Vietnam TravelTravel Special FeaturesVietnam - A Coastal JourneyPhu Quoc Island - Island Hideaway

Phu Quoc Island - Island Hideaway

Lying like a shimmering green teardrop in the turquoise Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc Island has long been used as a hideaway by those on desperate missions. During the Tay Son rebellion, which swept Vietnam’s nobility from power in the mid-1780s, Prince Nguyen Anh took shelter on this isolated, 1,320 sp km island. And in the 1860s, after having led an 1861 campaign that resulted in the destruction of the French warship Esperance, the anti-French resistance fighter Nguyen Trung Truc fled to the dense forests of Phu Quoc. There he remained, still leading the resistance until the French captured his mother and threatened to kill her. As loyal to his mother as he was to the struggle for indepence, Nguyen Trung Truc was executed in the mainland town of Rach Gia, some 120km from Phu Quoc.

In terms of agricultural land, this rugged, mountainous island has little to offer. Crops include pepper and cashew nuts, but most of the 65,000 people who now live on Phu Quoc earn their living from the sea. Thien Hau, goddess of the sea and protector of sailors and fisher folk, is honoured in the temple-lighthouse of Dinh Cau, which stands over the island’s main fishing port Duong Dong.

In Vietnam, the name Phu Quoc is synonymous with Nuoc Mam, a pungent souce made of fermented anchovies. The insland's largest fish souce factory is located near the market in Duong Dong, where huge vats of the amber-coloured liquid stand waiting for local connoisseurs to grade the sauce, like fine wine. From here, the island's famouse fish sauce is shipped throughout Vietnam, Europe and North America.

More glamourouse but less well-known are the islands pearls. Local pearl farm produce lustrous pearls, which visitors may purchase for far less than they would cost overseas.

While the sea is a place of work for the island's residents, for visitors it is a magical playground. Empty beaches ring the island, but the best of all is Bai Kem, the name of which translates as "Ice Cream Beach" - a reference to the wonderfully soft white sand. Adventurous types can rent a boat and go to Tham Island, three kilometers offshore, then spend a lazy day swimming and snorkeling.

Kick off your shoes and stroll down the deserted beach, your footsteps the only sign of human life. When the care of the modern world have - like your footprints - been washed away by the waves, stop beneath a coconut palm, your head cradled on sand as soft and while as icing sugar. The bay glows clear and blue as suburban swimming pools, begging you to go for a swim. But instead you remain on the sand, enjoying the dream - inducing warmth of the sun and gazing out at the coral - studded bay.

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