Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [156]
The views from Vung Tau’s Giant Jesus are stunning
Finally, if you enjoy a flutter and are in town on a Saturday night, head for the Lam Son Stadium at 15 Le Loi, Vietnam’s only venue for greyhound racing (daily 7am–10.30pm; admission 20,000đ).
The south–central coast | Vung Tau and the coast road |
Eating, drinking and nightlife
With a large number of resident expats, Vung Tau supports a more cosmopolitan span of restaurants than your average Vietnamese town; French cuisine weighs in heavily, but it’s also possible to find spaghetti and burgers as well as delicious Vietnamese seafood. In addition, there are a number of bars in the town centre catering to the expat community.
For something special, try the restaurant at Binh An Village, where you can enjoy seafood or steaks in a sumptuous setting for around $20, accompanied by live jazz on Saturday night and Sunday lunchtime. Just north of here, the Ganh Hao at 3 Tran Phu is Vung Tau’s top seafood restaurant, with dining tables looking out to sea. The area around the huge statue of Tran Hung Dao, at the southern end of the street with the same name, is peppered with appealing restaurants and bars, including Lan Rung at 2 Tran Hung Dao, a cavernous place specializing in seafood that is very popular with locals, as well as a branch of Good Morning Vietnam at 6 Hoang Hoa Tham, which serves up tasty pizzas and pasta. Also in this area, Whispers, 15 Nguyen Trai, is one of the most popular haunts for resident expats, with traditional roasts and good-quality Western fare, while Seasong, on the fourth floor of the flash new Imperial Shopping Mall at 163 Thuy Van, has a refined atmosphere and serves up dishes like wok-fried tiger prawn with hazelnut for around $6.
Several bars along Nguyen Trai, as well as in other streets around the Tran Hung Dao statue provide the epicentre of what nightlife exists in Vung Tao. While some are intent on persuading lonesome males to buy the hostesses drinks, others, like Blue Note on the corner of Tran Hung Dao and Truong Cong Dinh, simply provide an appealing ambience in which to enjoy a drink and chat.
The south–central coast | Vung Tau and the coast road |
The northeast coast road
As you move up the coast northeast of Vung Tau, the beaches gradually get more enticing. Since the region is near to Ho Chi Minh City, you have to go quite a way before you escape the hordes of domestic tourists who head for the area at weekends and on public holidays, though weekdays can be blissfully quiet. If you’re travelling by bus, you’ll need to backtrack to Ba Ria to get a connection, but if you have a rented vehicle, you can explore a new road that hugs the coast much of the way from Vung Tau to Mui Ne, throwing up glimpses of rural life as well as the salty tang of the nearby sea.
The south–central coast | Vung Tau and the coast road | The northeast coast road |
Long Hai and around
The first town along the coast, some 20km from Vung Tau, is LONG HAI, set below a wall of impressive mountains. It’s very popular with Vietnamese, many of who find its wide beach and fishing-village atmosphere more appealing than Vung Tau. Dunes fringe the town’s eastern extreme; to the west stands a fishing village, complete with a huge flotilla of fishing boats and assorted coracles sporting brightly coloured flags. Long Hai is served by buses from Ho Chi Minh City’s Mien Dong station; coming from Vung Tau, you’ll need to take a bus to Ba Ria and then change, or take a xe om direct for about $5. Few foreigners stay here, though there are some hotels, of which the best is probably the Military Guest House (064/386 8316; US$11–20), located at the end of the road that runs into the village. It has basic rooms with a choice of fan or air-conditioned rooms, and looks out over a wide expanse of beach shaded by casuarinas. There are a few food stalls by the road leading up to the guesthouse.
Most foreign visitors bypass the town altogether and