Chào mừng trở lại to Vung Tau Vietnam

Chào mừng trở lại means welcome back in Vietnamese and it is very fitting for my first trip here.   That may not make sense to everyone but in just a few short days the people of Vietnam have welcomed us into its culture and make us feel like it is a second home.    Greg was working in Vung Tau back in 2010 and fell in love with the warm weather, the food and the ocean and always wanted to return.   This spring we have jobs in Asia and the Middle East so opted to use Vung Tau as a home base in- between.   We arrived at Vung Tau via Chattanooga via Detroit via Beijing via Hanoi via Saigon (which is a story for another day) and I immediately fell in love with this town.    Vung Tau is a beach town in Southern Vietnam with many Australian and New Zealand expats,   but it is also a working fishing village with a large source of its revenue coming from off shore oil and natural gas drilling.   The bay is filled with fishing boats but you see huge support ships right behind them.  

Many of the tourists and ex pats that visit or have retired here are former military from the US, New Zealand and Australia.    They are drawn to the warm 90 degree ocean breezy days, beaches, cheap living and for many of them good memories.  Vung Tau was not part of the fighting during what we call the Vietnam War but the R&R place for the military to come and rest.  The locals welcomed the military and of the 100 pubs that were built during that time most were given American names to make them feel more at home.  The majority of the population speak English, some better than others but compared to our three months in China we have no trouble communicating at all.   I have only used our Vietnamese dictionary a handful of times.

The larger fishing boats are powered by motors but you see many one man row boats throwing nets out.   As we walk along the ocean during low tide you also see locals harvesting oysters, snails and clams along the sea bed. 

Harvesting Oysters

We were eating at a local ocean side restaurant and watched as the fisherman pulled their nets in as they rowed their oars with their feet.   

The locals have street markets filled with fish caught that day and the restaurants have tanks filled with live sturgeon, red snapper, shrimp, and oysters the size of dinner plates.

The local currency is Vietnamese dong and there are 20,000 dong to every dollar.  The first time I went to withdraw 1 million dong from the atm I had a small panic attack, but keep in mind 1 million dong is only $50 US dollars.   To give you an idea of how far the US dollar will go the high end resorts catering to tourists go for as much as $100 US dollars a night, but we found an ocean front room with a huge balcony, wifi, and A/C for $27 dollars a night.   A few other examples of day to day living…..

Hotel serviced laundry (you know how expensive that can be) for a pair of shorts

            18,000 dong or 90 cents   

One hour foot massage
             100,000 dong or $5     

Lunch for two with huge bowls of beef pho (beef noodles) with 2 ice cold beers…..

            125,000 dong or $6.25

Extravagant two hour dinner with grilled oysters, along with 3 additional courses including deep fried bull frog and sautéed morning glories, 2 mojitos, 1 beer and 1 margarita….

            501,000 dong or $25. 50

A stop at the open stall market for a 6 pack of beer, 2 large bottled waters, ½ lb of carrots, 1 whole fresh pineapple, ½ dozen limes, mint, fresh spinach, and cucumbers……           

            150,000 dong or $7.50

 The living here is relaxed, the people are wonderful and even the elevators are friendly.   We got on the elevator after waiting longer than usual and the recording on the elevator said “I am sorry for the long wait”

Stay tuned for more Good Travel and even better adventures