Day Trips From Saigon
Vung Tau City - A Day at the Beach
When I first moved to Vietnam I lived in the seaside town of Vung Tau with a friend.
I only lived there for seven months, but located near the entrance of the Saigon river I have always found its quiet and peaceful laid-back nature appealing, and its closeness to the sea and the cool sea breeze an attractive respite from Saigon.
As such, whenever I feel the need to get away from Saigon for a couple of days I often head to Vung Tau.
It makes a great place to visit for a couple of days whenever I need to recharge the batteries or escape Saigon for a bit.
As a destination Vung Tau is most famous for its two beaches, the Front Beach and the Back Beach.
The Front Breach is where the ferries from Saigon arrive, and is nestled in-between two hills aptly named Big Mountain and Small Mountain.
Small Mountain is the hill that separates the Front Beach from the Back Beach
Not surprisingly then, when my parents visited Vietnam for the first time I decided to take them down to Vung Tau for the day.
We caught the early morning fast ferry that leaves from Bach Dang Jetty on Ton Duc Thang Street (from Ben Thanh Market just walk down Ham Nghi Street to the river front).
The hydrofoil ferries leave every 30 minutes, so we each paid the 140, 000 dong fee and climbed aboard the the hydrofoil that was getting ready to leave.
The one and half hour journey that day was uneventful.
The river was placid and calm, and being able to watch all the scenery and the river traffic out the window made the time pass quickly.
In the past, the only blip I have found is that the last stretch of water between the entrance of the Saigon river and the Vung Tau ferry port can be a bit choppy at times.
But luckily that day my parents and I had beautiful clear blue sky and a calm-placid sea.
We arrived at the Front Beach in Vung Tau at about eleven in the morning, and then drove around the Small Mountain to the Back Beach.
Being almost lunchtime we visited the name ***** restaurant, a large semi-circular seafood restaurant that sits right on the beachfront.
It was a beautifully lovely clear day, and we sat outside on the large open deck.
It was such a peaceful experience having the whole restaurant and deck to ourselves, and being able to sit back in the cool sea breeze and look out over the equally deserted beach.
For lunch we ate Sweet and sour pork shrimp and caramelized pork in a clay pot.
My parents described the food they ate there as the best Vietnamese food they had tried in Vietnam. The food really was good!
If you want to see Vung Tau at its peaceful best though, you do need to go during the week.
You should avoid the weekends at all costs.
This is because many people living in Saigon head down to Vung Tau during the weekend, and during the weekends the restaurant and beaches are packed.
During the week though, Vung Tau couldn't be more peaceful.
With that warning aside, after lunch my family and I took a taxi up to the old light house that stands on the hill that separates the front and back beach.
Built by French in about 1910, the lighthouse gives a clear view of Vung Tau and the front and back beaches.
And if the guards are not sleeping you can ask the guards to let you into the lighthouse, and they will take you up into the lighthouse through a small tunnel joining the lighthouse to the neighboring building.
You can then go out onto the balcony and look down allover Vung Tau from up high.
After the lighthouse my family and I leisurely walked back down the hill to the Front Beach, and then around the Front Beach to a place known as the “White Villa”.
Perched on the side of the “Big Mountain” overlooking the front beach, the White Villa is a beautiful old building built by the French in 1916.
Built by the then French governor Paul Doumer, the White Villa stands as a reminder of the influence that the French have had in Vietnam.
Located about 50m above sea level, the large exterior windows of the White Villa offer visitors fantastic picturesque views of the surrounding area and Front Beach.
They also let the cool sea breeze drift in that keeps the whole villa a nice cool temperature.
And walking around the White Villa with its large rooms and tiled floors, the villa still gives the visitor some impression of the glamour of the building's past, reminding one of the elegant parties that might have been held in the garden's open air dance floor, or the dinner parties that might have been held in its dinning room or peaceful garden setting.
After our visit to the White Villa, we finally headed back to the ferry terminal at the front beach, and caught the fast ferry back to Saigon.
Honorable Mentions
Cu Chi Tunnels (Click here to read more)
A trip to Saigon is not a complete without a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
At the Tunnels you can crawl through the pitch black tunnels on your hand and knees, examine the display of lethal booby traps, or if you have always wondered what it would be like to fire a military style machine gun, you can fire an M60 machine gun at the gun range.
My family really enjoyed their visit to the Great Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh.
With its vibrant colors and distinctive divine eye motif, this huge temple is as interesting as its beliefs.
Mui Ne is one of my most favorite places to visit in Vietnam; this is because with its beautiful peaceful beaches, lack of traffic and beautiful sand dunes, Mui Ne provides the wary traveler with peace and quiet, and a place where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of crowded inner city life.
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