Sightseeing
Touring
Vung Tau with Mr Bing
Text by Colleen Winterburn [] Images Huy Hoang
Mr Bing is just a phone call away for you to explore Vung Tau from the back of his scooter..
I took the 2 hour tour, with Bing picking me up at the agreed place, we then headed to the White Palace. You have the option of parking the bike and walking up to the Palace or Bing can take you all the way. I opted to walk up so I didn’ t miss anything. Cost of entry is 5,000vnd. The White Palace is full of history. Vung Tau’ s White Palace is perched 50 metres up on“ Big Mountain” and enjoys wonderful views along the coast. It was built in 1898 on the site of a Nguyen Dynasty fortress that was demolished by the French to make way for a retreat for Governor General Paul Doumer. The building was named Villa Blanche after his favorite daughter. The name Villa Blanche or Bach Dinh coincides it’ s appearance, for that reason, the local people call it Bạch Dinh( White Palace). Based in Hanoi, Doumer was an important force in the major expansion of infrastructure in the capital. His most famous project was the Paul Doumer Bridge across the Red
River- now known as the Long Biên Bridge.
Doumer’ s public works programme was funded by onerous taxation, state monopolies and forced labour that placed a terrible strain on the local population. Doumer went on to become French President and was assassinated in 1931. Later, some Indochina-French Governors used this summer house occasionally so it’ s also called“ Villa du Gouverneur”( Dinh Toan Quyen). Both Ngo Dinh Diem and Nguyen Van Thieu used it as well for recreation and holiday. It made the name Dinh Ong Thuong( Palace of Lord appear). The White Palace also became the palatial place of house arrest for eccentric, recalcitrant Vietnamese King Thanh Thai between 1906 and 1917. He belonged to the last feudalistic dynasty in Vietnam and fought against the French before exiling him to Reunion Island off the coast of Africa( 1909-1910). These days, the White Palace houses an interesting collection of China recovered from a sunken ship off the Vung Tau coast. Information is scarce, as it is about the name of the ship. The Vũng Tàu shipwreck, is a shipwreck that was found in the South Chi-
22 The MAG Vung Tau