Vung Tau is on the coast about 130km south east of Ho Chi Minh City and is a popular escape for Ho Chi Minh City residents. You can get there by bus but by hydrofoil is much faster taking just over an hour to make the journey. The French started using Vung Tau for its nice beaches back in the 1890’s.
I visit Vung Tau. The boat takes us up the busy Saigon River. We’re close to the mouth of the river and its wide. There are freight ships anchored everywhere.
Vung Tau was the main location for the Australians during the War. Today that link is still obvious. There are bars there with very Australian names and caricatures of kangaroos on signage. I am told Australians own some of the bars and restaurants here. They were involved in the fighting not far from here. Long Tan, where Australian troupes made a name for themselves against the Viet Cong, is about 50 kilometers away. Long Tan is near the town of Nui Dat. There is so much public information about the War and the American involvement but from the museums I visited there was little displayed about the other countries involved. I asked Nguyen, my friend in Hoi An who is a professional guide and has a great knowledge of history, what he knew of Australia’s involvement in the War. He was aware Australia was involved, along with New Zealand, Britain, Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines, but they were only involved in construction of facilities. He did seem to know we had combat troupes here and I didn’t tell him.
But how quickly time seems to heal. Today the young embrace America and everything American, despite the recent terrible war. I’m sure their parents and grandparents would have a different view.
We hire a pedal car who takes us on a small tour around Vung Tau. King Bao Dai had a residence here they is now a museum. It’s a beautiful old French styled building in a perfect location as you could imagine. The pedal-car driver then took us through town to the beach. The beaches here are ordinary but the water is cool and clean. On weekends people flock here from Ho Chi Minh City and right now there are new hotels under construction.
We return to Ho Chi Minh City and the rest of my time is spent packing. My flight leaves at 1.55am!
angusmccoll 