A farewell holiday in Vung Tau

I’m feeling a bit under the weather today, so I thought it might help to divert my attention in putting into words the latest trip I took outside of Ho Chi Minh City with my friend, Rachel Clarke. Our destination was Vung Tau – a popular beach destination.

I’ve been into this place several times, so thinking about it doesn’t give me a thrill. Living in Saigon though doesn’t give me a choice, we want beach and the closest is Vung Tau.

There are two options on how to get to Vung Tau and it's either by land or hydrofoil.

If you want the fastest way of going there then get on hydrofoil at 160,000vnd or $8.50usd and after over an hour of traversing on the water you’ll land in Baria port.

I’m not keen of travelling on the water, so we took the Hoa Mai mini van at 44 Nguyen Thai Binh in District 1. And with our 55,000vnd ($3) fare, we arrived Baria public market after more than two hours on the road.

We had lunch at Baria public market then get on the bus to Hotram Beach Resort. There are several beach resorts in Vung Tau but after a day of travelling like a local, we opted to stay at a luxury resort in Ho Tram Village- the Hotram Beach Resort &Spa.

The resort has two swimming pools, tennis court, fitness gym, grandiose bathroom, internet cable, wifi, restaurant, bar and a beach where we can just lay down to relax.

Let me just say it this way, the amenities and resort’s architectural design were worth the money we spent for.

As for food, it may not be the best but it’s nicely prepared and healthy considering that they were using organic produce. The prices too were not so expensive, so Rachel and I were having great time with the abundance of our meals.

Rachel was scheduled to head off Malaysia the day after, so we can only afford to stay one night. We, however, maximized our time lying on the poolside until the required checkout time. After that, we get on the bus again back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Rachel is a good friend I enjoyed partying with in Hanoi and our trip to Vung Tau was our last moment together as she already ended her contract in Vietnam.

To Rachel, cheers girl! Good luck to your new life back home in England.