Blogs from Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 12

da die 7 stuendige walking tour gestern auch irgendwie langweilig war, und das, obwohl garnicht sieben stunden, ward heute die stadt gen cu chi verlassen, da wo vor 40 jahren noch eine free firing zone war, in der amerikanische piloten uebriggebliebene bomben auf die vietcong tunnel abwarfen... daher jetzt ein propagandamuseum, in denen dem ahnungslosen touristen die perfektion des bauernaufstandes vorgefuerht werden soll. abgesehen von ausgekluegelten fallen und stickigen tunnelsystemen war der "dokumentarfilm", den man in jedem anderen land unter der bezeichnung "propagandafilm" gezeigt haette, das absolute highlight. ehrenbezeichnungen wie "hero american killer" oder "hero american tank destroyer" flossen in stroemen, auf die von irgendeiner jammerhymne unterlegten gestellten bilder lachender frauen und maenner. in anbetracht dieser gemeinen vorfuerhung verliessen einige amerikane... read more

The Holy See was founded in 1926 in Tay Ninh Province in South Vietnam. The complex is enormous and houses amongst other things, The Cao Dai Great Temple. A mystic called Ngo Minh founded Cao Daism; he studied both eastern and western religions and was a great communicator with "the other side". The Cao Dai religion is a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and also has some Confucian influences, followers of the religion believe in one god, the existence of the soul and communication with the spirit world. Spirits who have been in touch with the Cao Dai include Joan of Arc, William Shakespeare and Victor Hugo. Most of the Cao Dai’s literature has been communicated to its leaders in seances. Both men and women can become clergy but only the men are allowed to make ... read more

Now I hate guided tours and everything about them - being herded into buses, only having set times in places and having to listen to the guide go on and on..... So what do we do, we booked a day tour to see the Cao Dai temple and the Củ Chi tunnels (Wikipedia's article linked here is great) . As we have no means of transport ourselves, and there is no way I would get on a moped here, this was the only way to see these as they are about 75km out of Ho Chi Minh. The journey out to the cathedral, heading northwest out of Saigon on Highway One, is lined with pancake flat paddy fields and farmland. Its' present day tranquillity belies the ferocious fighting experienced here during wars of previous decades. ... read more

Rebonjour a tous! Nous avons maintenant de la difficulte a maintenir la cadence des recits. En effet, nous faisons trop de choses dans une journee et, vous savez comment on est... c'est difficile de nous arreter! hihihi! Notre visite a Saigon s'est deroulee en 2 parties. La premiere, avant notre depart pour l'ile de Phu Quoc qui se resume en la visite des tunnels de Cu Chi et des temples cadoistes. Et la deuxieme, a notre retour du paradis perdu, decouverte de la ville (musee et shopping). Nous avons pris un vol de Vietnam Airlines (qui, soit dit en passant, n'a plus d'avions sovietiques depuis quelques annees... c'est plus rassurant! D'autant plus que la compagnie a un quasi monopole des vols domestiques!) Nous avons eu une pensee pour Ghyslaine qui n'aurait pas mis les pieds a ... read more

MOVED Today is the day we stood face to face with history. Moments like these are so intense that they shake my soul. The most profound of these moments was in the summer of 2000 when I visited Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. My mind was blown away as I toured this one time slave castle, looking out of the “Door of No Return” and envisioning the journey of my ancestors involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Standing in the male dungeon, two levels below the church and wondering to what God those satanic slave drivers prayed to. A similar, but less profound experience occurred when I visited Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam. In both situations, I could even still feel the wickedness surrounding those events about me. The only difference is that this time, my ... read more