We arrived to Vung Tau with little to no expectations other than an ocean we could swim in. We left feeling disappointed not only with Vung Tau, but with our journey thus far. Vung Tau was a place of introspection for us. We argued and debated quite frequently along the desolate strips of sand to pass the abundance of time we now found ourselves with.  Travel has been one of the biggest exercises in finding who I am as a person, and I am so glad we decided to book our tickets. I have learned more about myself than I ever thought possible which might explain why I have so much trouble getting out of bed. Too much knowledge to process has resulted in abnormally long sleeping habits I will eventually have to break once we return to the states. One thing I think we both have realized is that as much as we love to travel, neither of us love it long term. We have enjoyed our trip immensely so far, but going back home and seeing our family, friends, and our dogs is becoming more and more appealing.  Torn between the desire to move on to a new place and the urge to move on with our lives: We trekked begrudgingly through the sand covered remains of what appeared to have once been a bustling resort town in its prime.

But it has now been reduced to a ghost town during its off-season. We weren’t the only tourists though, one or two Europeans would pass us by as we marched down the main straight. The reason why the land felt so barren was because of the scale of the buildings caging our surroundings. Massive hotels and resorts formed the walls barring us in, the weirdest part being that each restaurant, mall, and hotel was fully staffed as the a rush of tourists were about to swarm in at any moment. But they never came. Instead we entered a particularly large westernized mall on the main strip, greeted by three attendants who kindly welcomed us into the air-conditioned space reserved only for us- because literally no one else was there. A four story mall equipped with the latest in Versace and Luis Vuitton, and we were the potential customers in the entire building. That was one of the oddest things I’d ever experienced and seemed like a massive waste of resources, but if this mall was able to afford to keep all its employees paid with no customers, then more power to them.

Another thing that added to the eeriness of Vung Tau during their off season was the siren songs of karaoke that seemed to permeate the air. People were not abundant on the beaches but the sounds of people singing at all hours of the day could be heard for miles. Pockets of both tourists and locals, all men, formed bands and tropes of song roaming the empty stalls filled with abandoned lounge chairs day in and day out. I will never forget passing by an empty restaurant/house with plenty of chairs and tables out front and seeing a 70+ year old man singing as loud as his decrepit lungs would allow to himself through a karaoke machine. His wife, who was knitting in the far corner, couldn’t care less about her husbands performance, knitting away as though this concert occurred daily.

Further down that main stretch was a lovely restaurant with an extremely nice lady who spoke incredible English. I had one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever had there. Cooked to perfection in a clay pot, the snapper practically fell off the bone. Paired with an immaculate sauce with just the right amount of heat it made my tongue sing and my eyes shed tears of satisfaction. Seafood was not all good, however, (this was only true for Lucie because I will eat anything from the sea) and our visit to the fish market was not as memorable as we would have hoped. It took quite a long time for our fried squid and mackerel to be served, and it when finally arrived it was lackluster at best. I enjoyed the fish but Lucie was not impressed due to it being “too fishy” which I still have yet to understand. She ordered some eggplant instead but was very concerned when she received a green vegetable that she could have sworn was okra. They assured us it was eggplant without its purple skin, and she ultimately enjoyed it after a few more bites.

Our lodging was decent. We stayed at the First House hotel which was a loft apartment equipped with a mini fridge and a reasonably clean bathroom. What more can you ask for? The host, I’ve come to find out, usually makes or breaks the experience for most AirBnb’s and this guy was special. We learned the power of google translate during our stay with him and although Lucie’s phone was not as accurate as his, we were able to get by and hold conversations pretty well in Vietnamese. However, it was about a mile and a half from any other restaurant or store, so we felt quite isolated.

To top it all off, Lucie is deathly (and I mean deathly) afraid of motorbikes. At first she described her fear as a rational response to the insanity that is Southeast Asian traffic. Back in Thailand she finally capitulated due to our remote island location, but we did not even make it out of the front gate before she was off the bike and vowing never to ride one again. To be fair, that was my first time riding a motorbike and I was shaky at best. Plus, our host kept bombarding us with stories of the dangers of riding motorbikes, showcasing a huge gash spanning the length of her leg as proof. This combined with my inexperience was enough to get Lucie off the motorbike, seemingly for good. That is until Vung Tau. We got to the point where we knew that the only to get around without wrapping up our bloodied feet was to rent a motorbike. The motorbikes were parked right outside our room and they were incredibly cheap. After begging and pleading with Lucie she finally let me rent one only to have me drive it up and down the block in order to showcase my skills. It took me minutes to master the technique and soon I was a pro. She saw my skills and hastily boarded our motorized vessel.

Oh, what a mistake that was. I could feel her chills from the front seat and tasted the fear spilling from her lips. She was clutching my stomach for dear life despite the fact that I was going about 2 miles an hour. She was so scared. Almost to tears. Constantly telling me to that she was going to throw up if we didn’t abort the mission. So before it got any worse, I turned right back around and we returned the motorbike, determined to continue the journey on foot. Yes, I love motorbikes and going super fast and overall reckless behavior; with that being said, I would never even think of jeopardizing Lucie’s life when she is riding on my back. Even she will admit that I am safe driver on the bike and my driving was exceptionally considerate. It was not the driving that induced the panic attack but the motorbike itself. That is the reason why I have decided to give up my dreams of tearing up the streets atop my Kawasaki Ninja bike; because I love her more and I never want to see her that upset again. Plus, I need the exercise.

(We also climbed up the 847 steps to the Christ of Vung Tau)

TLDR; Just skip Vung Tau, it really wasn’t worth it and was not spectacular at all.