Grey Hound Racing and Seafood in Vietnam (Vung Tau) on 17 Jan 2010

With some time to spare in the late afternoon, we caught a ferry to Vung Tau. Apparently, it is wise to buy the tickets from Vina Express in advance (the last ferry from Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau is at 4.30pm) because we saw some unfortunate souls who were unable to buy their tickets. Luckily, we had asked the concierge at our hotel, Park Hyatt, to call Vina Express to reserve the tickets for us. Each ticket has a seat number (the seats on the boat are numbered too) so one is assured of a seat on board and a complimentary bottle of water and wet napkin. The journey from Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau by ferry is one and a half hours. There is a television on board but unless you understand Vietnamese, there is pretty nothing much else to do or even see on board because the windows are dirty. The only way to get a view would be to stand outside the cabin of the very long ferry but the wind is awfully strong and the view, nothing to shout about. Do note though that each ferry departs on the dot (they don't wait for all late-comers) and the seats are narrow and set very close to each other. The price of a one way ticket is 160,000VND for an adult.

Vung Tau is popular amongst the locals for its beaches. This is a picture I took of one of Vung Tau's beaches from the 9th floor of a Dic Star Hotel. The color of the sea is a dull light grey and the beaches are not made powdery white but a dull shade. Nothing like the beaches of the Tungku Abdul Rahman Marine Park's islands. There weren't any tourists sunbathing at any of the deckchairs put out near the beaches but there were many locals playing ball games on the beaches or dipping in the sea. I didn't see any lifeguards on duty so I guess it is a case of swim-at-your-own-peril. The sea water is rather dirty because right after I got out, my legs started itching. I never had that happen before.

We had dinner at this seafood restaurant on Vung Tau which is immensely popular with indoor and outdooor seaside dining (although you can see only the inky darkness of the sea in the night). The restaurant is rather large indeed and despite most tables being filled, we had no problems at all getting a table and being served quickly.


There were various types of live seafood kept in ponds in the restaurant such as lobster, fish and crabs. I would have liked to order more (and I mean, much more) food that night but as I was a guest, I had no say in what was ordered at all. Here are some of the items that I got to try: boiled prawns (the waitress brought the live prawns to our table for us to inspect first), white clams (these were really good), crab done in chilli (bottom right pic) and pieces of fish in a mixture of salty gravy in a claypot. The Slog Reviews: 8.5/10. Everything was so fresh, so cheap and cooked just right. The white clams and fish dishes especially are unique dishes (I have never had these dishes cooked this way in Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand) which I think are worth a try if you are in Vietnam.

We also had this vegetable dish which I'd never eaten before - pumpkin leaves. I didn't really like the soggy wet taste of the bud but the stems were okay. Wouldn't recommend this dish if one isn't a vegetable-lover.

After dinner, we took a cab to the greyhound racing track, which is the only race course for greyhounds in Vietnam. The track is located at 15 Le Loi Street and the entrance fee for any one over 10 years of age is 25,000 VND for grandstand tickets and 55,000 VND for VIP tickets. From what I understand, there are 12 races every Saturday night starting from 7.15pm until 10.30pm.

Right after we walked through the gate (per the above picture), we saw a dog handler with one of the hounds. He let us take photos of the hound and even with the hound (one needs to hold tight to the collar though) free of charge (he refused to take any tips). The hound as you can see, has a steel muzzle over its mouth so I think children should be fairly safe around the hound.

Here is a picture of the grandstand (which was filled but not packed) and the dog handlers bringing the hounds out onto the track before the race.

Below is a picture of the same scene (dog handlers taking the hounds out before a race) from a different angle. Under blue sign are the numbered pens from which each hound will start the race from. There are different colors for each number on the door of each pen and the hounds will be dressed in the respective colors and numbers from the door they will burst out from.

The dog handlers must be pretty used to having their photos taken together with the hounds because I, like everyone else, was jostling to get a good shot of them with the hounds. In fact, I would advise that one should take a chance to observe each dog before the race when it is brought out, especially if one is intent on betting. One can observe which dog looks tired, drags its legs, acts disinterested or is particularly alert (trotting along, looking very keenly ahead and not distracted by the crowd) before one goes to the counter and places one's bet.

I tried to get a really good picture of the dogs bursting out of their pens at the start of the race but this was the best I could do with my point-and-shoot canon powershot. The race starts with a fake noisy super-fast hare-like contraception making one/half round around the inner-track railings and as it passes the pens, the pen doors open and the hounds rush out chasing after the contraception.

My view is that dogs, much less hounds, aren't that dumb to be fooled again and again by a "fake metal with a red bit of cloth contraception" and the hounds have probaby wisened up a long time ago to the fact that what they are chasing isn't the least bit alive. They probably are running their hearts out to emerge the winner - dogs can get competitive too, no? And below, is one of 'em hounds bounding past the crowd (note the rails on the inner track)...I so need a better camera :)