Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai temple

We went on a full day tour to Cu Chi tunnels and Cao Dai temple. The baby sitter came to watch Kyna and Eastin. It would have been too long of a day and too hot.

Luckily, we had our same tour guide as the other day, Dundee. The first stop after an 1 1/2 van ride over very bumpy roads was Cu Chi tunnels. I am so glad that we did this trip. The tunnels stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border and are three levels deep. The remaining tunnels are visited by 1,000 tourists a day. Not sure if I can down load any pictures of this trip. HUGE mistake, we left our camera battery charging at the hotel. We'll get pics from Debra later. Plus, we used the still shot on our video camera. Just not sure how good the resolution will be.

The tunnels are so tiny. I wear a size 8 1/2 shoe and my foot was the size of the short side of the rectangular trap door opening. They had a few tunnels for tourists to try. A tourist from Spain went through the tiny one. He came out dirty and sweaty from literally pulling himself through. We tried one that you had to hunch all the way over in a low crouch. Matt stayed on the ground. I wasn't sure about going, but Dundee kept encouraging. The guide went first, then Debra, then Viet, and then me. It didn't take me but a few seconds and I backed out. A Chinese tour group was behind me. I had to crawl back out before they could start. I'm not claustrophobic but feel I could have become in that situation. Debra said that while down there she wanted to scoot out backwards too, but the tour guide said it was shorter just to go forward. It was 30 meters long and it still can get to you. I cannot imagine living there for months.

We also witnessed the horrific types of traps that were used and saw many different rooms like the hospital, meeting room, dining hall. We saw a US tank that was hit by a land mine. There were ladies sewing the uniforms like they used to. There was a guy making shoes from rubber tires like they did during the war.

Next after an 1 1/2 hr drive we ended up in Tay Ninh, a southern province near the Cambodian border. It is home to the Cao Dai sect. We visited the temple right when one of the worshiping times were. They gather 4 times a day, 6am, 6pm, 12 am, 12pm. They are all wearing white except for the monks who are in bright colored robes. The women on kneeling on one side and the men on one side. In the balcony were several men playing instruments and a group of 8 women singing. The music was very rhythmic and sounded like they had microphones but it was just the way the building was built. One of the instruments was a Vietnamese violin which only has one string. There is no good way to describe the building. It was extremely colorful and ornate to the point of gaudiness. Hope to post pictures soon.

We took our shoes off before entering and tourist are allowed on a narrow balcony surrounding the lower floor. There is more than a temple at this place; there is a whole gated community. Their patron saints include Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo and Winston Churchill.

Next we were driven a short distance to lunch. I was a bit worried as the van dropped us off and we followed Dundee down an alley way. I wondered where we would be eating and what.
Luckily, tucked behind a gate was a clean linen table clothed restaurant. There were a few other tourists there, also. The meal was included in our tour. We did not order since the meal was prearranged. They kept bringing out more and more food. It was all good. Started off with a clear broth soup with meat and veggies. Then a deep fried battered shrimp. Next a huge plate of fried noodles. After that a beef dish along with a dish of stir fry veggies accompanied by 4 large baguettes of bread. Another meat dish was served followed by dessert which was a plate of bananas. The bananas here look like baby bananas. The skin is thin. It is the sweetest banana ever. It really tastes like a piece of candy.

We then enjoyed/ endured a 2 1/2 hour drive back to Saigon. We saw the workers in the rice patty fields. The farmers still use mostly water buffalo to farm. One buffalo costs 200 US money. The rich farmers, which we saw a few, own a tractor that costs 3,000 US. We saw huge areas of rubber trees planted in perfectly straight rows. We saw tapioca trees, a few corn fields, and lots of people loaded down with watermelon.

Unfortunately, we saw a horrible accident. Someone was killed by a truck. Not sure what happened, but the poor young man's body was still lying in the street with a crowd of people around as we drove by.

I am amazed that more people aren't killed. There are no rules here. People drive in and around, turning in front of one another, driving within in 12-16 inches from one another. Most people ride scooters or motorcycles, sometimes carrying up to 4 people. The only rules seem to be the bigger the vehicle the more control over the road. Also, there is a system of blowing of the horns. It isn't angry horn blowing, more like a warning--here i come, move over. The horn blowing can be heard all the time. We are on the 24th floor and I can hear it as I type this.

Finally, we arrived back at the hotel. We were hot, tired, and sore from the long ride. The babies did wonderfully. The baby sitter and I played charades for awhile. She said how easy going Kyna was, how smiley both babies are, what stinky diapers Eastin has, and that Kyna and I have the same eyes.

Tomorrow is Friday, our last day in HCMC. Saturday we fly to Hanoi. Not sure when our appointment is yet in Hanoi. We are going to the market tomorrow. It'll be nice to go at our own pace and look around a lot more. I want to get lots of pictures tomorrow also. This really is a photographers dream. So, many great shots. The frustrating part is I see all of this from a van window. Tomorrow we will be on the street, so I want to get a lot of pictures of the people living and working.