Siagon - Vung Tau - Long Hai

Bidding a melancholy adieux to Saigon, Kim and I rose early to catch a bus to Vung Tau, a small seaside town south east of Saigon. When we purchased our tickets for the the bus the previous evening, our agent told us the bus would pick us up right in front of their offices just around the corner from our Saigon digs. We arrived expecting to see our bus blocking traffic on the busy street but this was not the case. We presented our tickets to the agent on duty and he make a quick phone call before telling us, "five minutes".  "Wow", I thought, "the bus come once we are ready to go. Impressive". I was busy reading something when my reverie was broken by Kim yelling, "No way, I'm not getting on one of those". Two small motos with drivers had pulled up in front of the acency and, yes, the expectation was that Kim, I, our four bags plus a guitar would somehow manage to get aboard these bikes to make the crosstown trip to the location the bus actually leaves from. It was kind of funny the back and forth between Kim, terrified at the prospect of driving through Siagon traffic on the back of a moped, and the agent clearly dealing with the most unreasonable client of his career. Howwever, after a bit of spirited debate, it was agreed we would catch a cab to the bus, on our dime, of course. Crisis averted.

*****

There is very little to recommend Vung Tau for a tourist, though it seems a nice enough town for those who reside there. So that's what you get. A couple photos and I'll tell you what your looking at and we will move on.

Vung Tau is sandwiched between two beaches, Front Beach and Back Beach. Front Beach is a long stretch of sand with, when we took a look, four foot rollers coming in. Not that usable. Back Beach, pictured bellow, suffers from a muddy bottom, fishing boats and the stink that comes with having dozens of fishing boats baking in the afternoon sun.

The tourist area of town has some interestingly named businesses. I took a photo on this one.....

But neglected to get a shot of The Hairy Clam. Honestly.

Our hotel had a bed and a hot water shower. Enough said. A couple photos on the way out of town.

A random house......

....and the market.

*****

From Vung Tau we traveled by taxi to Long Hai. Everything the traveller may feel is lacking in Vung Tau, one will find in spades at Long Hai. Situated across a wide bay from Vung Tau, the beaches of Long Hai are in the lee of the winds that pound Vung Tau. The town of about 100,000 is impressively tidy given what we have experienced in most other Vietnamese locales. The long and broad white sands beaches face the South China Sea and enjoy full sun from sun rise to set. There are very, very few Europeans who venture here so Kim and I are a bit of an anomaly; most activity comes to a stand still as we walk down the streets, the citizens stopping to stare. The people are very friendly and thrilled to bits when we patronize their businesses.

We are staying at the Nam Long Hotel, a modern building in the traditional style. It boasts marble floors, mahogany doors and windows, great open balconies with views to the water. Our hosts really don't speak any English but are perfectly gracious. Here is a couple of photos of the courtyard where Kim and I have spent two cool and airy afternoons.

Once again, the food here is fabulous. We have been eating Pho virtually every meal and the broths  change with every vendor. Chicken, pork, beef, mystery animal parts. The only constant is mountains of fresh herbs served on a plate which we then tear up and add to our soup. Here is our dinner last night (I know, taking pictures of food).....

.....an idea of how street the food is.....

.....and our three dinner companions. Ang is in the middle and is very talkative.

Late this morning Kim and I spent walking all the beaches that Long Hai has on offer. Lonely Planet notes that while Long Hai is blissfully quite during the week, during the weekend, crowds of Saigonese beach goers descend onto Long Hai beaches, and holy crap, truer words were never spoken. Here are some photos from our Saturday, noonish walk. First the main beach.....

.....followed by the middle beach.....

.....and finally the outer beach.

You see him there in the distance don't you? His name is Saigonese Beach Goers. Kim and I are two people, therefore he, number three, is a crowd.

*****

Funny story.... When we were in Vung Tau and plotting our travels to Long Hai, our travel guides and every one we spoke with suggested that travel to and from Long Hai was difficult. No buses in and there was a possibility we would have to return south to Vung Tau in order to continue our journey north to Mui Ne. Therefore, first order of business once we arrived was to figure out how to get out. We decided Kim would wait at the hotel and I would grab a Xe Om (motorcycle taxi) out to the bus depot and see what was what. I found a gaggle of Xe Om drivers down at the beach and asked one how much it would cost to go the six kilometres to the Binh Xe (bus depot) and return me to the hotel. He told me 100,000 Dong ($6). It seemed a little steep, but I was having a bad day. Kim woke feeling blue about her dads passing, which I was concerned about, and I was having a frustrating time dealing with the new agency I'm working with in Victoria and with PADI. I just wanted to get to the depot and get back so I agreed. I knew it was too much because when I agreed he turned to his buddies with a great grin on his face, said something in Vietnamese, and all his buddies went wide-eyed. Anyhoo, he took me to the bus depot, I checked out our travel (bus to Mui Ne every day, 10:30am, 74,000 dong) and he brought me back to the hotel. Case closed, right?

Yesterday afternoon Kim and I went down to the beach, passing the Xe Om drivers. A great chorus went up, "hey mister, moto?", followed by pantomimes of motorcycle throttles being revved and great laughter. Walked another direction for dinner. Four guys on a street corner drinking beer, called us from across the road. Same same. This morning we passed a fucking construction site on our way to the beach. Their laughter lasted quite a while longer 'cause some of the guys on the crew had not yet heard about it. I can't go out in this town. And the person having the greatest laugh? Her name rhymes with Kim. Next time she finds a fricking bus depot.

*****

Some photos from around Long Hai. Tomorrow we go to Mui Ne.

This last one, Bougainvillea for Cathy.