Press
Freedomland Phu Quoc

The Word Ho Chi Minh City - August 2008
( ... )

    "Freedomland is only five minutes away from Ong Lang Bay, but it’s taken us over half an hour and we still haven’t got there. The roads here are no more than potholed mud tracks, surrounded by lush, tropical foliage and the occasional wooden house on stilts.
Trung (Peter) sent his assistant, a Phu Quoc local, out meet us. But despite phone call after phone call we can’t work out exactly where we are and where we should be meeting. There are no road signs here and the standard geographical references are too scant to merit attention. All around, the semi-cleared jungle is buzzing with the sound of crickets.Two enormous hornbills fly above, their wings flapping noisily as they pass by. A mass of parrot-like colours with enormous unwiedly beaks that below the eyes have a boxer’s nose effect, these birds are an amazing sight to see in the wild.
We eventually make our rendez-vous and get to Trung’s (Peter’s). A Viet Kieu fashion photographer with a Portuguese wife, together with a close friend he’s bought some land on Phu Quoc island and started to build. The structure he’s put together is both modern yet tropical. Red varnished brickwork with hard-wood beams, locally sourced bamboo and a chill-out area replete with hammocks, low-lying seating and cushions. He’s thinking of making the house into a gallery and we spend much of that evening and the following night talking about it.
Trung (Peter) is typical of non-Phu Quoc locals either living or doing business on the island. He is a pioneer, someone with a passion. When asked why he chose to buy land here he spreads open his arms and looks around. « I love this place »."
Nick Ross.