity to plenty of cheap restaurants and beer shops ... a box of 24 cold cans of beer goes for about the same as 3 at the resort .


    ^ Room was small but clean and had air-con. Was about 40 degrees C most days and due to power restrictions on the island most places, including small hotels like this were without power from about 5.00pm-8.00pm ... this resulted in most people sitting around outside drinking cold beer until the aircon started working again.


    ^ Shots of dunnies seem quite common on here - so here's the bathroom at the Kim Phung .

  19. #69
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    Lovely photos. Thanks again.

  20. #70
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    The hotel move really took it out of me so I decided more seafood and beer was in order to replenish my energy levels. Found this great little restaurant … you buy your own seafood in the nearby market and they cook it up for you for next to nothing. Seems they make their money out of beer sales mainly.


    ^ Was so bloody hot an humid there at the time that I couldn’t have cared less if I fell in … only about a metre deep anyway


    ^ I felt like some mud crab … this one proved a little difficult to tie up


    ^ More snails … really wish they were more readily available in Bangkok


    ^ Snails on the table


    ^ Some of the swimming crab we had ... they cooked these alive on the table next to us .

  21. #71

    R.I.P.


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    He looks a bit of an angry bugger, then again I don't blame him


  22. #72
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    Now thats a crab! Those swimmers are too fiddly.

  23. #73
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog
    He looks a bit of an angry bugger, then again I don't blame him
    Nearly got me he did ... tried to grab him with one hand, a camera in the other, ended up having to give him one of my flip flops to play with for a while to calm him down. Think I got some of that on video. Sabang, I find serious crab eaters either love one or the other ... personally I prefer the blue swimmers. I eat so many of them that a muddie is good for a change every now and then.

    Anyway, back to the road ...

    Next day was off to sea ... was keen to explore a few places along the east coast. Here’s a few pics:


    ^ A shot of M.V. Wayne Kerr's wheelhouse


    ^ A great view looking south down the east coast of Phu Quoc Island


    ^ Took this pic of the GPS to remind where we went in case things got too pissy later on the day


    ^ The Vietnamese are pretty much the same as the Thais when it comes to food, i.e. they are always thinking of it. These boats looked a good a source of food as any so we found ourselves steaming towards them before we actually got any work done.


    ^ The crew were surprised to see a big dopey looking farang taking their pictures


    ^ They were mending the nets so I grabbed a net needle and helped out for a while. They seemed quite pleased with this and offered us a bag of squid in return … it’s one of the only times the skills I learnt during my misspent youth have paid off.


    ^ They were really pissing themselves at the farang fella fixing the nets with them


    ^ Next step was to get the suckers cleaned up a bit


    ^ Still cleaning the squid … these suckers have got heaps of that black stuff in em


    ^ Then they were onto the stove with some fish and other stuff we had


    ^ This was the end result … not bad but I wish we’d spent a little longer getting all the black shit out of the squid


    ^ Before we’d finish eating the lads cracked a “bag” of rice wine … they had about 10 small bags like this to get through in the afternoon


    ^ Then they called the local border army patrol bloke on the radio and invited him over to join us … man this guy could drink


    ^ A long swim was in order to help sober up later that afternoon – if you look closely you can see our snorkels
    Last edited by Wayne Kerr; 16-06-2007 at 06:16 PM.

  24. #74
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    Mate, whatever it is you do for a living, I reckon I'd be your Gopher for free.

  25. #75
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang
    I reckon I'd be your Gopher for free.
    It aint all beer and skittles you know ... sometimes I have to drink wine . Just see below.



    ^ This day led to another bloody dinner of some hot pot of all manner of strange critters and more beer




    ^ The wine that night came out of a big plastic drum into empty JW Black bottle – it was apparently made of some unusual forest fruit, very strong, and I was very happy once it was finished so I could get back to my beer

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