From News 24
“That was the last time!” are Lynn’s words as we step out of the orange mini-bus into the main road of the laid back fishing town of Vung Tau. The driver, smiling warmly, climbs onto the mini-bus’ roof and hands us our backpacks. “Are you sure?” I ask. “It wasn’t that bad of a ride.” Three hours ago we’d set out from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Saigon and by this time, our 10 year old was as tired as a shift worker after a triple shift in the Orkney mines. The 32 degree Celsius heat with 90% humidity didn’t help her feel any better either!
Vung Tau, VIET NAM (HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images)
Our trip began 25 hours earlier in Cape Town. It’s always the same; Cape Town to Johannesburg, a short layover and then, a flight to some obscure destination. This time, we are traveling to Vung Tau in Vietnam. The closest airport to Vung Tau is in Saigon. There are many names used to describe Saigon, including ‘The Paris of Asia’ and the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, but for me, it will always be Saigon.
As a freelance writer, I’ve visited Saigon and other parts of Vietnam before, but never Vung Tau and never with my family. I met my wife, Meiling 15 years ago on one of my first trips to Taiwan. Lynn was born 5 years later and the rest, as they say is history. It was much harder getting into Vietnam a decade or so ago. Visa restrictions made it almost impossible for South Africans to get a visa. Fortunately, the communist days when a Vietnam visa was only for an American soldier or a select few is long over. A quick Google search listed dozens of “Easy Vietnam Visa” websites. I picked a website and completed the online form. Four days and R900.00 later, Meiling, Lynn and I received our visa approval letters by email. We were on a plane the next day.
Read the full article HERE.
