Tuesday 1 May 2007

Vung Tau-Ho Coc






The deck chairs at the Vung Tau Back Beach. The beach here is a fairly long stretch with a statue of Jesus at one headland. It is the closest beach to HCMC. Not that attractive but very crowded. The tide was up and strolling along the beach was near impossible. There is supposed to be a large Russian community here who work on oil rigs. The town has a bad reputation as a grotty little place that serves oil riggers needs and incarcerates Gary Glitter, but is actually fairly pleasant. Unlike other Sth East Asian nations, you have to really go looking for the seedy side. There is also a strong Australian presence as many soldiers were stationed here during the American war and there is a battlefield and memorial site in the region.







Further up the road towards Ho Coc, we finally left the hurly burly of Vietnamese road hugging towns and drove through some sparse sand dune country to reach what we thought was a beautiful beach. It is named an Eco Resort, but I think that just means there is some ecology present. The area was devastated by a typhoon only a few months ago and the "primeval forests" that are brochured to surround it, was a scattering of broken sheoaks. Our first day in the little faux tree house was very peaceful until a storm came in from the sea and gave it a good shake, showering us with the debris from the palm frond roof. The next day was nothing short of a glorious beach day.



The final day saw the grey clouds crawl in from sea and threaten. This however did not stop the throngs of beachgoers who flooded in on their motorbikes from somewhere, to feast on crabs and beer and take only their helmet off for a swim. Kate went for a dip with the presence of a movie star. One thousand eyes staring at the foriegner and her immodest bathing outfit. A lovely weekend away from HCMC!