We were woke this morning by roosters crowing. Arriving in the dark last night, we were unaware of our surroundings, so finding a brood of chickens and roosters outside our window was an entertaining surprise.

We had not really planned much of anything for our stay here. My only two must-do items were to 1) go to a beach and 2) go kayaking. On our way to our [massively underwhelming] free hotel breakfast, we saw that a tour company associated with our hotel had a very affordable tour tomorrow (my birthday!) that included kayaking and snorkeling, so we signed up for that and then went exploring.

We thought it might be neat to do a little exploring on kayak on our own today, but were told the more direct way to the rental place was under construction, so we took the longer way around which brought us out of the more tourist-y area of the island and onto streets where the line between home and business were blurred. Storefronts with signs advertising food were obscured by children playing, women washing clothes, people cutting or drying fish. It was actually quite lovely as the area were are primarily in is definitely not the “real” Vietnam. This felt closer.

A couple turns in the road later and we arrived at the pier where we were immediately approached by many people offering us rides on their boats. We saw the kayaks, but decided instead to spend the day at a beach, knowing we would be kayaking tomorrow.

On our way back, we climbed a set of stairs set in the lush cliff-side. While beautiful, we realized it was a cemetery of sorts. Already slightly afraid of breaking any local social taboos, we made our way back down.

We had every intention to go to “Beach 2” which I’d read was the most beautiful, but apparently it (or at least the road to it) was under construction and unreachable. We are, after all, on an island (one in which there are likely unexploded land mines in the less-trod areas) so finding an alternate route was out of the question. It was a bit disappointing to see the remarkable amount of development on the island. It seems they are putting up more and more hotels and other tourist-focused things at the expense of easily accessible, beautiful public spaces.

We made our way down a set of stairs to “Beach 1,” but noticing it was rather dirty and with no access to amenities, we decided to see where the man-made trail took us. Taking in breathtaking views the whole way, we finally arrived at “Beach 3” which was on the property of a resort. We rented some beach chairs and got a couple of cold beverages and settled in with our books and the sunshine. It was really lovely. Until the clouds overtook the sun and it became too chilly to stay much longer.

 

Back in town, we went to get dinner at a restaurant that Trip Advisor had rated highly, but they weren’t open yet. We took a leisurely stroll around the river, got a yummy bahn mi sandwich at a street cart, astounded at our luck in being here when there are relatively few people, and beautiful but not hot weather. We noticed a hotel with a rooftop restaurant at the top and decided to get a drink there as the sun set.

Mona’s was definitely built with Westerners in mind – everyone on the roof was white and they were playing a mix of slow French lounge jazz and Johnny Cash. We ordered our drinks, but then decided to get dinner too. We ordered a “Hot Pot” which we’d seen around. It was delivered to our table in three trips: a pile (literally a pile) of fish and squid, a plate of clams, a stack of greens, a plate of noodles, a tabletop gas stove, and a giant pot of broth and vegetables. Our server sat with us and explained how to do it – putting each item in the boiling broth for a certain amount of time and then ladling the meat, noodles, and veggies into smaller bowls to eat like a soup. On the menu, it said it fed two people. There was easily enough food for four. Multiple times different servers came over and asked if we needed help. I’m not sure if that was because we were doing something wrong, but it tasted good enough!

As we finished our meal, we struck up a conversation with an older woman sitting by herself from northern England. We’ve noticed a number of older folks on this trip traveling solo and I’ve been very curious to hear their stories. While I’d thought perhaps it would be a story of losing a partner who disliked travel or reconnecting with roots or something, hers was a simple “I’ve got time off and wanted to explore.” Same as us!

Bellies beyond full, we made our way back to the hotel with plans to get up early tomorrow (perhaps with the first rooster cry) to watch the sunrise.