#39: A bird's eye view

23.02.2020

Today our journey takes us to An Thoi, in the south of Phu Quoc. There, we want to take the cable car with three cables to the island of Hon Thom, which is the longest cable car in the world.

An Thoi is about 28 km away from our hostel. We decide to take the public bus as it goes directly to the cable car station and is also the cheapest option. The bus does not have fixed stops. You wait until a bus is in sight, make eye contact with the driver and stop him with hand signals. After a few minutes, we see the bus, stop it, get on and pay 40,000 Dong (about 1.60 €) each for the 40-minute bus ride. After rejecting all attempts by the bus driver to sell us tickets for the cable car, we can start the ride. Besides us, there are only two other foreigners on the bus, apparently it is mainly used by locals.

The ride is very leisurely and we can take a leisurely look around. Surprisingly, we have to change buses once, as the bus driver tries to signal to us with hand signals and gestures. So after about 30 minutes, we and the other two foreigners get off the bus and get on another one that is already parked, where the bus driver also tries to sell us cable car tickets using Google Translator. After 2 minutes, however, the bus driver has to drive without a deal. After a short stop in front of a travel agency, where an employee gets on the bus and tries to sell us cable car tickets, we finally arrive at the station.

The station is once again different than we expected. It is built in the style of ancient southern Europe, it seems to be a mixture of ancient Rome and Greece. In addition, the cable car apparently represents access to a kind of nature theme park, and not (as we thought) a simple means of transport to the island. Nevertheless, we decide to take the cable car and off we go.

The 15-minute ride is very spectacular. It goes over the sea, several smaller islands, and many small fishing villages. The perspective is like from a helicopter, so you have a great view. Just for that, the ticket price of about 300,000 Dong per person was already worth it.

On Hon Thom, we suddenly find ourselves in a Polynesian theme park. Here you can find souvenir shops and food stalls, everything you would find in an amusement park. Instead of amusement rides, there is a water park that requires an additional fee on the premises. However, we prefer to take a free shuttle bus to the beach.

After 3 minutes, we arrive at an extremely well-kept and very touristy beach. In the water, there is a kind of water playground obstacle course, and various water activities (for a fee) can be booked here. However, we prefer to relax on the beach and enjoy the great view and the sea. After a few hours, we make our way back home on the cable car, and the ride is just as good as the first time. Once back on Phu Quoc, we are lucky to immediately catch a bus. This time, we have to change buses three times.

After a quick dinner, we hurriedly head to the sky bar. We arrive there around 17:29:59 and are greeted with "Free beer?". We gratefully accept and relax on the rooftop terrace after an exciting day.