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Yet another 6am wake up call. With exciting things ahead of us, there are no complaints (from Thai) this early in the morning! We had to get ready for our tour to two very popular sites near Saigon. This was our first "free" day away from the family, and as much as we all love our families, it was time to explore the city on our own! We finally felt like travellers and all the excitement of discovering a city on your own, with just the Lonely Planet Bible (btw...bootleg copies of Lonely Planet books are available, and so cheap) and each other it was fun to finally set off on our own.
Our bus left at 8: 30am with our funny tour guide "Slim Jim". Full of Aussie slang, he made the US$7 trip very worthwhile! Yes, $7 for a full day tour, with transportation!
Our first stop was the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh. Cao Dai is a relatively new religion, that was established in 1926. It was very interesting to learn about the religion, it's people, and its beliefs. We saw a ceremony in progress and got to tour around the compound filled with temples,
shrines, etc. The religion is a mix of Catholicism, Budhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, etc. The temples are so intricate, very new, very colorful, and yet a bit strange at first sight. However, walking around the Cao Dai compound it felt so peaceful, and calming.
We then set off to the Chu Chi Tunnels one of the most famous battlegrounds of the Vietnam War. We saw how intricate tunnels were built by the Vietnamese to hide from the Americans. The tour started with a "propaganda-style" video on atrocities caused by the "bad-guys" - Americans.
The Tunnels are obviously now a tourist attraction and did feel a bit too touristy, however were worth a visit.
The highlight or lowlight (depending how you look at it) of the tour was when I (Bianca) shot an AK47! This is the first time in my life, I've held a gun in my hands and I have to admit it felt very unsettling. First off, these old guns were used in the war, so I'm not sure how safe they really were. Then our guide mentioned how until a few years ago the guns were not mounted down, and a South Korean tourist killed himself on the same site! It was not a very comforting thought!
The ear muffs we were given to use, were not very effective and these guns are LOUD! I missed my target all of the five times I tried, but the recoil I felt afterwards was shocking for the first time.
However, it was an exhilarating experience and I think worth a try once in your life!
After the tour we headed back to Aunty $ 5's place for a great dinner! Steamed green beans topped with ground beef, a curried pork and shrimp dish with steamed white rice, and a vegetable and pork soup! Yummy!
We could get used to this! We've already been dreaming of our next visit here!
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Alston
non-member comment
Is the TTC on strike there?
Xin chao ahn, Xin Chao ba ( gotta love goggle)....hope all is well back in the motherland. Things here are just peachy, TTC decided to go on a wildcat strike Monday morning. They sure did pick a good day though, its 30 outside, smog advisory and its a good day for another BBQ..... Anyway be safe and write home when you'll can....I heard the pickled pigs ears ( tai Heo Nagam Chua - goggle again!) is great !! A