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Published: February 18th 2007
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Bianca:
Today we went on a day trip to the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels.
We were picked up from our hotel at 8:15 by the snazziest mini-bus we've seen the whole time we've been away. After picking up everyone else we set off to the Cao Dai Temple. We arrived at about 11:30, which gave us enough time to look around the temple before the ceremony started at 12. Cao Dai is a religion which is unique to Vietnam...its a combination of all religions so their beliefs are quite interesting and tolerant. The temple its self is weird...its so modern! The religion only started in the mid 1900's so everything was really new in comparison to the other temple's we've visited. After taking photos of the empty temple, we headed up stairs to the viewing area (balcony) and waited for the ceremony to start.
The temple quickly filled with about 200 worshipers dressed in the traditional robes (white, yellow, red or blue) and once they were all organised into their very straight rows the ceremony began. There was a choir which sang the whole time and it was quite interesting. I think they must
get somewhat sick of tourists coming to watch them every day, as the temple was full of them.
After the ceremony finished we hoped back on the bus and went and had lunch, which was nothing really that special. After lunch we set off for the Cu Chi tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong guerrillas during the war.
When we arrived at the tunnels we all sat in a room and watched a propaganda film which was produced in the 1967...it was...propaganda. From there we walked around the exhibits. The first was an example of the 'trap door' entrances to the tunnels (which was the actual size). I jumped in...and was actually quite surprised how large it was. I expected it to be a much tighter fit...which i suppose it would have been or a normal sized person, not a 'Vietnamese size' one like me.. From there we walked around and saw examples of traps the Viet Cong had used against the Americans. They used to rub poison onto the bamboo/metal barbs which killed many more people than traps alone. Perhaps the brutal trap was one which they stepped into, as the barbs were pointed down
they couldn't remove the trap until they got someone to cut it off...the Vietnamese called these 'souvenir traps'. From here we moved onto the shooting range.
The shooting range was fun! I shot an M16 and an AK-47...quite badly! I would definitely win a battle if i had to aim 5 meters away from my target (says Scott). I enjoyed myself and it was something i would never have the chance to do at home!
After this we had the chance to go into one of the tunnels. They have been enlarged for tourists but they were still tiny and impossible to stand up in. To walk around we had to bend over and bend our knees...i have no idea how they got around in them! After this we headed back to Saigon.
Our guide for the tour was very interesting. He was attached to the American's 101st airborne division as an interpreter. Unlike most people we have met, he was quite willing to talk about the war and his experiences very openly. After the war he endured 3 years in a 're-education camp' and then forced to work another 17 years as a farmer on a
state farm. While in the re-education camp he had one to two hour political study classes every single day, the rest of the time was spent doing manual labour such as replanting trees or chopping wood...
Tomorrow we intend on getting up at a reasonable hour and heading out to the War Museum and Reunification Palace and then hopefully one of the staff from the hotel is going to take me shopping!
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