Flirting not Floating. Unusual religion and the CuChi Tunnels.

---

Today was quite exhausting, as last night turned into a ridiculous affair going until about 4am. I had to be up this morning at 7 to get ready for my 8am pickup for4 the tour I booked through the hotel, but I overslept 2 wake-up calls and it wasn't until the guide/bus arrived and they began calling me non-stop that I finally awoke.

I went back to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet up with Tim and we jumped in a cab (after 1.5 froufrou drinks) and went to the soft opening of his friends bar. It has a real homey feel, and lots of steps as an added sobriety checker. It's owned by a Japanese couple (I think) and will be managed by a French guy. Seems like it's gonna be a big expat hangout, so if you're ever in Saigon and looking to meet some folks from that crowd, definitely check the place out (I can't remember the name, but I photographed the signs of everywhere we went expecting to forget).
We stayed long enough for me to meet many wonderful people and get a nice little alcohol buzz going. Got the recommendation of a good sushi place I'm hoping to go to tomorrow night for dinner that's owned by one of the Japanese guests from the party.

We left there with two young ladies from Kuala Lumpur and another guy who was not happy with the venue we went to next (I guess the place he wanted to go was really far away). We stayed for a beer at the next place, but it was pretty packed with no where to sit around the main A/C'd room with the music. So we left and went to what I've been told is the Saigon staple- Apocalypse Now. I guess most the expats avoid it like the plague, leaving it to the tourists. I was forced to check my bag beneath a sign reading: Not responsible for valuables. Lovely as I had all my money, camera, etc. inside. It was fine, but I sure was uncomfortable leaving it. We went upstairs and danced and had another round (not the Malaysian girls- they kept it at one drink or just water). The employees there (mostly rude and pushy( wear army style uniforms and the layout is pretty nice. Be prepared for a ridiculous wait for the girls room though. Me and another girl in line went outside and used a parking area when we couldn't wait for the 15+ girls ahead of us. Anyways... Not long after that little adventure, people started getting tired and me and Tim headed to another bar (Go2) not far away and walking distance to my hotel. We had a beer and chatted, people watched, we bombarded by salespeople with everything from fans to food, to 8 year old little boys selling cigarettes. He got us some quail eggs when I started feeling peckish and wanting to try something local (I'm braver about what I eat after several drinks). A street vendor sold the eggs in a packet of about 6 of them with some salt for dipping. Quite tasty, and I actually went looking for some a little while ago, with no luck.
Tim called it a night after one beer, but I moved to the bar for one more. Got to talking to an older American guy who said he was here in 'Nam way back and still tries to visit every year. He was heading to a bar down the street a bit and it sounded interesting enough, so I joined him. The crowd there was much more sociable and I quickly met other traveler's my age. Played a game of darts with a guy who is also heading to Moi Ne in a few days. We exchanged e-mails, so perhaps I can have company on the bus 😊 They have this cool open-bus-ticket system where you pick a package with the cities you want to go to, and you just bus from here to there and then stay as long as you want and then hop on a bus to the next place you want to go whenever you're ready. Really affordable too. I think I'm going to go that route from here to Moi Ne to Dalat to Nha Trang back to Hanoi.... or maybe I should train to Hanoi to save time... We shall see. Anyways, Colin, the guy I shot darts with walked me back to where my hotel was, which was incredibly kind as I realized I was idiot and had drank enough to make myself easily susceptible to being the victim of petty or other more serious crimes. Really an evening that could have gone anywhere were it not for the good people around me.

SO... that was last night's craziness. I feel too old for that sheeet. I used to not get hangovers and what not, but now I feel the drag the whole next day.

This morning I got ready in about 5 minutes by giving the teeth a hasty brush and throwing on yesterdays skirt with a clean tank top. Everything else I needed to get ready I just threw in my backpack to do en route. Forgot wet wipes to clean my face, but fortunately I remembered the biggest thing: sunscreen; so it all worked out in the end. Got glares from the guide as I ran into the lobby after descending three flights of stairs (elevator taking forever). Fortunately I was the first pick-up, so no one else on the tour realized I was the hold-up. It seemed like a nice group, met a Canadian girl missionary/English teacher working in Bangkok, two UK girls who just graduated from Glasgow Uni and are on their last break before entered the workforce, and a lady from Saigon who was incredibly interested in me for some reason; she was very kind and excellent company. We went to a temple or
church for this 'interesting religion' called CaoDai or CaoDaism. You can read a little about it here:

I don't know the details, and if the guide told us, I was sleeping through it. We had to leave our shoes outside (which always make me think a kid is gonna steal them to sell back to me at some awful price) and could only see very limited areas of the temple, who many temple workers or worshipers blocking the way to the tourists for the places we couldn't go. CaoDaism is supposed to be the third largest religion in Vietnam, but I doubt it will stay that way, as all the worshipers seemed to be over 65-70 years old. I saw one or two people under 50, but that was all. Anyways, even if it is a new religion to me, a temple is still a temple and I felt we spent too much time there (I was ready to eat!) . We were stopped there for 40 minutes. I was back on the bus after 15. We stopped somewhere simple and cheap for lunch. I was happy to try some more local food, as I've been eating a regrettable;e amount of western food here. Note to self and other traveler's: it's generally best to avoid the meat dishes in the countryside (this goes for China as well).

Anyways, after lunch with the girls I had just met, I finally became to 'come to' and pay attention (a little). And I quickly realized my guide was saying some off the wall things. Jokes, that sometimes you couldn't tell if were intended as a joke or not. He was a very funny, awkward, little man. I think all the best lines came out when we arrived at the CuChi tunnels, the network of underground tunnels made by the Viet Cong to elude the Americans. There were 100 meters where we could walk, and I had to come up after just 25 of them. They've been enlarged twice now to accommodate westerners and tourists, but you still much bend 90 degrees at the waste or squat and dick walk. I tried to jump to the front of the group so as not to feel so trapped by other people on either side of me, especially stopped to take pictures. I find being stuck adds greatly to feelings of claustrophobia, so I wanted to be moving as fast as I could. The first sign of an exit, I was out. The tunnels are really cool, but walking the whole length open to tourists is not for everyone (I don't think anyone in my group did more than 75 meters).

There's somewhere in the area where you can pay to shoot one of several guns, and the brochures they had there even showed paintball gunning on the premises somewhere. They had an M-16, and AK-47, and several other guns on display, but I'm not sure how many you can shoot. I know the two I mentioned you can, as I was very tempted to shoot the AK-47 (we got to shoot M-16s in boot camp). It's a little pricey though- in retrospect, not very. It was over $1USD per bullet and you had to buy at least 10. It woulda cost me maybe $20USD and I could have shot a gun I might never have the opportunity to fire again. So if you ever go and are tempted- go for it. Regret over such missed opportunities is far worse than a (possibly) frivolously spent $20.

Anyways, it was a really cool trip (I'd revisit CuChi but not the temple) and the drive provided nice napping opportunities. I think it cost $7USD, with free admission to the temple and I had to buy the ticket at CuChi for 75,000dong (about $5USD). I was very grateful my new friend Tim recommended the place and that I came. I would go again if I could. Really cool place to see.

---

Photos

shoes made from tires
in war time, you have to use everything

my new friends ;)
i'm such a nerd

Comments

[Dom]

Flirting not FLoating
Oh great post! I thought it's all plain flirting thing.