Heading down the seaside streets of Ha Long and Tran Phu in Vung Tau, in the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, a white villa can be seen in a nearby forest.

Passing by Nui Lon (Big Mountain), visitors will see Bach Dinh (the White Villa) emerge through the trees.

Bach Dinh is situated on a six-hectare plot with trees, ornamental plants and flowers. It is approximately 30 m above sea level, 28 m long, 15 m wide and stands 19 m tall. There are two entrance points, one along a curvy road and one paved with blue stones. Stepping into the area gives the feeling of walking into a deep, mystical forest.

In the old days, Nui Lon was an important strategic location for military experts. A fortress called Phuoc Thang was built here in 1788 during the Nguyen dynasty to control the sea. Gunshots from the fortress destroyed many French warships in 1859 as they passed by Vung Tau on their way to attack Saigon-Gia Dinh.

Today, rock cannons are still preserved as relics of the former fortress.

In 1898, the French governor of Indochina Paul Doumer, who later became France's president until his assassination in 1931, had a villa built on the mountain at the site of the former fortress. He named the villa after his daughter, Villa Blanche, or "White Villa" and had the three-story building painted a pale hue.

Visitors to Bach Dinh can also enter a museum with a large number of ancient Chinese ceramics excavated from a shipwreck off the shore of Vung Tau and there are great panoramic views of the city and sea from the balcony on the third floor.

Thanks to its beauty and peaceful forest setting, Bach Dinh has become a favourite place for many Vung Tau residents and tourists to escape to.

This article appeared on www.thanhniennews.com

May 20, 2008

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