Vung Tau

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Once we arrived in Vung Tau we realised that on the weekends this place is pretty full and it would have helped us if we had booked accomodation ahead of schedule but that would have been too easy. We went to a bar called Belly's as this was reccomended to us by some friends. Belly is an Aussie and a lot of the patrons are oil rig workers from Oz working in Vietnam and also some old geezers who 'find' it easier for certain ladies to like them! Unfortunately Belly was away on a motor cycle holiday but his number one bar girl called Luen was still able to help us find great accomodation.We stayed at a place called Anh Binh 2 which had two bedrooms and was self catered. Its a bit more expensive than what we were used to but it was worth it. It was great for all of us to have our own space and we got to use a washing machine ourselves as the laundry we kept getting back was worse than when we handed it in!
The apartments are for the guys on the rigs while they worked in Vietnam and then while they were back home they rented the apartments out. We had the same problem with the power cuts as in Saigon but some places, including this one, started using generators so we were still able to get air con. Whew thank god for generators.
We liked Vung Tau. Its a laid back beachy feel with a great promenade along the back beach all the way to the front beach. We were told by friends who had lived there for a while ,to climb the Giant Jesus statue. This one is apparently taller than the one in Rio. The day was very hot and for some stupid reason, I gave in and carried Ella up all the #@%^ steps to the statue! I was dripping in so much sweat that my thongs would squelch each step that I took. Maureen was struggling as well but Tane was flying up the steps and waited for ages for us to get there. Once you reach the top you can climb the stairs inside the 32m tall Jesus and step out onto a platform on his out streched arms. The kids and I went up and I can honestly say that there is nothing quite like the feeling of claustrophobia from the very cramped and busy staircase and then extreme vertigo from the amazing view! I litterally crapped my self and did not feel like going anywhere, even if I wanted to. What a rush- NOT. But hey when in Rome do as the Romans do.
We then had to find tickets back to Saigon as we had booked a 'sleeper bus' to Nha Trang on the night of the 30th. Problem!! All tickets to Saigon were booked on the Hydrofoil and we had to get back by 8pm. In the end we had to put faith in a lady out on the streets who was peddling tickets on another Hydrofoil and hoped that we were not being screwed over. But she came in with the goods and I will leave it up to Maureen to explain the overnight sleeper bus we took for the 9 hour trip to Nha Trang.

Sleeper buses- a brilliant concept- if you are under five feet tall.

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Photos

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Back Beach Vung Tau

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View from the giant Jesus hill Vung Tau

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Giant Jesus Vung Tau

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Apartment in Vung Tau

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View from hill

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Giant Jesus