HO TRAM – VIETNAM’S ANSWER TO LAS VEGAS

HEADING TO HO TRAM

After three nights in Vung Tau we were heading to Ho Tram, the next town along the coast line.

This was another place not familiar with backpackers, but one of the reasons I wanted to visit this town was that it boasted a massive, Vegas-style casino.

During the time in Vung Tau, I’d checked out a casino there, but was disappointed as they only offered slots and virtual roulette. I was keen for some Blackjack.

Travelling in style we tried to get an Uber ride to Ho Tram. I booked one, but after several minutes it cancelled on us – presumably realising the distance and the ridiculously low prices on Uber taxis in Vietnam.

A few minutes later I managed to hook another Uber driver with a quote of roughly £12 for a 56km ride. Winning.

The taxi driver turned up, but only then he realised what he’d signed himself up for. He tried reasoning with us and saying that he could only go 45km maximum and that it wasn’t worth his time. After a couple of minutes of me playing dumb and acting like I didn’t understand him, he reluctantly agreed.

We were on our way.

MOTEL LIFE

After around an hour, we arrived at our motel – the Phuong Tu motel:

It was nothing special, but it was close to the beach and did the job. Holly was very excited, as it was her first stay in a motel.

After checking in, we headed over the road and to the nearby beach.

HO TRAM BEACH

The walk from the motel to the beach, was past a few small restaurants and it became clear almost immediately that this wasn’t a place where they would typically expect tourists.

No signage in English, no Westerners and a distinct lack of English speakers. It’s always great to see the country in its natural state, without this influence though, so I was looking forward to seeing the rest of the beach area.

We reached the beach and noticed fishing boats everywhere and stalls selling all varieties of seafood. The locals seemed genuinely surprised to see Western tourists and were quick to jump on us and try and sell us whatever they had to offer. We politely declined and walked on through, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the area.

Heading further up the beach led us to a more tranquil and picturesque beach area.

We walked for miles along the shoreline with our feet in the sea, until we reached some large rock structures at the end. The beach was gorgeous and I’m surprised it’s not visited by more tourists to be honest. Certainly worth a stop off if you’re doing the coastal route. We walked back along the beach and back to the motel until the sunset.

Here’s a few snaps from the beach:

HITTING THE CASINO

That evening we headed out to hit the all important Ho Tram MGM Grand Casino.

We walked from the motel down the darkened main road, with traffic blazing past us and stopped at the Carmelina Beach Resort for dinner.

This place was deserted. We were taken in a golf buggy down to the restaurant, which was situated near the beachfront.

This was a beautiful resort, but there was absolutely no one here. It was almost eerie.

We were seated outside and were tended to by around 10 staff. They had no one else to serve, so they were overly attentive. The restaurant could probably seat around 200 people, but tonight it was just the two of us!

We had a great meal and then headed on towards the casino. The staff told us that it was quicker to walk along the beach, so we headed that way.

We passed a small beach bar, which summed up the isolation.

The beach was also totally deserted and we walked a mile or so in the dark along it. Again the solitude was really eerie, for what was a gorgeous beachside town.

It seemed to take forever, but we were getting closer to the casino and it loomed large on the horizon:

Entering from the beachfront it didn’t seem clear how to enter the casino and the resort itself was massive. We walked around to the left side and found it to be again, totally deserted.

Not wanting to give up hope, we walked around to the other side of the resort and after several minutes of walking we found what we thought must be the entrance, after trying many doors unsuccessfully.

We wandered up the steps, drenched in sweat and entered into a huge vegas-style casino lobby.

We found the entrance to the casino floor and went to walk in, but the staff demanded that we show them a passport to be granted entry. We’d left our passports with the motel owner and there was no way they were letting us in without them.

Determined to get into the casino I hopped in a taxi which took me back to the motel to pick up the passports and then returned swiftly to the casino.

Bingo. We were in.

I had a plan in my mind of betting 5,000,000 Dong, with a view of turning it into 10,000,000. This sounds like a lot, but 5m is just under £200.

I’d imagined being able to bet in millions, but all of the games were in USD. I walked to the cashier and changed up 5,000,000 for $215 and off I went to the Blackjack tables.

After a few hours, a few free beers and many ups and downs, I achieved my goal exactly. I was up to $430. I cashed in and we left in a taxi back to the motel.

LEAVING HO TRAM

We only spent one night in Ho Tram, as there wasn’t much to see here, from a tourism perspective, but it proved to be an interesting and memorable stop off.

I’ll definitely remember the eery quietness of the town and the beauty of the beach.

I’d definitely recommend it as a quick stop off while heading further along the coast.

We were leaving to La Gi next. Another stop not famous for its backpacker culture. Read on….