Fresh Chicken Footprints on the Bedroom Floor

One of the many benefits of travelling long term and not having any definite plans is that if I like a place I can pretty much stay as long as I want. This feeling of freedom is unlike anything I've ever experienced, in fact, I didn't even know it was possible. Not only have I stayed in Vietnam a few more weeks than I'd originally intended but I decided Phu Quoc island was a place I wanted to explore for longer. After my four nights at the hostel near the main town I made my way to Thuy House, a homestay on a private beach further North of the island; I got a lift there on the back of a motorbike and had to navigate through dirt tracks and jungle to get to the house on the beach made out of sticks, rattan and tarpaulin which was run by Thuy, a local woman. This was truly an experience where I'd be living like, and with, the locals; my 'bedroom' floor was sand, I slept on a rather hard bed made out of bamboo, there was no flushing water, no electricity aside from a generator that was turned on for a few hours each night and I ate delicious Vietnamese food freshly cooked by the family such as barracuda, calamari, mackerel, shrimps and chicken all served with rice, fresh vegetables and lashings of locally produced Phu Quoc red pepper.

Sunset at Thuy House (pronounced Twee) as seen from the dining room/communal area where I spent my days.

Thuy's beach.

My room - every morning I would wake up and see fresh chicken footprints on the bedroom floor?! This is especially bizarre considering I always kept the door closed...!

For £7 a night including room, drinking water and three meals a day (THREE meals a day?? I'm stepping up in the world!) you can see why, after spending so much money over the last seven and a half months, I was happy to stay put at the homestay for several days, not to mention the fact that the deserted beach was like a paradise! I spent my days swimming in the sea, reading, chatting to Thuy and her English husband, Les, as well as other travellers from all around the world and I also had a giggle with Thuy's adorable five year old neice, Sao, who had such a big personality and would plonk herself on my lap whenever she pleased and chatter away to me in Vietnamese, completely unbothered by the fact that I couldn't understand her! To break up the 'hard graft' of doing pretty much nothing I decided to walk along the beach to the town with Lea, the Swiss girl I'd met at the hostel, as she also happened to be at the homestay. Once we'd walked to the next bay and past a swanky resort we noticed the beach was getting more and more filthy and full of plastic rubbish. With the abundance of palm trees and crystal clear, spotless, tropical beaches it's easy to forget you're in a developing country until you see the state of the coast in the parts that don't have resorts. I constantly see the Vietnamese nonchalantly chuck all kinds of rubbish on the streets, beaches and in the water. What was more disturbing than a paradise being turned into a dumping ground was that in our hour long walk we came across the bloated bodies of a dead pig and THREE dead dogs that had been washed onto shore. Despite this we marched on in the blazing afternoon sun with our eyes firmly set on the bobbing fishing boats that peppered the blue horizon as a distraction from what was washing up on the beach.

'Dead animal' themed walk to town - here you can see squid drying in the sun, a popular Vietnamese snack.

I always try to give balanced account of my travels: this is unrecognisable compared to the previous photos of the clean beaches.

My little buddy, Sao, doing her best model pose for the camera.

During my time at Thuy House I had the most wonderful news from home, I am now an Aunty! To a certain extent I feel like I am sacrificing a lot to come travelling as it means I'm missing out on my friends' and family's lives however I'm truly having the most unforgettable experiences and I have to accept that I can't have it all. If I wasn't here I wouldn't be able to do things like sleeping in a tree which is what I did on my last night at the homestay! The wooden platform, built by the family, overlooks the deserted beach and the cool breeze up there was a welcome relief from a succession of hot, sticky nights; I drifted to sleep to the sound of the waves whilst spotting stars peeking through the jungle canopy above me. Yes, I can unequivocally say that, despite missing people terribly (and despite the dead dogs), I am VERY happy to be here.

This is Thuy's Aunty who had come to help out as Thuy and Les are expecting their first child.

The view from the tree house at Thuy House.

Great fun!! (until you need the loo in the middle of the night)