"Which way to Cau Can?" (Jan. 24/09 - Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam)

With the freedom of a motorbike, the rumour of remote beaches, and a day with no plans, we set out on what would turn into a day-long adventure. It seems there is no such thing as a decent map of the island, so we grabbed a freebie from one of the resorts. The roads are drawn totally inaccurately, and every other map we saw was just as useless. We knew we wanted to aim for what sounded like a nice unspoiled beach on the north end of the island's west side, so we figured that taking any decent looking left turn to keep us near the water would get us there eventually. (Emphasis on the 'eventually' part!) Our first left turn was at the town's roundabout, but that quickly turned into a bad idea in the form of narrow winding dirt alleys passing between shops, over tiny boardwalks, and between pedestrians and cows. Before we could find a spot to turn around, the path dumped us out onto a paved road, suggesting that it goes somewhere important since only the roads in town are paved. But that too turned out to be a bad idea, as the pavement quickly became a narrow motorbike-width sandy trail winding through a thin deciduous forest. We pressed on for a few minutes, encouraged by the fact that the occasional motorbike would emerge from the other direction. Houses sprung up here and there in the forest, as did graveyards and cows tied to trees. We came across a family standing in their yard, and we took the opportunity to point ahead and ask "Cau Can this way?", naming the beach. They looked at eachother and smiled, and then their little 8 year old son grabbed his dad's bicycle, said "follow me!", and sped off down the trail. He had to keep stopping to wait for us to catch up, as the motorbike would spin out in the deep sand pockets on the trail. We must have followed him for at least 20 minutes, assuming we would turn left and emerge at a beach any minute. Then we rounded a corner just to see the main gravel road ahead of us that we were on yesterday! So we could have gone straight through town and ended up at the same place. But we're starting to become fond of detours, as they add to the adventure and make for a great story later!

The main road carried on for 10km or so before veering left and narrowing, with a few shops and houses bearing New Year's decorations fringing the road. We sensed we were on the right track at least, as we recognized "Cau Can" on some of the signs. The already narrow gravel road narrowed some more and threw in some bumpy sections and arched wood plank bridges spanning a couple minor inlets. Fishing boats were tied up along both edges, painted vibrant turquoise and green. The road got worse and worse, and then we came to a swampy section with a broken culvert that looked too sketchy to attempt. That was enough signs in our books, so we turned around, defeated. But a well worn path we hadn't noticed on the way in took off in a way that looked to be a detour, so we agreed it would be our last try. Sure enough, it was just a short detour that intersected with another major gravel road coming from the east. A sign posted at the corner indicated that Mai Phuong Resort was ahead, and I recognized the name as one from the Lonely Planet that was remote and near a beautiful beach. Onwards!

Sure enough, a lovely stretch of white sand and pounding blue waves fringed the road, but the "seafood restaurant 1km" sign had us push on. Success! With $15 brick bungalows set along a beach with a nice view down the entire west coast of the island, we were relieved to plop down in a beach chair and regain feeling in our butts after the long and bumpy drive. We enjoyed fresh shrimp and coconut juice straight from the fruit and then took the cook's advice to check out the beach just 1km farther up the road, which he said was nice. That turned into the biggest understatement of the year - this beach was miles long, completely clean, with flat sand beneath gengle rolling waves and not a soul in sight. Heaven. Nirvana. Paradise! We swam, we sunned, we snoozed, we watched crabs scurry back and forth across the beach and pretty butterflies landing on the sand. It was such a blissful afternoon.

On the way back, we met a French guy at the last intersection who was also on a motorbike with the same crappy map, so we shared our secret and carried on. We took two wrong turns before finding our way back to the wide gravel road that we hoped would lead right into town. Well, it might have if we had actually stayed on it! Instead, we second guessed ourselves at a junction where the main road seemed to veer east and ended up in a busy corner of town we didn't recognize. Around the next corner was a police roadblock, where two guys in camo sat on plastic chairs with a stop sign, blocking the whole road. We asked "Duong Dong this way?", pointing through behind them, and they shook their heads. Just as we were turning around, they apparently changed their minds and waved us through. They probably just wanted some entertainment, as we quickly realized the reason for the blockade - we were driving through the goddamn market! Swarms of people milled about piles of watermelons and pineapples on the ground, and kids sat square in the middle of the path selling New Years decorations. Hundreds and hundreds of people barely able to walk through the chaos, and here we were trying to drive through it! It was insane - people walked around us and looked at us like we were crazy (fair enough!). Stupid cops. There was definitely no room to turn around, so we were forced to putter our way through and hope it would be over soon. Finally (but not soon enough!), we reached the main road, which put us at the harbour bridge we had driven over several times before. The entrance to the market street was clogged with motorbikes belonging to the shoppers inside, and a group of guys waiting on them for their wives in the market gave us a look of amazement when they saw us emerge from the sea of people on a motorbike! Finally we were on familiar turf, and we made a bee line for somewhere to celebrate with ice cream! We never did find the beach we set out searching for, but we think we found one that was even better. Maybe getting lost is the key to a great adventure?!

As the sun was setting, we joined a British couple that we've been traveling with for a few days for dinner on the beach. Some more fresh seafood and rum cocktails with our toes in the sand, swapping travel stories... the perfect end to what turned out to be a wonderfully memorable day!