Day Eleven - 01/12/25

Cheers!

We had a slow start to Day 11. Rolled out of bed at 7am to another morning with no power. My phone had just enough charge from the reception desk to let me do some digging, and that’s when I found out what actually happened, a civil construction crew on the mainland had driven a pile straight through the island’s main subsea power cable.

They’re currently running Phu Quoc off a much smaller backup line, which isn’t enough to power the whole island. So, the south has power, and the north gets scraps. Apparently, this rolling blackout situation could last a month, right in peak season. Some people have already left our resort. We’re staying put. It’s cool enough at night and everything still sort of works… minus air con and decent Wi-Fi.

But being the 1st of December, we still had a bit of magic show up in the middle of the chaos.
Rosie, our Elf on the Shelf, somehow managed to find us in Vietnam.

She appeared in our bathroom, sitting there with a message written across the mirror:
“I found you.” A little haunting, but the kids were absolutely buzzing. Pretty impressive commitment from Rosie, considering she had to cross international borders and find us while the island has barely any power.

After the excitement, we headed down to breakfast. The place was packed, so many Russians. Our resort is basically Little Moscow. They’re direct, blunt, and seem very unimpressed by loud Australian children. And then there’s the fruit-mountain lady. Every morning, she loads up entire Everest-sized piles of passionfruit and pawpaw. She must honestly be pooping like a duck.

After breakfast I needed to find power for Monday work, so I went to reception. Anh sorted me out and sent me down the road to another spot. They drove me there and I set up on a deck of an old resort that looks like it has been turned into a residence. So, there I was, sitting on a miniature chair with a stool for a desk. Real ergonomic nightmare stuff. I worked for about three and a half hours with barely any phone reception.

The saving grace? A super luxury resort nearby with open Wi-Fi. Hooked into that and pushed through some emails. Later, I looked up to see the Wi-Fi password written above my head the entire time, after I’d already asked someone who gave me the wrong number. Classic.

Around lunchtime Kia messaged saying everyone was starving. I asked if she could send Anh to pick me up, expecting the van. Nope, he arrived on a scooter. I hadn’t brought a bag, so I shoved all my cords in my pockets, held my laptop like a newborn, and climbed on the back. Would’ve made a brilliant video for the work group chat.

Back at the resort we grabbed lunch, fish and chips for the kids, chicken salad for us. Then we played cards and waited for the heat to drop so we could ride down to Ông Lang Beach again.

We managed to talk Maddie into another bike ride (with her riding on the back). We parked, scrambled over the rocks and spent a couple of hours in the water. Eventually Kia and I hopped out, grabbed beach lounges and watched the sun slide down. Perfect. Western fronting beaches are the best for sunsets over the ocean. It was absolutely stunning and very popular.

For dinner we splurged and ate on the jetty restaurant over the water. Our usual meals cost around 150k VND. Here everything started at 250k and climbed fast. We ended up with a 1.5 million VND dinner, pizzas, pasta, nachos and drinks. Pricey, when you’re planning to travel for a whole year, but so worth it for the experience.

Halfway through dinner, the power went out again. So we sat in complete darkness, listening to the ocean below. The lights eventually came back on, but it was one of those surreal travel moments you don’t forget.

We finished up, popped the kids back on the bikes and rode up the hill to the resort. An absolute leg burner, especially with Maddie on the back this time. But with her cheering and encouragement, I kept a decent cadence and was able to keep it going the whole way home. I wish I had my power metre, because I reckon that would have been my best 10min power effort!

Back at the resort it was time for showers and bed. Another very full day over, but plenty more to come.