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