Vung Tau - Background - Part I

Let's start with a small introduction of Vung Tau then. This place is small coastal city about 125 Km from the Saigon. It first came into prominence as an R&R stop for Americans and Australians during the 'Nam war. And after that once they found OIL here, it turned into the only oil town in the whole of Vietnam. So when you compare it to the rest of the country, you'll find that the people here are pretty well off from small businesses supporting the oil and sea-port industries. It's proximity to Ho Chi Minh makes it an ideal place for the locals to make this a weekend getaway. So that makes VT a town with an inordinately large number of Cafes, Bars and Restaurants.

A new start

I intend to make this a blog as a small introduction to people planning to come down to Vung Tau or maybe even Vietnam. There's already so much written about Ho Chi Minh City and the rests of the places on the tourist map, that I will be of little help there, though Vung Tau somehow remains untouched by too many expats tourists as yet.

The place is not too far from HCM or Saigon, whichever you prefer. About an hour and a half by the ferry during the day, and if you miss it, you can always negotiate a cab. The ride can last anywhere between 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the time of the day and costs about 50 dollars after bargaining. I'd be careful about which taxi I choose - MaiLinh and VinaSun would be the best bets, but be careful of all the imitations out there!
The road is decent enough, a few rough patches, but otherwise smooth, though on this point not too many non-desis would agree with me.The public transport buses are much much cheaper but not all to safe to travel in.

Well that's small opening post on how to reach Vung Tau. Hopefully I'll update something new everyday!