Ohh I do like to be beside the seaside......

... even if it does mean working your way through the Vietnamese traffic, the trip down to Vung Tau was well worth it! We only have a few days left before school starts again, so we decided to give our bikes another run out, facing the gauntlet of the Hanoi-HCMC highway and all the dangers that are associated with it. Of course, we all had to stop for the regulation munching of Pho (Faa) being as Mark is addicted to the stuff, mind you, I suppose its better than my addiction to beer and palm trees, (I would like to point out that this means sitting under them as I have had it pointed out to me on more than one occasion that certain people find my palm tree fetish rather worrying!!!)
Now don’t get me wrong here, Vung Tau isn’t exactly one of the best beaches ive ever visited, however it is the closest to us, the beach is very clean and the road that runs up the coast from the town centre does make for a nice diversion, if like me, you believe that spending hours laying on a beach is a complete and utter waste of time.
The coast is dotted with lovely little beachside watering holes where you can stop off and enjoy a drink while watching the world go by. Its also quite amusing to watch certain, waterborne chappies going back and forth, up and down the coast, fishing out of the back of what looks like half a giant coconut. I do believe these little boats are called coracles and I would of taken a picture, however, like a twit, I forgot my zoom lens and if I had taken a picture without it, then you wouldn’t have seen much anyway.......
About 20kms outside Vung Tau, these huge, empty roads appear that make riding a motorbike a joy, even if you do come across the odd idiot motorcyclist from time to time.
Thankfully, the beach area isn’t too built up and while there are a few hotels dotted about (some with very dodgy names I might add!) Vung Tau still doesn’t feel like a huge tourist resort, although I must admit, there are a damn sight more foreigners here than there are in Bien Hoa!
The main attraction in town is a big statue of Mr Jesus, who is perched high up on a hill, reminiscent somewhat of Rio de Janeiro!!! Moving up the coast you will also find statues of The Virgin Mary and Buddha who like Mr Jesus, look out to sea and also seem to be enjoying the wonderful climate here! Further along the coast there is a jetty where you can take the hydrofoil into the bustling metropolis of Saigon.
I’ve just recovered from my last bout of sunburn, so I was determined to keep myself covered up, but to no avail. I just wish sometimes that I had been born in another country and hadn’t been cursed with this horrible, pasty white skin that so many English people seem to be lumbered with! What makes me laugh is that many Vietnamese women have beautiful, olive skin, yet half of them will never venture into the sun and some use whitening cream to make their skin even paler. I thought this kind of thing only went on in India!!! I can imagine my students are going to find my red nose very amusing, I might just have to go sick for a week until my normal skin tone has been restored!!!
Anyway, I’m going to be busy teaching now for the next few months and saving plenty of money so that I can plan some trips that will take me further a field. There is so much I want to do and so many places I want to see. I just wish I was 10 years younger! Cambodia, Laos and Thailand will be first on my list, followed by New Zealand, Australia and China. Then if im still alive after all that I want to see Malaysia, Indonesia and hopefully Japan (if I can afford it!!!)
Right, I need a siesta, it’s a warm one today, 33c! Hope everybody is enjoying the snow back at home ;)

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