From the serious to the ridculous

Just to be different I started my day with a Pho.  Light tasty and surprisingly sustaining and I figured I would need it.

Eager to go and see the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh I booked a day long tour.  Always one to avoid the tourists and the tours there are just some things I cannot tackle with the help of someone that knows where they are going.  As well as going to the Great Cao Dai Holy See, a place of pilgrimage for followers of the Cao Dai religion, common in South Vietnam the tour would also take in the Cu Chi Tunnels, where thousands of guerillas sought shelter during the Vietnam War.

Shortly after being collected by a mini bus, complete with driver of unpronounceable name and guide, again, with unpronounceable name shortened to Philip we collect the other eight passengers and head off for a two hour drive north west through the outskirts of the city and through very verdant but otherwise un remarkable countryside.  The things that struck me the most along the drive were firstly the very narrow tall buildings and then the huge wads of cables strung between the lampposts.

On the way we stop at the usual factory shop deal, where you see peopel making a product which you can later buy at ridiculously inflated prices.  This time we watched the process of the inlaying of crushed eggshells, or pieces of mother of pearl, onto wooden tablets which are then glazed and laquered.  Absolutely stunning and precise laborious work undertaken by talented people that get paid peanuts, but then I suppose they have a job.  My usual dilemma; do I buy to support the workers, but then do I really or do I just make a rich person richer. Anyway this trip, no shopping, no room in suitcase and I am definitely not lugging shopping round for three months.  Move on.

After a long drive we arrive in Tay Ninh and go straight to the Temple, the head of the Cao Dai religion. Cao Dai is a relatively modern religion, practiced throughout the world but predominantly in South Vietnam and includes elements of a number of religions but primarily Buddism, Taoism and Confuscism.  We arrive in time for the noon prayers and are ushered to the top floor of the temple, a garish, over decorated, huge ugly building.  The pilgrims slowly file in, outsiders dressed in white and those who are part of the temple in yellow, red or blue. Spectacular to see with beautiful haunting music playing in the background. Sadly we only had a few minutes here before we were whisked away.

Here I should make mention of the fact that our guide was a 25 year old unmarried young man who spoke poor english very quickly and was desperate to find a honey and get married.  Poor Philip frustrated all of us, provided an unintelligible commentary but also,provided the amusement for the day. We all laughed till our sides hurt at his expense.  If it wasn't over his constant reference to the honey he was looking for, it was because we were trying, between us, to piece together the bits of his narrative we understood so we could make sense of it all.  Thank you Philip, it is a long time since I have laughed that much.

From the temple we stop at a wee tourist restaurant for a very uninspiring meal, but for $4 what can you expect.

We drive on and eventually arrive in Ben Dinh for our visit to the tunnels.  We do the circuit of the area with Philip doing his best to explain the intricacies of the tunnels to us.
Wiki tells us that:
"Cu Chi is about 40 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam. TheC u Chi Tunnels are an elaborate underground community made up of 250 km of tunnels and chambers below the city.

Understand

The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the French occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the Vietnam War in the 1960s to provide refuge and a defensive advantage over the American soldiers. Despite all the bombings in their town, the Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, ate, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Some even wed and gave birth underground, but over 10,000 lost their lives here."

Truly inspiring and again beyond comprehension for this kiwi who has barely come close to any form of conflict.  We all the opportunity to venture into the tunnels (I didn't) and to enter into some of the traps that were set up to capture and/or deter the enemy.

Our sobering experience over we hit the road again.  This time in rush hour traffic just as it was getting dark. The road chaos seemed even worse in the darkness but we eventually arrive back at District 1 and the LanLan1.  

I bid my goodbyes, step out of the van and the heavens opened up.  Bucketing down.  Still I was determined to venture out for a meal so quickly arming myself with rain jacket and jandals I head off down the road to the night markets, right where the day markets were and pretty much the same junk that is available during the day.  Touted as tourist markets I was surprised to see how few tourists there are around in comparison to similar type markets in other countries. Hopefully the tourist hoardes don't start ruining this country like they have many others.

Far from a tourist stall I end up eating at Bon Hue, one of local a chain. It was full of local people, clean, cheap and my meal was divine.  The young waiter showed me how to roll the BBQ pork with the accompaniments into a half sized rice paper wrapper (unsoaked and crunchy). Ever so yum.  By the time I had finished my meal the rain had stopped so I enjoyed a long stroll round the market and made my way to my haven at LanLan1.

A lovely day filled with hilarity, the reality of war, the craziness or religion and again with good food.