A new home

As you might know my old home at 34 Vo Thi Sau Street was sold. Initially I was told I would need to move out by the time rent was next due. Afterwards I was invited to stay on by the new owners but by then I had already arranged to move to Steve's house (he has moved on to Hanoi). I was happy about this because it is cheaper and a little bit more independent. I have a key to the gate and no need to bother a security guard each time I come home.

My new home is at 116 Phan Chu Trinh Street, still in Ward 2 of Vung Tau city. It is the last house in a block of 5 townhouses that reach up the hillside below the lighthouse road, so it is very secluded and has good views over the neighbourhood and across to the Jesus statue.

The house is on 2 levels. Downstairs is the entry, living room, kitchen, and a small guest room and bathroom (cold water shower only). The massive 10kg washing machine is also here under the stairs. Upstairs are the bedroom, bathroom (this one with hot water) and the balcony which goes around two sides of the house.

The house is a lot darker than Vo Thi Sau street due mainly to the dark tiles you can see in the living room picture, but it is larger - probably too big really. The other interesting feature of the house is the preponderance of naked women! Here is an example from the downstairs bathroom. The upstairs bathroom has a similar tile picture, and there is a plaster relief work on the bedroom wall.

Anyway, I am very comfortable here. I have a cleaner (Xe) who comes once a week to sweep, mop and dust, and who washes the bedding and does any ironing I have waiting. She is lovely, and has worked for the past two tenants as well. She also looks after the whole complex with outside cleaning and pumping water to the storage unit on the roof each day.

My new home

Hmm ... has been a while, so the news is getting stale.

anyway - I have moved to my new home in Vo Thi Sau street. I am very glad to be here. It is great to have some space and my landlords have set me up very well - new fridge, washing machine, microwave, rice cooker, iron and cook top. The gas bottle was connected up on Thursday, but I haven't started cooking yet.

The house is in a secure compound with two security guys, so I have to ring a bell each time I come home, so that I can get in the gate. They look after my bike (of the mountain variety) at night, and put it away/get it out for me whenever I go out.

This is the main house.

The apartment is a big studio, no separate rooms except for the bathroom. The promised new entry door (on the side of the house) was installed in place of a window, so it is massive! Huge bed, nice TV.
There is a big garden with many mango trees, a couple of coconut trees and some herbs and green vegies as well. The Vung Tau lighthouse is close by, and over the roof you can see the back of the Jesus statue.

Getting set up - home and transport

After many false starts as well as the invaluable assistance of David Vuong (travel agent back in Newtown) in finding some contacts, I have finally settled on somewhere more permanent to live. And it's a place that I looked at in the first week and initially decided against because ... well, because I didn't know any better I suppose. It is an apartment in a villa in Vo Thi Sau street close to Back Beach. It is actually a very nice - luxurious? - large studio, owned by one of the property tycoons of Vung Tau, and it seems that I will be the only other tenant in the place besides the owners. Don't have a pic to show you yet - I am signing the lease on Thursday and move next Monday.

Because I am moving to Vo Thi Sau street I have to do something more about transport than just my daily lift to and from work with Quang, walking and the hotel's dilapidated one-person bicycle (included in the tariff). So I asked Steve about Waltzing Matilda's - the hotel/bar/travel booking agent who he rents his motorcycle from - and went in on Monday to enquire. And to say "I can't actually drive a motorcycle - could someone teach me". After everyone fell about laughing at the prospect of this green round-eye wanting to learn, they have been very kind and given me 3 lessons - all the while I'm waiting for a motorcycle to actually become available. (I do wonder where there is a sub-text here!)

The thing is, the idea of riding the motorcycle is much easier than the act. In principle it's not that much different to driving a manual car, in fact there isn't even a clutch. But I have enormous trouble using the pedal to change gears down, and then there's the need to keep your balance, not veer into other traffic when you're trying to change gear and lane and get ready to make a left-hand turn (remember in Vietnam we are driving on the right hand side of the road, so it's the left-hand turns that take you across traffic), ... oh and slowing down for turns at traffic lights and intersections. The people at Waltzing Matilda's have been very patient and assure me that I'll get it ... but I think that I could make the roads of Vung Tau whole lot more dangerous.

Seriously considering buying a push bike instead and just getting a xe om driver when I need it!

Getting set up - living arrangements

Over the weekend I've looked - at no great pace - into various options available for longer term accommodation - house, apartment in a villa, apartment in a large block. Getting started in this not easy without some contacts.

The search started by riding around with Lao looking for signs on houses and for posters on walls advertising places for rent. Not the most productive way of doing it, although it did yield a $300USD per month 2 bedroom house in the Vo Thi Sau area back towards Vung Tau town from Back Beach. Currently rented by an Australian guy who came to teach English in a primary school but is now moving on to the Mekong delta. Bit too dark and dingy for my liking but is a fairly good price.

I chanced on an agent outside a 4 level, 3 bedroom house for rent in the same area . The house was $800 USD per month, plus electricity, bottle gas, etc and out of my budget. Hanh has since shown my a very large studio apartment in a villa and secured a reduction in rent from $400 to $350 USD per month, but it is still rather a lot to pay for 1 bedroom. The price reflects the mod-cons that come with the place.

Also showed me something more suitable - $400 USD for a 2 bedroom apartment in a large complex directly opposite ILA Vietnam on Nguyen Thai Hoc and above Coop Mart Supermarket. Has some great views over Vung Tau from Front Beach, across Nui Lon (Big Mountain) and the Thich Ca Phat Dai temple complex and across to the port. The only downside is that this area is a fair distance from Vung Tau town and either of the main beach areas. Besides I've lived close to work before and we all know what happens then!!

Another option in the same area is $200 USD for a 1 bedroom unit in a smaller complex.

However, knowing that I'm a teacher is getting some favourable response. Hanh's son is a student at ILA Vietnam, and she understands that our salary is comfortable rather than big-end of the expat spectrum.

The intermediate decision has been to stay on at the Lam Son Hotel for one month at 4 million dong plus electricity and take a bit more time getting settled.

PS are you bored yet? How can I dress up this story? Well, the end of the round of visits was that Hanh took me for breakfast - banh khot - and then for coffee. At both stops we were joined by Vietnamese clients of hers, including a couple from HCMC, the husband being a feng shui consultant. At one stage talk turned to the SOS Villages in Vietnam, and I was able to say that I did know what they are via my involvement with IVP because we have been sending volunteers to work in them - check the list of workcamps available through the SCI workcamp search engine.