Life doesn't get better than this on Vung Tau Island
Yesterday was one of those days where an excellent day just got better and better!
Yesterday I needed to;
The makings of a nice day. A fairly typical day of exploration for Sen and myself. We decided to meet Jason at Baria at the coffee shop next to where I found some strange stones with a connection to Nui Dat base [see Mystery of the Strange Stones].
Jason turned up with Van his interpreter. We had a quick coffee and then wandered over to look at the company marker stones.
Our first surprise for the day; we were invited to drive up to the Minh Dam Secret Zone in Jason's Jeep! What a hoot, rattling along the base of the Long Hais in a period Jeep.
Yesterday I needed to;
- show Sen a group of caves in the Minh Dam Secret Zone, which are ideal to take our Baria Tunnels Tour guests through.
- snoop around the newly re-discovered gun placement at Long Hai Point, [see Mystery of the Lost Gun Emplacement] and
- show Jason the Minh Dam museum as well as introduce him to a reliable contact in the area.
The makings of a nice day. A fairly typical day of exploration for Sen and myself. We decided to meet Jason at Baria at the coffee shop next to where I found some strange stones with a connection to Nui Dat base [see Mystery of the Strange Stones].
Jason turned up with Van his interpreter. We had a quick coffee and then wandered over to look at the company marker stones.
Our first surprise for the day; we were invited to drive up to the Minh Dam Secret Zone in Jason's Jeep! What a hoot, rattling along the base of the Long Hais in a period Jeep.
LOng Hai Point
First stop; Long Hai Point. Long Hai point is the eastern most point of the Long Hai Mountains, Baria-Vung Tau province, Vietnam. The four of us left the Jeep at the beach access gate and walked a short distance back into low sand dunes covered in scrubby pines. We quickly reached the gun emplacement. We walked all over it, through it, and under it. Took photos, movies, notes and measurements. We generally carried-on like kids at Xmas morning. I will elaborate more about this in my update of the Mystery of the Lost Gun Emplacement. But in short, as I had already predicted, there would be more stuff near the first discovery; and there was! There were multiple underground bunkers and another gun emplacement (this one bigger than the first).
The Minh Dam Secret Zone
The Minh Dam Secret Zone is on and in the Long Hai Mountains. The Long Hai Mountains are a major geographical feature of the south eastern corner of Baria-Vung Tau Province in Vietnam.The highest peak on the granite boulder range is 285.6 metres (I just measured it with Google Earth). The old Jeep protested most of the way up the steep road, but eventually we arrived at the Minh Dam Secret Zone parking bay. We detoured slightly and dropped into the Buddhist pagoda and rest house, Chua Ngoc Tuyen, to pre-order some lunch.
A short walk from the pagoda passed the very new Liet Si Hall (War heroes shrine) took us immediately into the jungle of the Long Hai mountain range. The short narrow trail took us to the small but very interesting museum. We couldn't stay there very long, we were meant to be working. |
Next, we headed along a trail to the Dispatches Office caves. I showed Sen how ideal this batch of caves were for tourists. There are many, many caves in one small area. All very interesting, with varying degrees of access; easy to not-so-easy. A rare place where a tour guide can let guests explore and experience the excitement of discovery by themselves. But the area is small enough to be within voice contact with the tour guide at all times. We went deeper into the caves than I had ever been before, but there is no way to tell where any of the caves stop! (Of course our tour guests would not go this deep.) We explored for about an hour, but then we needed to head off to check out some more caves that are nearer to the museum. The less walking on a mountain makes for a better tour. |
We headed off to the caves nearer the museum and were very pleasantly surprised to find these caves were
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The lunchtime discovery
And so, back to the pagoda for lunch. As the ladies in the pagoda were finishing off the cooking of our food, the young monk realised that we were genuinely interested in the history of his area. He casually swung around on his stool and pointed to an old black and white framed photo hanging on the wall. It was his pagoda (Not actually his. He was too young). He pointed across the lotus lake to the new, large Liet Si Hall. Apparently the original pagoda was situated in that exact place. It was destroyed by bombs. Probably when the Americans used B-52s to rain down 500 pound bombs in an effort to destroy the Minh Dam Secret Zone. What !!! This information made Xmas presents appear boring! The young monk then walked us back to the Liet Si Hall, where he paced-out exactly where his pagoda used to be. Oral history in practice. It was on the same scale as the present building there. Wow!! The monk then headed off to one side of the Liet Si Hall. A large religious icon, a stupa, from the original pagoda was still standing. It was very damaged, very old, and very interesting. A stile to the monk who made the original chua (temple), next to the base of the large stupa revealed that he lived from 1818 to 1872? It also mentioned that he was the same monk who made the 1842 chua just outside Baria town. There is no reason why the original temple isn't from the same era - the 1840s. In other words pre-French and in the Nguyen Dynasty. I wonder if during the Tyson Brothers Peasant Uprising could the Long Hai mountains have been used by various factions. Probably. If only this old stupa could talk. |
And so with my head spinning we wandered back to the other side of the lotus lake and had a very tasty and fun lunch experience with the monk and his helpers.
After lunch Jason and I explored the small, rough trail on the eastern side of the pagoda. A fig tree marks the position where Australians died when one of our own M16 mines was used against us. This beautiful mountain range and coastline has a dark history. We continued along and up to the top of the ridge. Took off our shoes and then climbed to man-made lookout/shrine. The sight from this vantage point is always spectacular. The sort of place you can just stay and stay at. And we did. |
Our day in the Minh Dam Secret Zone on the Long Hai mountains was winding down, so we loaded our tired and dusty bodies into the Jeep and reluctantly headed home.
A truly excellent day had been had by all.
A truly excellent day had been had by all.
Apparently, my totally excellent day had not finished yet. No sooner had I finished showering when my phone rang and a friend of mine, Chris, said I should meet some guy at Cafe 7.
I took Chris's advice and rode to a favourite drinking and burrito eating haunt of mine.
I met Hideaki Suzuki. He studies maritime culture across south east asia. He knows a great deal about Vietnam's Whale Cult. He suggested that the Whale Cult following in Vung Tau could be older than our Whale Temple. It could be linked to Cham culture. This takes me back to my theory that Baria was once a very powerful town in the area.
Anyway, we exchanged emails and because he is a regular visitor to Vung Tau so I am sure we will share a few more drinks and chats.
I took Chris's advice and rode to a favourite drinking and burrito eating haunt of mine.
I met Hideaki Suzuki. He studies maritime culture across south east asia. He knows a great deal about Vietnam's Whale Cult. He suggested that the Whale Cult following in Vung Tau could be older than our Whale Temple. It could be linked to Cham culture. This takes me back to my theory that Baria was once a very powerful town in the area.
Anyway, we exchanged emails and because he is a regular visitor to Vung Tau so I am sure we will share a few more drinks and chats.
Aussie kids to visit vung tau
The day still wouldn't finish. Sen and I needed to meet with an Aussie couple who every so often bring high school kids from their home town in Australia to visit Vietnam.
Sen and I had enjoyed meeting and working with the students previously so we volunteered to plan a day out for them when they are here in Vung Tau.
Plan =
DAY DONE ! Some days are diamonds.
Sen and I had enjoyed meeting and working with the students previously so we volunteered to plan a day out for them when they are here in Vung Tau.
Plan =
- Brekky at a typical Pho shop on the street.
- Long Son Island visit to meet and help the old ladies in the complex.
- Check out the floating fish farms.
- Meet some Vietnamese kids and swap selfies and Facebook info.
DAY DONE ! Some days are diamonds.
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