A little bit of officialdom

I have a Vietnamese driver's licence!

There is a process by which I can "exchange" my NSW driver's licence for a Vietnamese one. I am still only licensed to drive cars but it is useful to have the document anyway even if I am driving a motorbike. Apparently ...

The process is:

1. go to the Department of Transport and Communication and collect the form
2. go to the Foreign Affairs office and get the NSW driver's licence translated (cost = 110,000 VND)
3. collect the photocopy and translation
4. fill in the application form, put a photo on it and get someone to authorise it (in my case I was able to ask ILA to do this)
5. get another 2 photos
6. take all these documents plus passport and visa and original licence back to the Department of Transport and Communication
7. submit the documents - get a receipt stating they have all the copies/translations/forms and have seen the originals
8. come back in a week and pay 30,000 VND - receive the licence.

Why did I bother? Well, Bao is trying to teach me to drive a motorbike, and we have all been advised by Anne (one of the teachers who is half Vietnamese) to get a licence even if it is just the car licence. It is possible to now also get the motorcycle licence by going for a driving test.

An odd sight

I took these photos some time ago on an afternoon bike ride, but had forgotten about them.

I took a ride along Back Beach up to the Paradise Tourist Zone, which has resorts, golf clubs, etc - being a Monday afternoon there was not much going on. After that I had to come back into town a bit so that I could keep heading out. Eventually I went past the the Seaview 4 apartment towers which you can see from ILA Vietnam building. They are out in Ward 10 - but I digress ...

Before taking the long ride along 3 February Street, I went past this closed down/disused theme park. I haven't yet found out anything about it. It's not mentioned in Lonely Planet.

My ride continued along a major road past flower farms. I had this general idea that at some point I would be able to turn right again and hit the beach. But I started to find that my map of Vung Tau is partly accurate and partly imagination. Eventually, I could see I was way out into Ward 11, so I then decided to see if I could turn left and come across to 30 April Street. I figured that I would probably hit it around about where Bao lives.

But that didn't happen either. Instead I was cycling down a very wide, very under-used road, that eventually turned out to be a) not fully open and b) not yet connected back on to Quoc Lo, which is a major road that brings you back into Vung Tau on the other side of the airport (from 30/4 street). To make the connection all vehicles had to go off to the side and push/drive (if you are motorised) on to Quoc Lo. It was a useful trip for getting a wider view of Vung Tau, but it was a lonely and uninteresting ride in the main. VT can be very windy in the afternoons as well ... :(

Reptilian visitor

This guy turned up behind the microwave oven! I assumed he came in through the kitchen window. He wasn't too happy about being removed (I used a pair of chopsticks to encourage him to go back out the window, in case you're wondering). He made a lot of noise about it!