If you like XXL religious adoration, you will love the largest Vishnu statue in Bali, Indonesia!

No samba for Vietnamese Jesus

Built more than six decades after the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Vietnamese Jesus statue, known as Christ the King, never gained the same touristic momentum.

Stretching his arms over Mount Nho (Small Mountain, 170 meters high) and gazing into the distance of the South China Sea, it might not have the same grandiose aura as the South American iconic monument looking over the colorful Brazilian metropolis from the 700 meters high Corcovado mountain. But that doesn’t make the Vietnamese Jesus a no-trump racehorse!

OK, on the streets of Vung Tau you might not see barely dressed Vietnamese ladies shaking their bottoms and feather headpieces like tomorrow doesn’t exist.

On the streets of Vung Tau, you won’t see kids skipping school classes to play street football while dreaming of becoming the next Neymar.

Vung Tau people appreciate pho over moqueca, and would never trade rice wine for cachaça.

Vietnam and Brazil might be very similar and very different. But when comparing their religious monuments, the Vietnamese Jesus statue is the clear winner

The two countries might argue which one loves fresh coconut better, or whose coffee wins the race, but when speaking about oversized Biblical monuments, the Asian Jesus statue clearly deserves his crown!

With 32 meters in height (2 meters more than the Redeemer), the Christ of Vung Tau might only seem smaller, as his pedestal is just 4 meters high.

However, the Vietnamese Jesus statue provides a very particular benefit – one can climb into it and admire the views of the town and the whole coastline from Christ’s perspective.

You won’t get these divine views even at the base of the statue, due to the overgrown trees. But Jesus sees it all!

The trick is only that you need to climb the mountain and Christ’s interior yourself, there is no cable car you can pay to do the physical work for you!

In the Philippines, Jesus is celebrated in a more radical way. Check it out here, if you're not faint-hearted! 

Christ of Vung Tau: A small step for a pilgrim, a giant Jesus statue for mankind

Available data disagree on how many steps you need to climb to get to the monument’s platform. Some say there are 1000 steps, some exaggerate with even 1200, but the closest guess would be 800-ish.

I haven’t counted them myself, but I am certain the numbers stopped being presented after the 800 mark.

From my point of view, the obstacle is not the number of steps, but their relative shallowness. As a 185-centimeters-tall guy, I felt that the steps, sometimes just 10 centimeters high, are more tiring than the steps you would normally find in the buildings of Western civilization.

The pro-Asian-foot design gave me the feeling that I am always lifting my legs but not achieving much. And that’s what felt tiring!

Some Westerners would disagree with me. They think more small steps are less tiring than less of normal-size ones. Well, you be the judge!

In any case, rest stops are provided along the way. As this is a religious site, one might use the stops to pray, and I guess Biblical statues, chubby angels, apostles, and pietas could be inspiring for that call.

Otherwise, just take a moment to breathe in, admire the fake deer drinking from the artificial lakes, enjoy the floral gardens and bonsai trees, or just rhetorically ask yourself why the chickens are caged.

Speaking of chicken, you might find it intriguing that one of them got materialized as a gigantic building in the jungle of Java. The Indonesian Chicken Church is one of a kind!

Christ of Vung Tau, only for decently (un)dressed

The Vietnamese Jesus statue is well hidden behind the hill’s topography and trees growing on its slopes.

Its whiteness will reveal to you only at the last set of steps (this is the set when you forget to count the stairs and start to take selfies with outstretched arms, like so many before you).

Admission to the statue is free, but beware, if not properly dressed, you might need to do some unplanned T-shirt shopping at the hilltop.

Inside the monument, sleeveless shirts and tops, short pants and miniskirts, but also shoes, hats, and bags are prohibited.

Omnipresent warnings about pickpockets operating in the area make you think twice about whether you should leave your valuables at the entrance of the statue.

I have visited Vung Tau on Monday, so the monument area did not seem as crowded as it might get on the weekends. The day was cloudy enough that I didn’t mind climbing the hill at noon.

If you want to take a picture of the Vietnamese Jesus without random strangers protruding their heads through his shoulders, the lunch break between 11:30 and 13:30, when Christ of Vung Tau closes to visitors, is truly your safest bet!

Also, the tourists don’t crowd it at 13:30 exactly, so this is the moment you could get lucky enough to not have to wait in the queue for the balconies on Christ’s shoulders.

The staircase where you’ll need to wait is narrow. And the balcony is maybe an oversized word – let’s just say that on the top of the 133-step spiral marble staircase inside of the statue two hollows let you squeeze out to get that nice sea breeze. Two, maybe three friendly strangers can fit in at one time.

Searching for a place to stay near the Christ of Vung Tau monument? Find the best accommodation offers here!

Vietnamese Jesus has rules for you!

Besides expected signs for no smoking and no littering, they will also advise you that running, loud speaking, writing or drawing on the wall, consuming food and drinks, and spitting are forbidden.

Also, “no getting drunk and vomiting”. Maybe you could pass with just being drunk or just vomiting, not sure.

For the rules for which they couldn’t find an adequate pictogram, the full sentence is provided. Here’s an example: “Do not show unworthy and profane acts between couples in this sacred place.”

Then again, I think even the solo profane acts would not be that welcomed! It makes you wonder how did they come up with this being a potential issue.

When leaving the mountain, do drop by the souvenir shop!

You can have your own miniature Vietnamese Jesus for already 10.000 Dongs (40 Cents!).

The price grows with the size of the Christ, and some of them come in phosphorescent form, which means they glow in the dark!

For 240.000 Dongs (10 Euros) you could get the whole Holy Family that will enlighten your room in green.

If they pulled it off in Međugorje with the Madonna miraculously glowing in the dark, just think what kind of profitable investment the whole glowing family could be!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, Pipeaway might make a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our work!

This post was originally published on April 17th, 2017, and was updated on March 31st, 2022.

The post Vietnamese Jesus Statue: Climbing the Christ of Vung Tau appeared first on Pipeaway.

Well, chill out! Pipeaway is bringing you a list of some of the most chilled-out places in Southeast Asia! Technically somewhere between the hostels and the guesthouses, these properties promise you can leave your worries behind, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and completely immerse in the chill attitude!

1. Man’Groove Guesthouse, Cambodia
Price per night: 4 Euros

Situated in the fisherman village close to Kampot, the riverside town in Southern Cambodia, famous for growing Durian (so much, in fact, that they even raised a gigantic monument in the shape of this fruit at the local roundabout), Man’Groove is a relaxed guesthouse by the road heading East of the town. The place name is the wordplay with the mangrove trees growing over the local brackish water and the groovy atmosphere this guesthouse provides to its visitors.

The 33-year-old Singaporean pilot Trevor Seah built this place three years ago when many were laughing at his vision; a guesthouse out of the town will never work, they were saying. Today, this dreamer has another Man’Groove – in the nearby Kep. But that one is more for drinkers, he says. Man’Groove Kampot is better at attracting smokers.

Ducks instead of the alarm clock

Eight simple rooms on stilts (equipped with basic furniture, such as a large mosquito-net protected bed or chairs on the small balcony) overlook the waters where fishermen repair boats in the morning, and one is awakened by nature – Man’Groove owns 300 ducks, all female! They produce 240 eggs a day that you can taste already at breakfast! A three-egg omelet with cheese, tomato, ham, and sausage will set you back three dollars!

Personally, I enjoyed the thick pancakes with ice cream and Nutella, but one can get them in a particular space flavor as well. The menu also offers space French toast, space milkshake, space coffee/tea, or even space Khmer chicken curry (priced at 6 dollars, it is the most expensive dish on the menu, but also the one that will quickly and efficiently bring you to the chill zone). The restaurant offers more classic burgers, sandwiches, and typical Asian dishes, for those who are not willing to experiment. Four times a month, you can fish for your own meal and get the catch baked in the restaurant!

One can enjoy eating dinner in front of the cinema screen; every evening Man’Groove prepares movie nights where visitors can enjoy some real treasures saved on the hard disk with one terabyte of films. The chilled atmosphere of one of the most relaxed Kampot hostels can also be enjoyed on the boat which takes the visitors on the sunset cruise – in this secret hideout one can swim with the plankton or enjoy fireflies if the season is right (November-December). The plan is to build the floating market and the bungalows that will be accessible by canoe only. Slowly the small “crap islands“ are being transformed into oases of chill.

Man’Groove’s roots go deep, the plans are big. They include the local community it provides the jobs for. Some forty people are employed on this project alone! Some are busy fishing, and some taking care of the pigs or ducks. In the low season, the employees are sent to the school, for further education. The owner even plans to launch a local school, giving back to the community of which he, as an expat, became a part.

TIP: Man'Groove guests can borrow the guesthouse bicycles for free! Use them to get to the nearby caves or the Secret Lake with a picnic area. Rent a motorbike for 5 dollars to visit the stunning Bokor Mountain with waterfalls and abandoned French colonial buildings. Entry to the area protected as the National Park (but at the same time rapidly overdeveloping due to the casino) is 0,50 dollars. Visit before it's all gone!

2. Island Life Hostel, Vietnam
Price per night: 5 Euros

Situated 25 minutes ride away from Duong Dong, the touristic center of the island, but only 10 minutes walk away from the touristically underestimated Ong Lang Beach, Island Life Hostel is a perfect base if you want to explore this slice of tropical heaven, without wealthy Europeans and Americans breathing down your neck. The Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc often gets to the world’s lists of paradise islands (that is the reason why I have chosen it as the final destination for my deceased Vietnamese walking stick). But paradises should not be overcrowded, so choosing to stay in the Northern part of the island’s West coast, instead of being closer to the more exploited Sao Beach, Khem Beach or Long Beach in the South, might be a smart choice!

Featuring two mixed 5-bed dormitory rooms and two double rooms, with the shared use of nature-style bathrooms, Island Life promotes a strong community spirit. Not only for the fact that fans in the rooms are not always working properly, making the stay inside these natural-material stalls often unbearable, not only for the fact that wifi and electricity often break down, moving one away from the contemporary electrical appliances, but Island Life is also one of the most social hostels of Southeast Asia I have visited. Spontaneously organized barbecues for the guests or night swimming and chilling around the bonfire at the beach are just some of those special moments where the guest stops feeling a part of a trading relationship, and the friendship starts.

The community of trust

The overnight stay price includes breakfast (scrambled eggs with onion), but the staff working in the hostel might offer you to join the lunch for free if the meal they cooked for themselves could easily feed more people – that is not something one can experience everywhere. Also, the hostel promotes a strong sense of trust. The bar is self-serving, with a notebook where one writes down what he/she drank, and pays for it at the check-out. Even if remote to the town (which means you will miss the buzz of evenings filled with the noise of Thai ice cream rolls making at every corner), you can easily find good quality and affordable street food operators nearby.

Beautiful Ong Lang Beach is a sandy bed you will want to lay around all day long. Not being overpopulated with tourists, it offers you the opportunity to find your own corner of the paradise, with nobody in sight (this means heaven for nudists as well!). The water is shallow, warm, and pleasant for swimming daytime or nighttime. Watching harmless crabs digging holes and walking over the beach before sunset is a fun and relaxing activity.

TIP: When landing at Phu Quoc Airport, choose Phu Quoc taxi company, one of the most affordable ones. Together with the toll, the ride to the hostel will cost you about 250,000 Dongs (less than 10 Euros). If you are lucky like I was, you will get an extremely thrilled female taxi driver who will be humming with the radio music the whole ride! With sand on the floor of the car, this was already the sign that I have successfully escaped much stressful traffic conditions of bustling Ho Chi Minh City! What a relief!

3. Kosta Hostel, Indonesia
Price per night: 10 Euros

So, you want to post your pictures on Instagram, bragging about your Bali holidays, while lying by the swimming pool and sipping on that passion fruit mojito? You don’t have to be rich to explore such a lifestyle! For the price of some of the cheapest European hostels here, you can get to sleep in the 4-bed air-conditioned dormitory, with a private bathroom! Kosta Hostel is a recently opened establishment in the center of Seminyak and provides neatly designed and functional homes aimed at adventurous nomads, especially surfers, as it is being owned and operated by them too.

This urban lodge consists of two floors of rooms overlooking the small but charming swimming pool, providing that essential feeling of a chilled Bali experience. The outside area offers rest in the loungers, on the large sunbed, or in the sedative swinging chairs. The whole property is recycled from the old Balinese houses, which, in combination with the bright turquoise signature color, gives it the appealing retro colonial chic look!

Breakfast = parfait!

Rooms come with comfortable beds equipped with three pillows (!) and night lamps that have adjustable light! Two electricity sockets are placed next to each bed (which is sometimes more than five-star resorts on the island offer!), and they are adapted to UK/Oz visitors as well! The internet functions impeccably, as well as the AC, which is a necessary requirement if, oh Lord, you need to work while being here.

There is an onsite cafe/restaurant called The Good Mantra, offering hot and cold, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, from matcha-banana smoothies to Argentinian wine. The food menu includes various salads, sides, sandwiches, burgers, and desserts. I only had the chance to try one breakfast. And even if strawberry parfait (vanilla marinated organic strawberries with whipped cream and granola) was just parfait (as French would say), the other options, such as the toasted bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese spread, red onion, and capers, also sounded delicious.

TIP: Bali airport is just 20 minutes away from Kosta Hostel. However, it is one of those airports where the taxi drivers are incredibly annoying, to the level you feel find ill at ease! However, if you use alternative transport such as Grab (https://invite.grab.co/ivan91589) or Uber (https://www.uber.com/invite/ivank2765ue), by registering via links in the brackets you will get both discounted rides and no hassle with the competitive and more expensive taxi drivers! Try it out!

Disclosure: My stay at some of the establishments mentioned in this text was complimentary, but all opinions are my own.
Also, this post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, Pipeaway might make a small commission, with no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our work!

The post Chill & Cheap Getaways: Relax in Southeast Asia on a Shoestring! appeared first on Pipeaway.

The long stretch of sandy beach is one of the top world destinations for wind and kite surfing! There are only 45 rainy days in a year here, and the average temperature is 30 degrees Celsius, so sun-chasing might be your next reason to visit.

You might be attracted by the colorful cocktails one can sip at the resort’s large infinity pool, the first of its kind in the whole Mui Ne Riviera.

Or you could just wish to surrender to various therapeutic spa treatments on offer!

Whatever brings you to this part of Vietnam, there is one thing you should not miss: lau tha hot pot, the gastronomic specialty of this region!

Banana flower blooming with food

Every cook has his secrets, so I am sure that Seahorse Resort’s chef Quy Son is keeping a few up his sleeves too. But the basic recipe for lau tha (‘hot pot’ is the literal translation from Vietnamese), mimicked throughout Mui Ne, the kingdom of resorts, is more or less the same.

The main ingredients are served in the petals of a banana flower: sliced steamed pork, julienned cucumber and mango, fried egg, salad, and fresh local fish.

White rice noodle is placed in the bowl, together with the selection of mentioned ingredients. The soup is poured over all of it, and with the addition of rice paper with black sesame, lime juice, and chili sauce (typically a famous local fish sauce with added fried peanuts and chili), the dish is ready for you to enjoy!

The hot pot was originally the food for the poor. Families would mix anything they could find at home, and make the dish that would fill their stomachs.

Reinvented today, this dish is a must-see on all menus of more than a hundred luxurious resorts in Phan Thiet.

Mr. Tran Anh Thi, the general manager of Seahorse Resort, claims it was his idea of redesigning the old dish and the way of serving it, that made it an appealing product easily copied by the competition.

Profit chase with a boomerang effect

The competition is certainly not a small one. For tourists, getting to the ocean from the street became an almost impossible task, as the resorts occupied every inch of the available coastline. Unless you are a guest of the hotel or accept to buy a cocktail at their swimming pool, getting to the beach in this touristically oversaturated zone becomes a hard puzzle. Even when you get to the ocean – you might not find the beach!

If you take from nature, nature takes from you!Tran Anh Thi, Seahorse Resort

“If you take from nature, nature takes from you!”, says Mr. Anh Thi, explaining how many resorts spread too deep towards the ocean, which then claimed some parts of the sand and took it away. The beach might exist today, and disappear tomorrow!

So tourists might be getting a promise of the setting they will not necessarily experience. The irrespective chase for profit shows how boomerang effects can hit our pockets hard.

Mui Ne actually got its name from the fishermen escaping the sea storms (the literal translation of the town’s name means “hiding cape”), but some never learn from the history.

Seahorse Resort – the power in the name

There is an interesting story about how Seahorse Resort also got its name. Even if the owner of the place is female, the name wanted to reflect the male strength!

The traditional drink of seahorse wine is considered to be a powerful sexual tonic, so the resort wanted to take a bit of the symbolic power of the aphrodisiac into its own attraction potential.

Built by Cham architects, it attracted visitors since 2004, at first Vietnamese, but nowadays the guests are mainly Russians, Finns, and Germans. Typically they stay for 12 days, yet one couple recently checked out after the 54-day period!

Booking.com

Temptations of the local cuisine

The food at Seahorse Resort is tempting – whether you just want to enjoy the fruit kebab at the pool, generous breakfast buffet (ranging from Western to Eastern choices, from soups to cakes and tropical fruits), or eat a proper lunch, Seahorse Bistro is ready to serve you well.

Fresh seafood is high on the menu, but one can also find Thai curry, Italian pizza, and even burgers. Personally, I think it would be a pity, if not a sin, to stay in Vietnam and not indulge oneself in Vietnamese cuisine!

My starter was special house spring rolls. Atypically, the wrappers were made of grated dough, which made the fried rolls not only visually appealing but also added to the crispy texture.

Fried prawn served in a glass with lemongrass, combined with the fine white wine of Roc Saint André from Bordeaux, one of the world’s most prolific wine regions, was a mouthwatering introduction to the main course: the great Seahorse fish hot pot.

Lau tha hot pot – tasty, simple, and familiar

When something is proclaimed a signature dish, one can easily make it too complicated. Even if served grandiosely, in front of you, with the soup still boiling on the fire, and the large banana flower design seducing your gaze, the dish reserves the taste of simplicity.

It was never the ostentatious meal at the homes of Vietnamese people – it was always something made of “nothing”. This food was always meant to be shared.

Seahorse hot pot serves three individuals for the price of 530.000 Dongs (22 Euros), which makes it the most expensive dish on their menu, but actually, it is a fulfilling traditional eating experience for a smaller family.

Local ingredients, from vermicelli to fish and fish sauce, combined with local creativity, make it a true Phan Thiet delicacy.

STILL SEARCHING FOR A PLACE TO STAY?
CHECK THESE HOT DEALS IN MUI NE!
DIFFERENT DATES AVAILABLE!

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Disclosure: My lunch at the Seahorse Resort was complimentary, but all opinions are my own.
Also, this post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, Pipeaway might make a small commission, with no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our work!  

The post Hot Pot at Seahorse Resort: Flower of Flavors and Colors appeared first on Pipeaway.

In May 2016, my friend Željko brought me a jar as a present. Inside there were two tiny, fragile animals, the Vietnamese walking sticks, or Medauroidea extradentat, as scientists prefer to call them. I’ve put them in a terrarium, and every night I’d use the water sprinkler to mimic the tropical rain.

Borg female supremacy

Vietnamese walking sticks are generally female. They reproduce asexually, through parthenogenesis.

When the two completely matured, they started laying eggs. The new ones hatched would be the exact copies of their mothers. Soon my terrarium population was growing fast with the daughters of 1of2 and 2of2.

As you can notice, I’ve named the inhabitants of my Unimatrix 01 system in the Borg-classification language. “We are One” philosophy seemed to be the perfect designation for this enclosed biosystem where genetically copied animals pretended to be trees.

One day in December 1of2 stopped moving. She just went into the corner and peacefully stopped breathing

My daily morning habit would be to count them. By counting them, I could register new generations of their progeny.

After 60-ish walking sticks, the counting became a rather challenging and time-consuming task. Being everywhere, on the glass walls of the terrarium, on the leaves, under the leaves, on the ground, on each other… I would always miss some. At 60-something I stopped counting them.

To be fair, these little nocturnal creatures do not move much during the day. Naturally, it took me some time to realize that, one day in December, 1of2 stopped moving. She just went into the corner, as if hiding away from her daughters’ sight, and peacefully stopped breathing.

Is she just playing dead?

I left her there for some time, as with stick insects one never knows.

Once, one of them lost a leg (sometimes it happens, as they are fragile and could get entangled when shedding their skin in the molting phase), and that leg continued to move by itself for several days, while it was obviously dead!

So I asked myself, how could I know that 1of2, the member of the species that is often playing dead, is true – dead?

After a couple of days of her not moving at all, it was evident she was not pretending.

What does one do with such a deceased pet? Should I organize a burial? Maybe I should just flush her down the toilet? Or throw her to my carnivorous plant and hope it does the job?

I decided to do something more appropriate: bring her to the homeland of her ancestors for her final rest.

Google searching for the paradise

Of course, it couldn’t be just any place in Vietnam. If I go through all the hassle, it better be worth it! This girl should go to paradise!

“Paradise islands in Vietnam” Google search showed a few results, with Phu Quoc, a tear-shaped island, always claiming the top of the list. With its supposedly peaceful atmosphere, fresh air, crystal-clear sea waters, white sand beaches, and green coconut trees, it did sound like an excellent choice.

Bringing a dead animal over several border controls; is that allowed?

And there I was, researching Vietnam visa requirements, buying flight tickets, thinking about potential legal issues of my idea…

Bringing a deceased animal over several border controls; is that allowed? All those documentaries about people getting arrested for smuggling a bag of peanuts rushed through my mind. And on top of that, I am flying to a country that still applies capital punishment as a legal penalty!

Then again… This is not a typical dead animal. The walking stick bug does not stink even when alive. At that moment, this was just an empty shell, a vehicle that one of them used in its short lifetime, a chitin exoskeleton at the most. I am sure we are bringing a lot of insects over the borders every day, except that their size makes them unnoticeable.

Besides paradise island, Vietnam also has a hell cave. Head north, to Marble Mountain, to discover Am Phu Cave!

Preparing the Vietnamese walking stick’s funeral

I carefully removed the dead body of 1of2 from the terrarium. Her sister 2of2, her many daughters, and nieces, all were standing still in silence. Vietnamese walking sticks don’t cry.

I wrapped the fragile body in paper tissue, enclosed it in a plastic bag, and hid it in my toiletry case, hoping that the mess inside would help with not detecting 1of2 at airports’ x-ray scans.

Before leaving Croatia, I just needed to do one more thing; sort out the insect-sitting while I was away.

Lida and Sašo, the proud owners of Ramona and successful dogsitters of other dogs, lived in my neighborhood and luckily accepted to take care of the Vietnamese gang too. I packed the whole terrarium and brought it by foot to their flat, 900 meters away.

My mind, concentrated on the funeral of 1of2, completely forgot that Zagreb in early February is not a tropical paradise. At minus 10 degrees Celsius, I almost killed the entire offspring of the pet I wanted to provide a decent funeral for! How irresponsible, stupid, and ironic that would have been. Luckily, these twigs with six legs are sturdy little fellows, and the warm apartment of Lida and Sašo made them resurrect from the dead.

One can find a true icon of resurrection in Vietnam too. In Vung Tau, discover Vietnamese Jesus!

In the end, I was carrying only one Vietnamese walking stick over the border.

When the machine issuing baggage tags asked me questions, I lied that I did not have any fragile or perishable items in my bag and proceeded to the check-in.

Four flights away (Zagreb to Istanbul, Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc), and 1of2 and I successfully and without trouble landed at our destination.

If you're embarking on a farewell journey after the cremation of your best animal friend, you'll want to read these tips for traveling with pet ashes!

Floating away into the sunset of Phu Quoc

I chose Ong Lang Beach, one of the nicest and strangely less popular among the tourists on the island (which made our separation a private matter), and waited for the sunset. I wore my black swimming trunks for the occasion.

After folding my boarding pass into the shape of a boat, I put 1of2’s remains in this paper ark, and let her float away in the peaceful seas of the Gulf of Thailand. The waves slowly brought her away from Vietnam shores.

From the tear-shaped island of Phu Quoc, bon voyage, my little friend! Tam biet!

For the video of our farewell, as well as other videos mapping extraordinary people, places and passions, visit and follow Pipeaway’s Youtube channel.

You don’t have a Vietnamese walking stick, but still want to visit the paradise?
Check these hot deals at Phu Quoc Island!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, Pipeaway might make a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our work!

The post Vietnamese Walking Stick’s Last Boarding Pass: Funeral in Paradise appeared first on Pipeaway.

In The Laban hotel everything still smells of new. It is not odd! The establishment opened in late October 2016! Even if every such property shooting high (and Laban certainly does want to offer a vision of a different Saigon) needs the time to harmonize its business to start running entirely smooth, this place seems to know its way, and that, in these crazy running-for-quick-profit times, is already a hint of sanity.

Laban’s philosophy is that we should not race with time

Laban teaches us that time is relative anyway! The hotel’s philosophy is that we should not race with the clock, but focus on the direction we are taking, and on the question of why do we need to get there. Hence the name of this property is the Vietnamese word for ‘compass.’ Paintings of the world map cover its walls, with a simple, yet thought-provoking message “Live your Life by a Compass, not a Clock”.

The material used for these paintings are planks, which are applied throughout the artsy building, becoming Laban’s signature “wallpaper”. The wood provides the feeling of a warm and cozy environment, with bright rooms (‘laban’ also means ‘white’ in Hebrew), and tastefully incorporated vivid colors. Stylish interior design and pure lines of the furniture and decoration, such as pillows or paintings, are introduced by Lê Giang Nam, The Laban hotel’s owner.

If you are looking for an interesting day trip from Ho Chi Minh City, consider discovering the Vietnamese Jesus in Vung Tau!

Location, location, location

The Laban’s location is in the lively area of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1. It almost cannot get more central than this! The financial axis of Vietnam is situated here, and the focal point for anyone inclined to the shopping frenzy. Major historical and touristic sights, such as Reunification Palace or War Remnants Museum, but also Ben Thanh Market, the place to try the local street food, or entertainment/nightlife facilities are within your walking distance.

Besides the proximity to the main city attractions, the hotel is also at a convenient distance from Tan Son Nhat international airport. Seven kilometers away, the taxi ride will cost you a bit more than 120.000 Vietnamese Dong (5 Euros). However, if you wish to save money as soon as you arrive, I strongly suggest buying the Vietnamese SIM card (3 GB of internet traffic are available at a ridiculously low price of 290.000 Dong – 12 Euros), and then installing Grab, the Asian version of Uber. From the airport to Laban, the Grab ride with a motorbike will cost you only 33.000 Dong (a bit more than 1 Euro!), while GrabCar will take you there for 75.000 Dong (3 Euros).

The Laban hotel – an oasis in the orgy of noise

Staying in central Saigon has its downsides. The constant honking of cars and motorbikes turns its streets into a nightmarish noise-scape that you will hardly escape anywhere in Vietnam, to be honest. Your ride from the airport might provide you with your first cultural shock, but get used to it! Honking is a way of communicating here and, simply put, the Vietnamese love to communicate. A lot! As if vaccinated for stress caused by the sirens orgy, Vietnamese are adapted quite well, and arguing between the drivers is really not prevalent. To be fair, Laban is not completely soundproof. But the location in the Bui Thi Xuan, which is essentially a side street to Cach Mang Thang Tam, a much livelier city artery, means that your primary sound disturbance might not be constant honking, but the street vendors who are using loudspeakers to sell their goods, even until midnight.

If we put this unavoidable price on the side, The Laban hotel does offer some peace in the middle of the traffic jungle. The vegetation covering its facade, fresh flowers distributed daily on the tables of The Laban Cafe, discrete lighting bulbs floating in cotton clouds, and the plan to open a garden on the hotel’s roof, show the attention to details in designing this urban oasis for travelers.

The Laban does not treat the dormitory room guests like a lower class

Hotel feeling for everyone

Whether you stay in the penthouse, quadruple en-suite room or the dormitory (floors are elevator-served), beds are comfortable and good-sized. In the dorm, bunk beds come with the curtain providing privacy, while each guest also gets a locker under his/her bed. This most economical version also includes sockets for charging your electronic devices and a night lamp, while two shared and spacy bathrooms are at disposal for 16 dorm guests. The Laban does not treat them like a lower class – free towels, toothbrushes, combs and cotton buds are included in the offer, providing that basic hotel feeling, which many soapless hostels and guesthouses in Vietnam lack. All rooms come with charming balconies or terraces, but also they are air-conditioned, which is a true benefit after exploring the city under the tropical sun.

Free and satisfactorily strong wifi is available throughout the hotel, which gives you the freedom to access it from your bed, but also the opportunity to engage in working on your laptop in a pleasant lounge/café area at the mezzanine floor, with a fair distribution of electrical sockets. This floor also offers musical instruments such as keyboards and a guitar, some basic games and books, for your entertainment purposes.

Mouthwatering blends

Besides the egg coffee (essentially, black Vietnamese coffee with egg cream and cacao powder), the coffee shop of The Laban hotel also offers delicious homemade smoothies and healthy drinks with the original signature. Personally, I have tried and highly recommend the Rice-Field (blended yogurt, brown rice, and fermented rice), Yofu Pandan (a smoothie made of yogurt, tofu, and homemade pandan syrup), Coko Tiki (coconut ice-cream, coconut cream, homemade corn syrup, and lime) and guava & raspberry sparkling tea. To be fair, if I had stayed longer, I would have probably also tried (and have a hard time not recommending) the other smoothies, juices, and teas in the offer, coming in the range between 29.000 and 45.000 Dongs (1-2 Euros). The bar also makes cocktails if you want more “juice” in your sip.

Laban’s young staff made their best efforts to communicate with me in English, even if this is not a standard provision at accommodation receptions in Vietnam. Although their fluency was not perfect, I was positively surprised when I witnessed one member of the staff receiving private English lessons in the café area two times during my 4-day stay. That is truly commendable!

With the friendly approach to guests, its urban interior, and laid-back vibe, this boutique hotel in central Saigon provides an exceptionally pleasant stay to its visitors. The rumor has it that more Labans will be opening in the near future, which means that you will have the opportunity to explore even other Vietnamese towns with this compass-hotel providing you the opportunity to leave your clock at home.

Disclosure: My stay at The Laban was complimentary, but all opinions are my own. 

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