Con Dao

Con Dao is a pretty small island with only a couple thousand people living on it. As of late, I’ve developed a healthy and flourishing hatred for tourists (yes, I know I’m really just a tourist too but stfu), so I try to avoid places with them as much as possible. On the island, we hardly saw any, so on that alone, I give Con Dao 3 thumbs up.

Even though it’s technically high season for tourism, everything on the island was super quiet. Wherever we went to eat, the shop owner would rush out from what looked to be a nice nap and smile eagerly, beckoning us to come in. It was as if we were the only people they had seen for days. Dinner was pretty lonely, as we were the only people sitting in large beachfront restaurants, staring out at the lights and the empty tables. How the hell do these people make money??

One of few places in this country with traffic this light

Somebody needs to be on this road doing a car commercial

The quietness basically commands you to relax. I haven’t read a book in years and have started to become quite illiterate, but being on Con Dao, even I had to pull out a book and enjoy some educational time (I consider book-reading education and not leisure). Other than that, there was plenty of hiking and swimming, but being that I'm not good at either, I didn’t spend too much time doing anything.

One of the hikes we did was up to the Soray Fruit Plantation. Misleading name, because it was neither a plantation nor were there fruits. Instead, there was just an abandoned old building and general creepiness. Nice view of the town though.

This was on the road and not actually in the "fruit plantation"

Tired and sweaty - I don't know why I agree to these hikes

The other trek we did took 4 hours up to a beautiful lagoon. I didn’t bring my camera unfortunately, but I did have a near death experience. On the way back, while climbing some god forsaken rocks, I lost my footing and plummeted down a ledge to what seemed to be my death. Thankfully, my bottom caught hold of a pocket between two boulders and I was pulled to safety. It was scary as all fuck but really I blame the cheap slippery Vietnam shoes I had on.