Well! There’s this island off the western seaboard of Vietnam called Phu Quoc. Over the centuries it’s changed hands several times between Cambodia and Vietnam. At the moment it’s Vietnam’s turn. Famous for having the longest cable car in the world (nearly 9 kilometres long and spanning three small islands) and infamous for the notorious Coconut Prison from the Vietnam war (They call it the American War here and it’s almost forgotten). A very serious tourist place where nobody smiles and even the mannequins look as though they’re really suffering.
Anyway, the main town is called Duong Dong (pronounced Ding Dong if you’re English – think Leslie Phillips if you’re old enough). It used to have a really cute airport you could walk to with your bag from your harbour view hotel. That has been abandoned and the main runway is now——- still a main runway —– but it’s used for many things and at this time of year (TET – Vietnamese Chinese New Year) it becomes the biggest ‘market garden’ you have ever seen, at least a mile of flowers / trees and plants on both sides of the old runway. These days the island has a brand new huge International airport that can handle direct flights from all over the world – but – then came Covid . Phu Quoc was a very popular destination for Russian tourists – but – then Mr Putin decided he didn’t like the people in Ukraine and decided to kill some of them. After that the flights stopped.
It’s traditional to place the yellow flowers around the entrance to your house, the more plant pots you have the richer you are.
Yellow and red are the traditional colours of TET. Children are given ‘Lucky Money’ in small red envelopes, families gather together, photographs are taken and special foods are prepared and eaten.
Betty desperate to spend her ‘Lucky Money’
Happy – TET- landings and best wishes for the year of the Rabbit! Let’s hope for a bit more love and peace – John.
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