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hectares of rice fields, dozens of houses
in Bac Lieu and many luxurious villas in
the big cities of Can Tho, Saigon, Vung
Tau and Dalat.
Cong Tu Bac Lieu was known by
everyone in the province for the way
he spent money on gambling, women
and all the fineries he could get his
hands on. There is a story about the
young playboy burning money to boil
an egg while competing with another
wealthy man for the attention of a
beautiful lady.
In his three years in Paris, the Vi-
etnamese playboy fell in love with five
French girls and numerous locals. In
his hometown he married four women
while still carrying on with many others.
Only seven children were officially giv-
en his family name, but he is thought to
have fathered many, many more.
However, after Cong Tu Bac Lieu
died in 1973, he left nothing but debts
behind. The family had to sell their
house and assets to pay the banks.
One of his children is now 62 years old
and works as a motorbike taxi driver
in Ho Chi Minh City. That is how their
house in Bac Lieu became the Cong Tu
Bac Lieu Hotel today.
For nearly a century, the house was
kept in its original form. In 2003 Bac
Lieu Tourism Company invested in up-
grading the house and made it a hotel
and cultural-tourist site.
As soon as I enter the luxurious villa
I feel dizzy due to the ancient and pre-
cious objects and the interior and furni-
ture. The lobby is impressive with a big,
ancient wood partition inlaid with pearl
shells depicting the beauty of four sea-
sons and a large turning table carved
with three dragons.
Stepping to the living room, I see
various examples of traditional Viet-
namese wood furniture. There are also
many Western items, including an an-
cient gramophone.
Due to pillaging and carelessness
many household utensils have disap-
peared. But from those remaining we
can imagine vividly the former luxuri-
ous life of the Dude.
Upstairs I visit the bedrooms; their
luxurious, expensive carved wood furni-
ture reveals a lavish lifestyle.
The ancestral altar draws my atten-
tion with its two statues of Tran Trinh
Trach and his wife created by a famous
Swiss artist alongside a set of bronze
incense burners.
Besides the original design of the
ancient house and various precious
antiques, visitors can view luxurious
vehicles including a Peugeot car from
1922 and a wooden rickshaw. What is
not on display is the private plane that
was one of only two made – the other
was owned by Vietnam’s last emperor,
Bao Dai. However, the aircraft can be
viewed at the Vietnam Air Force mu-
seum in Hanoi.
The house is located at
13 Dien Bien Phu street, Ward 3,
Bac Lieu City, 100km south of Can Tho
in the Mekong Delta.
Visitors admire the dude’s car
A grand four poster bed in the master bedroom
The main living room with its fine furnishings