We are proud to announce that the Carpe Crew is officially on island time! After 3 months packed with volunteering, travel, and fun, we’re all excited to be getting some beach time in Vietnam’s beautiful “Phu Quoc Island”.
Saying goodbye to Cambodia was definitely hard; over the past few weeks we fell in love with its rich culture, friendly locals, and beautiful scenery, and were lucky to wrap up our time at “SupAsia”. For those willing to drag themselves out of bed at 7 AM, SupAsia hosted a variety of morning activities including Paddleboard Yoga, Paddleboard Fitness, and mountain hikes.
Incase anyone was wondering, paddleboard yoga is just about as difficult as it sounds, especially since our group is not necessarily known for our flexibiltiy. Despite a few unintentional “dismounts” into the water, we had a great time stretching and starting our morning on the beautiful tree-lined river. Paddleboard fitness was a great experience, especially for something containing the word “fitness”, and the mountain hike gifted us beautiful views (and admittedly a few too many selfies)
Our daily paddleboard adventures were filled with sun, exploration, and some friendly competition. We enjoyed a tour around the island, and 7 km ride into town that only a few brave souls took on, but many laughs were fostered from pushing, jumping, and splashing each other into the water and general shananagains.
Even halfway across the world, we still made time to honor the beloved American tradition of Thanksgiving… twice. The first ứa the night before we left SupAsia, coinciding with the Cambodian “Water and Moon Festival”, which signifies the end of the rainy season and is a time to give thanks to the rivers for providing fertile farming land and plentiful fish. While the Cambodian holiday is celebrated with fireworks and brightly lit boats, we honored our home country with none other than: lots (I mean LOTS) of food, dancing, laughter, and gratitude. The kind family at SupAsia treated us to a traditional Khmer Thanksgiving with curry, vegetables, a turkey dish (that while delicious, was definitely not the Thanksgiving turkey we’re used to), and some good old mashed potatoes (s/o to Emma, our group’s “Betty Crocker”).
In preparation for our island adventure (and just incase it turned into a “Gilligan’s Island” sorta thing), we added to our “super cool but ‘lets hope we never have to use this skill'” resume by building a bamboo raft.
Ok, we gotta give a quick shout-out to bamboo. Over these past few months, we have come to love (and be continuously astounded by) how many things bamboo can be used for. For us the uses of bamboo are usually limited to a) a cane b) pretty plant and c) a “whacking stick” for children/siblings/signifigant others, but Southeast Asia has opened our eyes to the diverse uses that include, but are not limited to: spoons, bowls, chopsticks, cooking pots, benches, rings, baskets, beds, huts, walking sticks, flooring, clothing, shoes, roofs, food, rafts, etc. Bamboo, keep doin’ you.
Also quick shout-out to Pandas because 1) they appreciate the beauty of bamboo way more than we ever did and 2) c’mon, they’re cute as heck.
With the help of Sal (our local village expert) (and by “help” I mean vital aid and “what the heck are you doing” checkups), we were able to construct the raft out of bamboo, string, and recycled water bottles/styrofoam. We also accomplished the Jenga-like task of transporting the giant object through a maze of posts and chairs and geting it into the water.
And here’s the best part… it FLOATED! Our final evening (before the comatose from our Thanksgiving feast) was spent playing on the water with the raft, enjoying the scenery, and rescuing the raft when it floated a bit too far downriver for 1 paddle to save.
With lots of baguettes and happy hearts, we had a smooth transport into Vietnam and boarded our vessel to the island: the one, the only, the SUPERDONG VI! Equipped with AC and a super weird Asian Kungfu movie, we arrived in Phu Quoc ready for some sand, sun, and scuba!
Thanksgiving part 2 was held at a pizza restaurant near the beach (for round 2 of eat-until-you-feel-regret… and-then-eat-some-more) and was followed by a game of “Lap Tag”, full of wrestling, sand-burns, and sand in places sand should probably never be. The night ended with impromptu night swims, gymnastic water acrobatics, and chats about how grateful we are to be here. Seriously though parents, on behalf of us all, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to explore the world and giving us endless love and support.
Last, but CERTAINLY not least… SCUBA! Most of us are scuba newbies, and are currently in the process of getting our “Open Water Certification”. After one day of classroom videos, we hit the pool, then the ocean, with full gear and got down to buisness (oh, what a strenuous life we’re living!). While most of us are scuba newbies, Taryn and Parker are getting their Advanced Water Certification, meaning 30 meter depths and night dives. Fingers crossed as we head into our final stages of the course tomorrow!
Scuba diving has been nothing less than incredible. We’ve seen so much marine life and are loving being out in the open water. While we’d love to tell all about scuba and our other island adventures, we have to be honest… the beach is beckoning us. Stay tuned for more of our island adventures next week. Goodbye for now!
Andy and Ellen
