Our journey to Phu Quoc was reasonably painless. The flight from Siem Reap was delayed about an hour. On arrival in Ho Chi Minh we had to pick up our luggage, change terminals and check in again for our onward flight to Phu Quoc. In Siem Reap they put a sticker on our chest which supposedly meant we would get special assistance at HCM. It made no difference whatsoever. No assistance, no guidance, no information. Going through security for the onward flight was quite frustrating. You needed very broad shoulders, sharp elbows and some earplugs! There were 2 snaking queues set out by barriers but people just opened the barriers and cut in. We were there for ages, shuffling along, trying to make sure that no one pushed in where we were. It was so disorganised. We eventually made it to our gate with only 30 minutes til boarding. Both flights were about an hour and the only option on board was a glass of water.

The baggage handlers were very efficient, just as we got into the terminal, the baggage arrived. They changed carousels again, but this time we were prepared for the subterfuge! We stepped out of arrivals to find our driver waiting for us. A short taxi ride and we arrived at Cassia Cottage, an eco boutique hotel right on the beach.

This is the most expensive hotel of our entire trip, double what we have paid in some/most places. We were greeted by a kiwi called Jim who is the hotel manager. He loved our accent! I mentioned that we were hungry so he took us straight to the restaurant - the Spice Room. It overlooks the infinity pool and the beach. It is a popular restaurant that gets great reviews. We had green papaya, mango and prawn salad, fried squid, fish skewers and breaded barracuda fillet with sweet potato fries. The house wine was a South African Sauvignon Blanc so we had a bottle of that too. All beautifully cooked and very fresh. We were famished and ate every last bit ravenously.

We then went to find our room; a garden cottage. It is definitely not the most luxurious of our trip, even if it is the most expensive. I described it as 'rustic', Simon described it as basic. Nothing luxurious about it at all. We have our own small garden with hammock and patio seating area. The room has a queen size bed with full mosquito netting ( always a clue...). The bathroom is very big with an enormous shower area. There is not a lot of storage space but being as we are living out of a suitcase and not unpacking , that is not really a problem. The bed area had a number of mosquitoes flying around within the net so we spent the next few minutes doing impressions of Kyle Edmunds with the supplied tennis racquet zapper. Each flash and buzz bringing a little bit of satisfaction and a sense of triumph!

The night was still relatively young so we decided to go a walk up the lane to see if we could find some tonic to accompany the bottle of gin we bought at the airport. Simon exited the door first to be met by an enormous bat flapping into his path! Seems to be a lot of wildlife here...

(There is also a strange creature, we think it's a bird but we haven't actually seen it. Because of its strange call we have christened it the f*** you bird! - Ed.)

We found a small shop that sold cold tonic waters and I also bought a bottle of fly spray called Jumbo Vape. Aside from pictures of bugs, wasps and mosquitoes it also has a picture of an elephant, so it should be strong enough. On our return to the room, I sprayed the whole place liberally, then I read the hotel/room information booklet. Specifically the bit about this being an eco hotel and how they don't use chemicals for mosquitoes.... OOPS! Well we do! Guess we will 'hide' our contraband (along with the litre of gin!).

Cassia Cottage also has a very agreeable tradition of serving all its guests a cocktail if they are present at the infinity pool at sunset (which of course we were).

Upon completion of our complimentary beverage, we topped up the ice in our lime laden cocktail tumblers, and returned to our own little cottage for suitably strong G&Ts.

...and now off to town for dinner.