| Page Views: 826 Last Visit to Vung Tau: September, 2008 | Beach resort, work and R&R. . . . oops! by kokoryko - last update: Jan 9, 2009 |
Beach resort since the French colonial time | Fishing boats harbour seen from the Palace Hotel |
Vung . . . what ? ? ? Vung Tau !! Where is that ? I did not know about the existence of Vung Tau before I received a mail announcing me there was an “International conference. . “ about some special rocks I am supposed to be an expert of, in the company where I work. . . Well, I attended a conference in Vung Tau, and before leaving for this quite exotic destination I looked in VT, and there were a few short pages about! So, it was known in the VT world, and my little research began there before taking off.
Vung Tau is now a city of 250.000 inhabitants covering a wide area of the peninsula. The name of the place means more or less “anchoring” in Vietnamese, as many sailors in the past stopped there, and the name of Cabo Santiago, given by Portuguese sailors in the 15th century, has later been re-used by the French colonial administration. There were about 5000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century, and later, from a small fishing village it became a sea side resort for the middle class Saigon inhabitants.
Vung Tau , (Cap St Jaques during the French colonial time), is located about 2-3 hours drive from HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City, I prefer to call Saigon). Since 25 years it is also an industrial city developing with the offshore oil industry, initiated by the Soviet in the area (the biggest company in the city is still called Vietsovpetro, even after the collapse of the Soviet big brother).
During the Vietnam war, it became a rest and recuperation (R&R) place for American troops (you know what “R&R” means for soldiers. . . . ), and this “tradition” has been kept and may be “improved” since the cooperation with the soviet big brother; there is a soviet (now Russian) quarter in Vung Tau, and “recreation centres” are also not far from this quarter. . . . Uncle Ho and his administration didn’t “clean” everywhere after the war . . . . . |
|  | Walking tour (literally!) A nice thing to do in Vung Tau is to walk the few kilometres along the road going around the peninsula, from the small fishing boats harbour, the sea on the right side to the great beach, and then walk cross the peninsula, visit the city and come back to the small harbour; harbour, in fact it is just a place where the boats are anchored when the are not fishing; there is no real harbour, just a place where the sea is not as rough as on other places. Walking along, you have great views over various seashore landscapes, see many ships on the sea, enjoy the changing weather, meet fishermen and other locals; well, a sort of an introduction to local life! You also meet young people who just love to be photographed with the foreigner, and you can safely lend them your camera for a while |
| Dragon at Linh Son Co Tu Pagoda |
| | Temples, markets, city life. . . . Vung Tau, as its name suggests (in French: Cap St Jaques!) is a peninsula, with a long beach on its south eastern side, a rocky coast on the Western side and a big harbour area on the north west; it is tied to the mainland on the northern side.
Vung Tau is the capital city of Ba Ria Vung Tau Province which has been founded administratively in 1991only; this province has a seashore of about 100 km, of which 75 km are said to be sand beaches. . . . It is a maritime province where seafood is famous!
It was quite rainy in beginning September, but the low dark sky had some special beauty. Vung Tau is a week end destination for Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) residents in the good season, but in September the city was rather quiet.
Most people come to Vung Tau for the beach, but a visit to the city has its charm, looking at the small shops, wandering in the market, “discovering” Buddhist temples, watching the busy streets from a café terrace . . . . Welcome for a virtual tour!
My photographs are not works of art, my writings are not literature.
Be kind, I posted them here, and I would appreciate you inform me if you intend to display them elsewhere! Merci! |
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| Pros: | "Very nice people" | | Cons: | "R&R" | | In A Nutshell: | "A bit of deep Vietnam" |
kokoryko's Vung Tau Travel Tips
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 Comments for kokoryko about Vung Tau | | | | |
tiabunna Wed Apr 1, 2009 06:35 UTC
It seems this was a really enjoyable trip, even if the pool was already taken. :) Great photos and commentary on the people and street scenes of Vung Tau, Hermann. | Tijavi Fri Jan 9, 2009 04:32 UTC
Indeed, this is one of the most enjoyable pages! Agree that it takes time to immerse oneself in another culture, but it is a rewarding experience. Also enjoyed the stories, and "naughty thought" moments...tsk...tsk...naughty Frenchman! haha | Bwana_Brown Wed Oct 29, 2008 01:17 UTC
This is a really enjoyable page! Like you, I just like wandering around seeing what a new place looks like and enjoy watching the locals go about their everyday business! Fantastic photos and the Tips to go with them. | nepalgoods Sun Oct 26, 2008 08:21 UTC
What a lovely place for a conference! Happy birthday! Ulrike |
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