We had paid $1usd more for Sinh Cafe to pick us up from our hotel at 7.45am for our 1 day Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnel tour. Had our hotel breakfast (for once) and went out to look for the bus at erm, 7.50? Asked around and realized they had left. The very helpful concierge advised us to go down to Sinh Cafe to catch the bus. Kinda duh, but it would have been horrible if we really missed it for good. Anyway the hotel breakfast was damn good. I mean, they served their yoghurt in cute little jars!!! If only we had enough time to enjoy it leisurely.
Rushed down to Sinh Cafe and thank goodness, the bus was still waiting there. Woohoo!
Our guide, Fook. Ah, same as pb's name. Haha.
Ready, get set..
Fook told us that the average China-made bike cost about $400usd whereas Japanese bikes could cost a couple of 1000. We were alarmed to hear that an average sedan costs $30k usd. That's the same as a Singapore car.. No wonder there weren't a lot of them on the road.
Fook gave us a choice to use a gas station's washroom, or at a factory's washroom which is cleaner. Er.. why bother giving us a choice at all? I suppose it's like, our own fault for walking into a tourist trap cos we chose to. Vietnam is famous for its lacquer ware. The craft factory is run by handicapped people.. There are lots of people who were born deformed after their parents were exposed to harmful herbicides/chemicals in the Vietnam War.
There are many eggshell/seashell/mother of pearl paintings. All painstakingly handmade.
It's amazing, seeing them saw these little shapes freehand, with a little rusty saw. Actually it's a bit like those malays who saw those little acrylic names at pasar malams.
pretty sales people in ao dais asking if you need help.
The stuff were damn expensive but pretty. We bought this eggshell painting for $24usd (it's actually not v big, A4) and later found it being sold at other markets for er, $5 before haggling.
Reached the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh Province. Cao Daism combines many religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism (though the guide said 'Confusion'), Taoism and Christianity, and also Hinduism and Islam.
Their symbol is the left eye, cos it's closer to the heart. We tried taking a photo with this and ourselves in it but were chided by the followers there. =(
Sun Yat Sen, Victor Hugo, and a vietnamese Nguyen guy are considered saints in Cao Daism. Others include Joan of Arc, Lenin and Shakespeare.. (??)
We were in time for the noon prayers. Ha, took a photo with me AND the altar. A follower behind us shook her finger at us at first when pb pointed the camera at me. When pb smiled at her and pleaded with her with his finger, 'just one?' she then allowed us to go ahead. Wow, you can even bargain when it comes to taking photos.
not very clear, but there's Jesus in red..
The ceilings are very pretty, with little silver stars. The different colors red, yellow, blue represent the different religion subsets.
i thought their 'hat cupboard' was cute.
lunch time!! love love vietnamese food. chicken pho here.
After another couple of hours, we reached the Cu Chi tunnels.. Were seated in a little classroom to watch a black and white film.
Fook's favorite hideout
deadly trap.. there are sharpened bamboo poles sticking out below.
The openings to the tunnels have little steps for the Viet Cong soldiers to climb in.
this is a very wide tunnel entrance.. allows easy access for big sized ang mohs who are trying to find the VC soldiers. Turned out that it was laden with traps which have been removed cos some tourists come here on their own to explore the area.
discussing strategies with a VC soldier. Notice her rubber sandals, they are made from rubber tyres. And the bottom of the sandals are carved (for grip) in a symmetric way that when a VC soldier walks, you can't tell which way he's going. How to recognize a VC soldier? By the sandal tan lines on his feet.
traps that send a shiver down your spine
this door trap was placed in the doors of the residents. It's swung towards unwanted guests.. And even if you manage to stop the top bar, the bottom swings towards you, and oops, 'no more children!' says Fook.
trying out the AK47. 1usd per bullet, min purchase of 10 bullets. Kinda like an arcade game! I didn't really know what I was doing, just that it was really deafening.. the laopok earphones thingies didn't work at all, in fact i suspect they made it worse cos the sound kinda echoes within it. but it was fun, even though i dun really know what i shot.. haha.
down the tunnels we go! The original tunnels were 80cm by 60cm but these are made larger for angmohs and people like me.. 120cm by 80 cm. I was totally shagged out halfway through the larger tunnels so I said NO WAY when we reached the original tunnels. Brave pb went ahead into the original tunnel! Along with some auntie and her daughter (ha, i feel so ashamed)
after duck walking for the tunnels, we couldn't walk properly for the next 2 days.
sweating like an idiot and eating tapioca and tea. i wore a long sleeve shirt cos going to temple mah, must show some respect.. not a very wise choice for the tunnels though.
i dont like.
this guy quite handsome
scorpion.
It was a fun day crawling amidst the tunnels. It's true how they managed to turn a war scene into an amusement park. We took the bus back to the Sinh Cafe and met KJ and Mabel there for dinner.
backpacker district
ate at the same place again (same food haha) but it didn't taste as good. Sian. We were quite amused when the lady (boss?) said, 'thank you, see you tomorrow', assuming we would go everyday?!
After dinner, we went over to Ben Thanh Market by cab (actually around the corner only but wth). Turned out that the market was closed already haha but there's a night market next to it selling boring stuff and our eggshell painting very cheaply.. So we just walked around a bit, and went back to zzz.
Some interesting observations of Sheraton Saigon.
After dinner, we went over to Ben Thanh Market by cab (actually around the corner only but wth). Turned out that the market was closed already haha but there's a night market next to it selling boring stuff and our eggshell painting very cheaply.. So we just walked around a bit, and went back to zzz.
Some interesting observations of Sheraton Saigon.
the shower, has a mid height jets.. it was quite difficult to adjust the warmth and 'power' of both the jet on top, as well as the two from the sides.. i typically took 10 min to do the adjustment, wasting a lot of water in the process. After which it just gets too confusing cos there's water everywhere.. i ended up using only the top from the 2nd day.
their ash trays on top of their dustbins have sand that are molded in the shape of the logo. DAMN nice lah! the cleaners actually go around shaping the sand. haha.
