Cao Dai Temple + Cu Chi Tunnels

We need to be at the Sinh Cafe office by 8:15am coz our scheduled departure time is at 8:30pm. As it is greatly recommended by Lonely Planet, there were a lot of local and foreign tourists taking trips thru the Sinh Cafe tour agency. From the sidewalk in front till inside the tour office, it was jammed with people waiting for their buses to arrive (while waiting, took a photo of this guy balancing a huge mound of sweets in his head!). Ours arrived quite late, maybe got stuck on the bus queue. We left Saigon at around 8:50am.

Typical of tour packages around Asia, our first stop was at a Handicraft center where we were shown how the craftsmen were making the souvenir items on display inside the showroom. For me, the stop meant at least short break for my legs (otherwise it’s a good 3hrs nonstop journey to Tay Ninh) and a quick rendezvous with the toilet.

Our main agenda for this trip is to visit the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels. I was initially thinking of going to these places by myself and trying out the local transport. But one thing I realized here is that it’s even more difficult to be understood by local people. I don’t want to end up wasting my time getting lost in translation! So of course, I opted for the guided tour! It’s cheaper and more convenient.

Cao Dai is a fusion of beliefs culled from other major religions in the world. They believe in the teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, and Islam, in addition to their indigenous Vietnamese animistic beliefs. The Great temple, otherwise known as the Holy See of Cao Dai (fashioned after the Catholic Vatican Holy See) is located in the Tay Ninh province. It has four daily masses every day; 6am, 12nn, 6pm, and 12 midnight.

Our tour group arrived at around 11:35am so we still have a lot of time in our hands to roam around the temple complex before the noontime mass starts. One thing you immediately noticed is the cleanliness of the place. Not a single leaf or piece of paper on the ground!

Founded by Ngo Minh Chien, towards the early part of the 20^th century it now boasts of an estimated 3 million-strong congregation. The temple (also the religion itself!) is a fairly recent invention built between 1933 and 1955. Even from the outside, the exterior is already an attention-grabbing masterpiece with its mish-mash of different mythical figures and very abundant use of vibrant colors.

Caodaism has a few interesting quirks as well. Everything seems to be uniformly organized, lines are even and proportional. There are different entrances for both men and women. Their beliefs in other religions are manifested in the different colors of the ceremonial robes worn by their senior priests, red for Christianity (I have no idea this color represents us! Hahaha), yellow is for Buddhism, blue is for Taoism, and white robes favoured by the rest of the congregation.

Inside the temple complex, tourists can go in and watch the mass from the viewing balconies on both sides. The interior is even more camera-friendly than the outside. Such a profusion of colors and shapes!

Our stomachs started grumbling already so we headed back to our bus and asked our guide if we can now have lunch! He said we will be stopping off in the Tay Ninh town proper for lunch at a local restaurant. It was a very touristy fare, which means the taste is nothing to rave about.

From Tay Ninh, it’s another 1.5hrs ride towards the Benh Dinh district where the Cu Chi tunnels are located, about 50 kms away from the city of Saigon.

It was drizzling a bit when we arrived at the entrance, so we immediately proceeded to the ticket booth (tunnel admission ticket is 80,000VND per person). Cu Chi is an underground tunnel network of over 200kms stretching from Benh Dinh to near the Cambodian border. This is a must-visit place for me! After a childhood spent watching Rambo movies, I wanted to go and see for myself the tunnels where the “Vietcongs” have hidden from the eyes of the GIs. I was really excited for this!

The tunnels were initially made during the Indochina War with France in the late 1940s till 1955. It was enlarged and extended during the Vietnam War. The Americans actually took over from the French in 1955 and what initially started as a North-South conflict escalated into a full-blown war until the Americans left in 1973. The Indochine countries has always been a warring group. They always fight with each other every couple of years or so. What made it “international” is the inclusion of the communist friends of the North (USSR and China) and the US foreign policy that made the Americans jump into the fray for “containment of communist expansion in the Indochine”. Whatever! But it did lengthen the war and took a lot of casualties from all sides.

First, we were ushered into a small classroom and our guide started giving us a lecture (more of a rant actually!) about the history of the tunnels. He did not dwell much about the first Indochina War but focused mainly on the “American War” and the atrocities committed during the 8-year war. If you are an American better not go in for this lecture coz it is totally biased.

After the talk, we went around the densely forested area and checked some of the exhibits they have. There was the display of various traps and homemade weapons and even left-over bomb casings. Exactly as I’ve seen it in the movies! Hahaha

All around the forest, you can find small huts dugged into the land with only the roofs jutting out. The infamous man-sized holes which were camouflaged so well (normally covered by leaves) but is used by the VCs to go in and out of the tunnels. Umm, I was tempted to try it out but with my current body weight…….maybe not! Lol

Then there was the firing range…..honestly, I really wanted to try the AK-47 but I got scared when I saw a lot of people wanting to try it out as well. It is U$1 per bullet and you can either share with your friends or just go alone but the minimum fee is for 10 bullets. I have a high respect for what a gun can do to a person, especially first-timers. I have a fear of guns (or of seeing people carry guns around) which I have cured by going to the firing range and educating myself on how to fire guns properly (I used a .45 caliber and 9mm semi-automatic). Hence, it was scary for me to see tourists firing away. Scratch the firing an AK-47 from my itinerary!

The most-awaited part is going down the tunnels. It was dark and claustrophobic. I waited till most of the people in our group have gone ahead so I won’t be caught in traffic inside the tunnel. I was busy taking photos and then wham! My camera battery died! Oh shit! I mean, of all times! Why it couldn’t wait till we finish this trip! Grrrrrrr

When we came back to Saigon, we decided to meet up with another Filipino traveler who is also in Saigon that time. We agreed to meet at Pho 2000, a very popular noodle shop which they said even Pres. Clinton has visited. Well, since it is also just in front of the night market then at least we can have a little bit of shopping first!

The Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) is absolutely fantastic! Yummy and delicious! A must-try in Saigon.

For a nightcap, we went to AllezBoo Bar (this is a popular hang-out for backpackers who live around the Pham Ngu Lao area) to try their local beer, Bia Saigon. Cheers to us guys! It’s great to meet and travel with you!