What to make of Vung Tau. Well, if you are searching for tropical, crystal clear waters, search further. The water is a dark color, and has little resemblelance to a tropical beach. However... On, Bai Sao, or South Beach (where you will find the cheaper accomodations), the sand is nice and its a good beach for sunbathing over swimming. The beach is also well-maintained and clean. North Beach is in proximity to the more expensive hotels and offers little sand in terms of beach. Another beach nice for sunbathing, is Mulberry Beach, which is down the road from North Beach. There are some things to do here, including giant Jesus statue, lighthouse, and some pagodas. The seafood, as with all of Vietnam, is exquisit and affordable! The nightlife is respectable and you will find many places to go out until basically you're ready to go home. Beware of the many "girls" and motorbike drivers looking to take you for a ride..figuratively, folks. Most of the bars are located near front beach, and you can take a motorbike driver between the beaches for many 10,000 or you can walk in about 20-30 minutes, depending on your pace. In a nutshell, Vung Tau is a nice overnight get away from Saigon, but I don't recommend it unless you are spending a significant amount of time here. If you are just traveling through, head north to Mui Ne or Nha Trang, or better yet, south to Phu Quoc.

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Awakening late, because of last nights decisions, I packed my stuff and spent some time walking along the beach, rolling up my jeans and going in knee deep in the pleasantly temperate water.  I dodged beach vendors and just walked the streets, hopping in shops and the like to kill some time before my ferry left. 

I again, opted for the seafood and ended up ordering this type of clam that proved most difficult in removing from its shell.  The shells were reminiscent of those spiral ones you find along the shore, with similarly small holes.  However, they were delicious and since I was basically the only one there at that time, I had the pleasure of being observed by every woman in the place.  A bit uncomfortable, but flattering at the same time.  Heading toward the pier, I was reminded of HCM due to the overpresence of motorbikes.  I'm going to be having nightmares, "You want moto", "Hey, motobike".  I'm shuddering even as I type.

As I waited for the boat, I had conversations with the staff, who said I have a friendly face (which is nice) and wished me a quick return to Vung Tau.  The express boat service was extremely nice.  Clean seats, complimentary water, air conditioned, and best of all, cutting the journey in exactly half.

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For my weekend during the week, I headed to Vung Tau for a night.  The bus there was actually a mini van and was quite comfortable save the Vietnamese gentlemen who mistook my shoulder for a pillow at the Comfort Suites.  Nonetheless, I arrived and was dropped off in the middle of town because I refused to pay for a beach drop off.  I used my Vietnamese to find the general direction of Bai Sao which means Back Beach, which means the cheaper accomodation.

Checked into a hotel, although I still don't know the name, and I have the business card of the establishment.  Paid 280,000 d, which is about 17 USD; a bit more than I wanted, but I was hot, tired, and hot & tired.  I found a dude who rented me his motorbike for a slightly high amount and figured I'd get some practice driving and be able to see the town at the same time.  First stop, after lunch, was Giant Jesus Statue, which was exactly what it said it was.  It was a Giant Jesus.  Not as giant as Christo Redentor, but still giant.  After maxing out in sweat, I reached the foot of Jesus and realized you can walk in and climb up him.  Got to his shoulders, which was far enough, snapped some photos and headed back down. 

I then set off to find Mulberry Beach, because supposedly it has the nicest water in Vung Tau, which isn't saying too too much.  Vung Tau is lovely, but if you want turquoise waters, do not go here.  I drove around for a while according to my map and came up empty.  I spoke to a taxi driver in Englitamese, who guided me along the same path I had just travled.  Growing weary and running out of gas, I gave up on my quest for beach time and headed back towards my hotel. 

Dinner was calling for me a bit later and I dropped off the bike and set out on foot to find a restaurant.  Now, Vung Tau is renown for their seafood..at least over here, so there were many to choose from, all lined with tanks for viewing prior to consumption.  I chose a joint that had a crowd and ordered the frog (because it was my first time eating) dressed with chillies and other various spices.  Now, many people say things taste like chicken, but in my opinion frog tastes exactly like chicken.  If not for the bones all attached, I could have been fooled.  I headed to Whispers Bar among a heavy dose of oil working middle aged expats and traditionally dressed Vietnamese staff, and many conversations and drinks (most bought by the house) later, headed out. 

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They say that Sai Gon is not for everybody and I'm afraid it wasn't for me.  Not unti I got outside of the city did I really start to appreciate Vietnam.  Vung Tau for instance was a much quieter, laid back and far nicer place for me.  But that may have been entirely based on the experiences because in Sai Gon we were forever trying to be ripped off and the hordes of bikes really dis start getting to me.  Yet in Vung Tau we really landed on our feet as Brett mat an Australian guy named Don who was here visiting his Vietnamese wifem, Mai.  We shared a taxi to the hotel and went for a beer with them.  We met some of Mai's family and were invited out for bowling and a BBQ on the beach.  Everyone was absolutely lovely to us, treating us like part of the family.  Brett having split from Nelly, shamelessly flirting with all the sisters.

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Vung Tau is a town nearby Ho Chi Minh City. Located in the Baria province, this town is important economically to Vietnam as this is an oil related town, a town that booming because of the oil industry. Maybe like Aberdeen in Scotland or Midland in Texas. In the company that I work for, we got incentive everytime we are being transferred to work in a small town with "fair" (unluxury) facilities. And for that, Vung Tau is categorized as the "not so favorite" location compared to the other available nearby location (Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur) in my company.

But actually today, Vung Tau has different face compared to many years ago when the oil industry just started here. Even if we compare it to 5 years ago, the time where there isn't even any ATM (the money machine) in the country, Vung Tau nowadays is completely differents. With back beach (It also has front sea, but the beach has changed to a ferry jetty and man made park) full of people renting lazy chairs to sunbath or simply watching locals playing football, the town become more than a new attraction to local tourist.

1-1/2 hours by ferry from Ho Chi Minh City (or 2-1/2 hours by car), we can enjoy the beach and seafood restaurants. The restaurants here is amazing, and the price of seafood is much much much less compared to the one in Ho Chi Minh. One kilo of clamp for example, only cost one dollar. Beside the beach, along the main street in town (plus not so "main" street), there are lots of bars, like in Pattaya but bit less wild from outside (don't ask me about the inner side... :p ). The best seafood restaurant is at the end of the road along the beach called Tran Phu. There are three of them at the end of the road, and all of them is just by the sea, so you can hear the sound of the wave while enjoying a candle light dinner (or lunch)...even sometime you got the wave on you hahahaha (only a little bit). The 3 restaurants are Ganh Hao, Binh An and Bamboo, all close to each other,  Ganh Hao (with best food in the menu is grilled chopped oyster) is the cheapest among the 3 while Binh An is the most expensive due to its service and presentation, but from quality (taste) point of view - the whole 3 are the same.

Beside the beach, the town also has a Jesus statue, Mary statue and a light house on top of the hills (there are three main hills in Vung Tau...friend of my called them mountain...what's the difference? don't ask me!). The way up to the statue(both statue) is pffffhhhh (i'm no athlete). You can only take taxi or motorbike to its parking space and then you need to climb around 2000 steps of stair, especially when you want to reach the top where they have cross above the Mary statue. The light house is bit better since you can drive over there. Once (actually the first and the last of my visit to the light house), I took a taxi to go up there and when i finished taking picture, the taxi already left...and there's nobody there...so i have to walk down. I feel like asking one of the local to carry me down.

And for all my friends who feel jealous on me because my posting on work is in Ho Chi Minh with a regular "once a week" visit to Vung Tau, not like them who has been posted to stay in Vung Tau, now you don't need to be jealous of me anymore. Especially because most of the reasons my friends put forward is the difficulties to buy things you need. Since 27th of October 2007, the local government has open a mall called Imperial Mall which enable them to shop anything just like in Ho Chi Minh. And today was actually my first stopover to the mall, and we went up to the roof top, where there is a restaurant and bar. The interior design of the restaurant is just nice, people coming here after shopping to have coffee (haven't seen anyone having dinner here yet). With artistic wooden floor and dim light, the place is just so romantic. Especially the sofa which was put on a small island of glass, with flowing water below the glass floor...so nice. They also have some rooms for private fucntion (dinner with 10 people or more).

So...if you are in Ho Chi Minh somehow, don't rush going to Da Lat or Nha Trang...have a shot to see Vung Tau.

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