Vung Tau – A City of Layers, Vung Tau, Vietnam

I’m sitting on a beach gazing out over a small island. A light drizzle is falling around me, but I’m not sure whether it’s the rain, or seaspray coming off the ocean. In front of me, next to the island, a huddle of boats are stationed in the water, while a lone boatman fights against the waves to row his small timber boat out to meet them. But I’m not here to see them.

I’m here, with my sister Julie, to try and get a glimpse of Mieu Ba Temple, a small temple in the middle of Hon Ba island. We’re in Vung Tau, Vietnam, for two nights for the magazine that I’m guest editing for a month. Here to check out the major sites and write an article on the city. And this temple is not your usual temple.

Mieu Ba Temple – often referred to as Lady Temple -on Hon Ba Island in Vung Tau. Sadly the tide was in so there was no way to get across.

The Main Beach in Vung Tau, Vietnam. Somehow we were expecting the beach to be a little busier than this…

Sometimes referred to as Lady Temple, the temple was built by fishermen in honour of the Goddess of the Sea. You can only access the temple when the tide is out, revealing a rocky path to cross to the island, so make sure you check with your hotel when the best time to visit is. Sadly we missed the crossing – it was early, apparently, very early – and there are no boats on the shore to take us to the island, so our views are limited to watching and imagining from the mainland. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).