A few hours from HCMC is the beachside town of Vung Tau. Although a favourite escape for American and Australian soldiers stationed in HCMC during the Vietnam war today it has very little international tourism and is primarily an escape for locals. It was here that I was meeting up with Alex and Aliona and where we would spend New Years.
Needing a break from hostel life I decided that I would splurge and get a hotel for my time in Vung Tau. The primary obstacle to this was that the address was incorrect on both Maps Me and Booking.com (where I had made my reservation). After walking around for a while, and in an area that was clearly not the hotel, I came across a group of older women sitting on the steps of a building. With the aid of some non-verbal cues and google translates I set off in a new direction for something that I could only guess was a few blocks east and south. A few minutes later one of them came by on a bike and pointed to the street that I was to turn south on. I arrived at the hotel a few minutes later. The friendliness of the Vietnamese and this kind of act of kindness was something that I observed several times thru out my time in Vietnam.
Tired, and with the quietness of having own room for the first time in weeks, I fell asleep pretty early. Well besides being awoken by the giant, and surprisingly resilient, cockroach that was scattering around the bathroom.
The next morning I set out towards the beach hoping to spend some time there only to find that it was way too windy for swimming. In the afternoon I met up with Alex and Aliona and we explored the town side before finding some random side street Pho for dinner.
The next day was New Years Eve and one of the things about Vung Tau was that it went from a sleepy beach town with almost no one around to a bustling place where you could hardly walk around within a day. Then just as quickly it reverted back to its sedate beachside self. This influx of people was centred around the beach and a stage that was constructed along the street that ran adjacent to it. The atmosphere was very party like but like the town itself the crowds emptied out only a few minutes after 2018 started and by 12:30 it was pretty much just us. You can see a link to a video of the stage here : Happy New Years!
New Years Eve in Vung Tau
Besides the beach, the other big thing to see is the Christ of Vung Tau. You can climb to the top of it and look out into the South China Sea. It was definitely worth the climb. It was a bit off to see the high-caliber guns on either side of the statue, but I guess Jesus is well defended!
Christ of Vung Tau
As 2017 ended I couldn’t help but think of what a year it had been for me. I quit my job, put my stuff in storage, and set out on a big adventure. This had taken me not only to some far off places in Canada but also the world. I’m excited to see what adventures 2018 has in store for me!
The Travelling Scientist 