The Initiation

After what would best be described as a a hot night's sleep, we all awoke relatively late, myself the latest obviously, because that's what I do. And we started to wander around the house. eventually congregating at a communal point and it was agreed that breakfast was in order.

This is the point in the story where the initiation begins. You see, no honest person can say they've properly visited Vung Tau until they've coaxed some type of motorized, two wheeled vehicle down one of the city's flower lined boulevards, bobbing and weaving one's way through what is often perceived as a morass of denizens atop similar steeds, simultaneously prodding and hurrying their way from A to B. Well, I was and am still now, quite used to this extraordinary experience having been around a while, but for the other pilot in our group, namely Dad, things were a bit more.. adrenaline provoking, shall we say? It began with lovely smoke show, courtesy of the tailpipe of my bike, which had been stagnant a while and needed to be run. What followed was a slow tour through town out to what is called Back Beach, where we were going to eat lunch. Aside from some small shifting issues, and the fact that my "big bike," which Mom and Dad were riding, is merely a 125 cc chinese built circus bike which doesn't quite provide the umph or seating space to escort two grown people comfortably, the ride lacked any major drama. We soon found ourselves seated seaside at a small restaurant, smiling with glee at having accomplished our first journey across town. Lunch was typical Vietnamese cuisine, stir fry, as it's known in the west for Mom and Jessie, and baked fish with steamed rice for Dad and I. All was delicious as I knew it would be, having previously visited this establishment, and we ambled across the street to the beach for a stroll. The beach was empty and the water, hot and blue. We walked a while up the beach and then turned back toward where the bikes were parked. At this point a sense inside us was triggered and it seemed to be known collectively that it was time for a cocktail. We hastened to the Beach Club, not far down the road and bellied up to the bar. It was indeed a fine day for relaxing.

Earlier that week, before everyone arrived, I had gone to a local airline office and booked us tickets to northern Vietnam, where we would be going in a couple days time. What I forgot was that the flights were booked for Thursday morning at 6:30 or so, and as we sipped beers at the bar, I was thinking they were Wednesday. This would mean that we'd be leaving for Saigon that day, which was Tuesday, and the tickets were not yet paid for and picked up. Needless to say, it was hindering our ability to fully relax, and maybe even worrying us a bit. Eventually I realized that I was in fact mistaken and we weren't leaving Vung Tau until the following afternoon, and it felt as though a free day had been injected into our holiday. A weight was lifted from our shoulders and we could finally give the beer and the beach the attention it deserved.

Later that afternoon we found ourselves in the parking lot of ILA, where I work, having just negotiated two of the busiest streets in town at what was easily the busiest time of the day. Sweat wiped off our brows, we tried the doors of the airline office on the bottom floor of the building. Locked. No matter, we would get the tickets tomorrow. At this point we made our way back through town, stopping a few times to look for provisions, such as sandals and sunglasses, and then headed back to the beach club.

That night we dined at the finest place in town, an Italian restaurant on Front Beach known simply as "David". It's owner is a full blooded Italian called Marco, who hails from Florence. His food is some of the best I've tasted and he works ludicrous amounts to make sure of that. Each year he takes a month's holiday and goes home to Italy, every other day he's at the restaurant from open to close, making sure everything is spot on and he does a fine job of it. A short time and just under sixty bucks later, for sixty bucks is the price of fine dining for four people in these parts, lunch was 4 bucks, we made our way home for the night. The following day would be a lot of the same, back to beach club, and wandering about town. After all, Dad was ready for the SuperBike Gran Prix at that point! See you tomorrow!