Advertisement
Published: July 11th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Our last little bit in Ho Chi Minh and Mui Ne was much better than the start of our time in Vietnam. After being a bit overwhelmed from the buzz of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) we took a 6 hour bus trip to the beach at Mui Ne resort. We ended up spending four nights there, which was nice to not be constantly on the move for a while. We got lots of sun and r & r as well as a bit of sight seeing!
One night we took full advantage of all you can drink rum and coke for 100000 VND (about 5$) and played pool with some locals. Of course, we also smoked shisha. We also took an afternoon tour in an old Jeep to see the white and red sand dunes as well as a small waterfall. Our favorite was the white sand dunes as you could rent ATVs to cruise around on. Of course we had to try it out (typical farm kids that we are, we took off like hell without really listening to instructions) but it turned out to be hilarious as we got stuck a few times. Turns out
the ATV was not as high power as those back in Canada. I can still picture Meredith running down the dunes with the ATV beside her getting it "unstuck" and I laugh every time I do.
We even got a bit cocky and tried to rent a motorbike for the day for $7USD. However, after Meredith's short tutorial with the local guy he encouraged (more like urged) us to just catch a ride on someone else's bike to wherever we needed to go. We figured if he was saying no to our business that it was probably a sign that we shouldn't go ripping around the coast on a bike so we took his advice. The ironic thing is that the next morning on our bus back to Saigon there was a group of American girls all bandaged up with road burns from what we assumed was a motorbike accident. Dodged a bullet there!
We also visited a Cham temple in Mui Ne that was constructed in the 8th century (with some parts only being uncovered in the early '90s) and dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva. The Cham people are indigenous to the Vietnamese/Cambodian region so it
was unique to check it out. It also provided a great view of the coast and all the fishing boats out in the ocean.
After our weekend we headed back to Saigon to get a bit more sightseeing in before we left for Cambodia. Our first night back we decided to check out the apparently highly revered Golden Water Puppet Show. For $5 we were entertained for about 50 minutes by men who operated the puppets from below the water (still curious how they do this). Although the show was in Vietnamese, we still found it amusing and were able to pick up the general gist of what was happening. All in all, it was a neat cultural experience that gave us a bit of a glimpse into life and history in Vietnam.
The following day we booked a tour through our hostel to the Cu Chi tunnels (outside of Saigon) as well as a unique temple for the Cao Dai religion. Although a bit hungover from our previous night's activities (buy 2 cocktails get 1 free just seemed too good at the time... I have never tried so many cocktails in my life before this trip), the
day tour was definitely worth it. Our first stop was at the Cao Dai temple to see their worship service, which was really neat. The religion is peculiar to this part of Vietnam. Created in 1926, it is a blend of Christian, Buddhist and Taoist traditions. Being a nerd with East Asian religion (I theoretically could have "minored" in it at uni), this was right up my alley (religious syncretism!). The temple front was architecturally designed like a Catholic cathedral, and inside there was the eye of God everywhere, however the adherents were dressed in monk/nun robes and there was also elaborate colour schemes (red is Christian, blue is Taoist and yellow is Buddhist) with many pictures and sculptures of dragons. Our guide told is that followers of Cao Dai do not eat meat, worship four times daily, and use an Ouiji board as a tool in meditation. A very neat experience overall!
Following this visit we continued on to the Cu Chi tunnels, where we got a glimpse of what life was like for the local Vietnamese people during the war when they had to live/hide underground. We even had a chance to crawl through one of the
tunnels. Even though it was only 20m, I felt very claustrophobic and was glad to get back above ground! Meredith volunteered to do the 100m option, however once she reached 20m she changed her mind and joined us above ground (ha ha). The Vietnamese were very smart, creating ventilation systems and many traps to fool the American soldiers. There was also a shooting range where you could shoot a gun, which didn't appeal to me however Meredith gave it a go with an AK47!
Now we are off to Cambodia for the final two weeks of our trip. Crazy how time flies 😊.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 46; dbt: 0.038s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb