A TOUR TO THE CAO DAI TEMPLE AND THE CU CHI TUNNELS

We had arranged to join a group tour that took us out of Ho Chi Min City to visit a workshop for agent orange victims, the Cao Dai Church at Tay Ninh and the Cu Chi tunnels.  We were collected from the hotel and taken to a travel agency where chaos was the order of the day.  Many tours were leaving at the same time to go to all manner of tourist places.  By some miracle we got onto the right bus and left the crowded city for a longish ride into the countryside.  Our first port of call was at a lacquer workshop that supported victims of agent orange that had been freely used to defoliate the region around Ho Chi Min City, with devastating results to the foliage and the people who were unfortunate to be have been under the cloud of, what we now realise was a dangerous, poison

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Finding the right bus

There were about a half dozen workers in the workshop where we realised afterwards we shouldn't have taken photographs. 

Some of the finished product

On our way to the Cao Dai temple we passed the village of Trang Bang which was the location of famous (infamous) Pullitzer Prize winning photograph of a little girl, Phan Thị Kim Phúc, running down the road after having been caught in a napalm bomb fire.   After lots of medical treatment she now lives in Ajax, Ontario near Toronto. 

So on to the temple that stood in its own grounds in Tay Ninh.

The religion of Cao Dai is a new religion started in 1926. It

combines Buddhism, Taoism, Confusianism.  Services are held every day at 6.00 a.m. noon and 6.00 p.m. The general public are allowed in to the temple after the monks, nuns, and priests have assembled.

 The Cao Dai temple

The main entrance

As is common at many temples. all shoes are removed and you hope to get you own pair back later

Walking towards the temple 

An unusual notice

The three colours of Cao Daism are yellow (Buddhism), blue (Taoism) and red (Confusianism)

The musicians

The service was accompanied by the musicians and chanting

Our tour include  a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant.

This didn't look too hygienic in the washroom

After lunch we rejoined the bus to continue on to the Cu Chi Tunnels which are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968.

The Vietnam War also known as the Second Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 and also known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America. This war followed the First Indochina War  (1946–54) and was fought between North Vietnam - supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies and the government of South Vietnam - supported by the United States, Philippines and other anti-communist allies

The Tet Offensive failed in its goal of overthrowing the South Vietnamese government, but became the turning point in the war, as it persuaded a large segment of the United States population that its government's claims of progress toward winning the war were illusory despite many years of massive U.S. military aid to South Vietnam.  Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973.

The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. 

The guide of the day showed his allegiance as the day unfolded, it was obvious he was on the victor's side.

 

A map showing the tunnel network

In the museum

The local people lived in the tunnels for many years during the war and the army used them as well.  The tunnels were narrow, befitting a race of smaller stature and the network included workshops, hospitals as well as living quarters.

A typical small entrance to the tunnels, usually covered in leaves for camouflage

Emerging from a tunnel

Tunnel Exit

A tank on display

In addition to the tunnel complex there was a display of same very nasty defenses designed to trap invaders.  It was a cruel war.

Another nasty looking trap

In the workshop

 B52 bomb crater after carpet bombing

As we neared the end of the tour we could hear loud rifle shots and that turned out to be an opportunity to fire real guns of the era with real ammunition.  We took a pass. Our journey home was bit delayed as the bus had developed a flat tyre and it had disappeared from the parking lot to get mended.  We got home eventually into the evening rush hour.  Actually rush hour seemed to last all day.   

We had a meal back in the city and prepared for the next day, we were not leaving until late in the afternoon.

End of Part 10 of 16