Vung Tau, Viet Nam

Dear lovely reader,

Welcome to my third series blog of Saigon, Viet Nam. Instead of doing 6 separate blogs for the 6 days I am in port, my goal is do 4 blogs instead – just to keep the writer’s mojo flowing. This blog will be centered around my two days spent in Vung Tau, a city south of Saigon.

Day 1 of Vung Tau:

The gang woke up around 6am to catch a morning van to Vung Tau, and by gang I mean 12 shiny, happy people in one van. I slept for most of the ride there but no matter. The plan today was to hike it and beach it. We hiked Tao Phung Mountain. And before you think of heavy-gear hiking with boots and macho backpacks, think again. It was a very peaceful site where more locals than tourists powered through the many, many steps of this little mountain. I couldn’t believe my cousins who were wearing long-sleeved cardigans and jeans as we were hiking up the mountain. I was in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, and was sweating bullets just walking up the steps. I think it was a walk in the park for the first thirty steps. But then it started getting a little rough with the steepness and the heat. But there was also resting stops along the way where you could get a whiff of the beautiful view of the beach, trees, and houses. And finally reaching the top, we were greeted with the hugest Jesus I had ever seen. It was absolutely beautiful to see him with open arms and a sweet blue sky behind him. After enough scenery sighting and picture taking, we came down the mountain and asked our van driver to take us to the hotel we were staying at. I roomed with my 3 cousins, Nhung, Lieng, and Tieng and enjoyed our balcony-view room and music video television haha. We got ready to finally enjoy some beach time. But by the time we got to the beach, the tide was very high as we found an area to put our stuff down. Before I got into the water, there was just so many things to notice. One was that there was a lot of trash in the sand. But it wasn’t because people were littering on the spot. All the trash came from the ocean being washed back up on the shore. Another difference is that almost everybody was in the water with their full clothes on. You’d think it would be odd because you’re expecting bathing suites and tanning go around. But I think locals just want to crash into some high waves and play in the water as much as they can – because weather in Viet Nam was bordering mid 90s at this time. But the thing about Vung Tau is that it was a town were all you see are locals and if there were tourists, they would be locals. I don’t think there were many voyagers in Vung Tau to begin with. The more touristy hot spots were Ha Long Bay or Ha Noi, definitely more north than we were. But this goes back to my main tip about travelling. It’s so much more exhilarating and fun when you’re going where the locals go, and not so much where the tourists are. You feel more like a local. And being Vietnamese, that was the one idea and feeling I wanted to have in this port more than any other port so far. Finally being in the water at a beach on this trip, it felt amazing. I haven’t felt so free in the ocean’s waters for so long. Before Semester at Sea began, SoCal was enjoying one of its coldest winters. But it was a sense of freedom and just letting go was something that I’ll never forget in Vung Tau waters. And the waters are crowded, you’ll be running into accidentally and then playing with youngin’s and their families. And to top it all off, I got to finally just be in this setting with my cousins. I think no matter who you are, where you’re from, playing in the water is something everyone knows how to do :).

After all the fun, we walked back to the hotel and took showers to wash off all the beach. My cousins and I just relaxed into our rooms and once the music video channel came on, it was on. I remember first exchanging words between my cousins, and how it was a pretty rocky and choppy on my part. But just spending a couple days with them, my Vietnamese was getting a lot better, probably the best it will ever be if I don’t keep practicing. It’s definitely the drive to want to talk to them, get to know them, as well as piecing ideas together to make decisions in the end. I think having them there calmed me down a great deal. I’m really happy they decided to come along. But yes, going back to the music video channel. Music was the first pop culture dynamic we had with each other. Mostly American music, or else I would have nothing else to go off of. But this channel also had some Korean Pop going on, which Tieng was a huge fan of. I learned that Nhung liked Maroon 5, Tieng liked K-Pop just in general haha, and Lieng liked Blake Shelton. Yeah that threw me off too but hey, different strokes for different folks.

The full gang had a great meal for dinner at a restaurant where they served Lau or hot pot. Being an indecisive person when it comes to food, I didn’t have any preference. But when Nhung asked if I wanted to try some Lau, my heart soared. Lau is a delicacy that Mom would sometimes buy at the supermarket and have a huge pot of broth cooking at home where we would put seafood such as shrimp, fish, squid, and more vegetables in. After it’s cooked, we would eat everything with noodles. It’s one of my favorite styles of Vietnamese cooking, especially because I love all seafood – except raw oysters haha. But Nhung was the main person who made things happen. Once she found out what the gang wanted to do, she would ask the van driver to take us to that place. She was a freakin’ ninja. Lau was especially good at this restaurant, even with small portions, the broth was perfect and everything in between.

Day 2 of Vung Tau:

Our second day we woke up to hike another mountain, this one was actually called The Big Mountain. And to our surprise, we didn’t see many hikers going up the mountain. In fact, there were mostly cars, motorbikes, and even a cable car that reaches to the top of the mountain. That’s why I think my cousins were kinda giving me this crazy look when we wanted to walk up the mountain because there weren’t any paths for walking just one road for cars and bikes. But as we were walking, we saw some great shots of temples, sceneries, and even monkeys hanging around temples. It was great sweat but I knew it was time to go by down the mountain when our check-out time at the hotel was approaching. So we walked back down the mountain the same way we came up, hopped in our van, went back to the hotel, and packed our luggage. I would say Day 2 of Vung Tau was pretty light, considering we spent half a day there. But the craziest part was eating at a Com Tam restaurant for lunch. Holy smokes. It was pretty hectic I have to say, from getting a table to getting everyone’s orders onto the table. This was where language barrier was really kicking in. At a restaurant like this, where a lot is going on at every table, waiters will probably forget about your order if you don’t know what it is right away. And sometimes when you do order, sometimes they’ll forget a thing or two. So it’s definitely your job to make sure you get what you want. But mang, with a group of 12, it could be a little frustrating to get everyone’s food and drink on the table. But one thing I know for sure is that my cousins never failed to be helpful again. They were very much the backbone of every restaurant experience. I wasn’t sure if they were frustrated with the chaos, but if they were I could hardly tell. They know what it’s like to be in this environment. But for me, I’m just so used to eating at a Vietnamese restaurant in Westminster with maybe 4 other customers, that’s quiet and mellow. Overall, I think it was a great experience to have, no doubt, in terms of being in control, making decisions for a group, and just doing it. 

Reflecting on the Vung Tau trip, I’m not gonna lie, I felt enormous pressure to make this experience in port as smooth and successful as possible. From making comfortable and inexpensive plans, to translating back and forth from my friends to my family, and finally getting to decision-making… I was going to get a little crazy in the head. But it was really just me wanting everyone to have a good time, and everything to go great. But I’m learning that travelling isn’t always like that. But the good will always, always outweigh the bad.

All love and hope,

Kimmy