Vung Tau

Went to Vung Tau again - this time with Jeremy and Julia. Good thing as it gave me the opportunity to find out a few more things about Vung Tau.

HYDROFOIL SERVICE

Important things to note :

1. Vina Express is the best of the 3 hydrofoil companies, followed by Petro Express and then Greenlines. I took Greenlines the last time - it was small and being the last, we were squeezed into a small space at the back. Vina Express has bigger ferries and the aircon was working well. Too well, in fact, that it was cold ... but better cold than hot and stuffy.

2. Determine when you want to come back and buy both the forward and return tickets together at the same time. Tickets cost 200,000vnd one way as of Dec 2011. A group was stranded because they "assumed" there would be tickets available (in Vung Tau) for them to return on the same day. Well, they had an extra night to spend there.

Although most sites say it's 1 hr and 15m one way, it's actually 1.5 hrs if you take into account the delays here and there. For us, it was 1.5 hrs there and the same when we came back.

The ferry/hydrofoil terminal in HCMC

Viet Express Counter

Entry to waiting area

The waiting area

Boarding the Vina Express Hydrofoil

Sufficient leg space in Vina Express Hydrofoil

Ferry Terminal at Vung Tau

TAXIS

Always use Vinasun or Mai Linh. Never take the other taxis, whatever brand they are, as they're known to overcharge and rip you off. We had an arrangement with our Mai Linh driver - we paid him the indicated meter fare at every destination, and then tell him when to come back and pick us up. Both parties are happy with this. Note that the meter runs faster than in HCMC, about 30% more according to reports in the internet.

The following is an indication of our fares :

Terminal to Mary & Baby Jesus Statue : 70,000vnd

Mary & Baby Jesus to Ganh Hao Restaurant : 20,000vnd

GH Restaurant to Imperial Plaza (Shopping Center) : 130,000vnd

(I estimated : GH Restaurant to Jesus Statue : 90,000vnd)

Imperial to Jesus Statue : 40,000vnd

Jesus Statue to Ferry terminal : 45,000vnd

All in all, we spent about 305,000vnd running between Mary & Baby Jesus statue, ferry terminal, Jesus Statue and the Imperial. So if you need to negotiate a flat fee for a day's visit to these 3 places, 250,000 to 300,000vnd for a taxi should be just fine.

Vinasun taxi fare guide (Dec 2011)










The sign reads " Statue - God Jesus the King, Mount Tao Phung"; Tao Phung translate roughly into "meeting point/place"














The second last flight of steps before reaching the top


































Mary and Baby Jesus Statue

Stations of the cross are lined along the hill side under the shade of trees

TIMING

We reach the HCMC ferry terminal at 8.10am on a Monday morning and managed to get Seat No 98-100 (out of 131 seats). A little later and we might have no seats.

So if you plan to go on a weekend, better to book a day earlier or go there an hour before.

We took the last boat out at 4.30pm - that's the latest of the 3 companies.

As mentioned above, we went to 3 places.

We reached Mary and Baby Jesus statue at about 10.10am and left at 11.45am for lunch.

Spent an hour for lunch and an hour at Imperial.

Started at Jesus Statue at 2.00pm.

Reached the top at 2.25pm - that's the average climb rate for 2 middle-aged man and a young lady on a day with very few visitors.

Spent 30 min at the top, including going up inside the statue - but that's because there was no one there today. Add another 30min or more if you're there on a weekend as there'll be a queue to go inside the statue. Ladies, be warned again - you must be in long pants. Shorts and prohibited and you'll find yourself sitting outside if you're wearing shorts. The guard is very strict about that - and he is one who doesn't stoop to bribery so don't try that.

It's a 10min walk down to the giftshop - add 5min to go right down to the road.