By Nadia Kim
Photos by Audrey Samuel
Woot woot! It’s day two! Today we are supposed to visit the Cao Dai temple and the legendary Chu Chi tunnels that happen to be quite a distance from Saigon city. Translated, it means that we had to leave the hotel premises by 7.30 am. I did not want to be left behind so I prepared myself to wake up at 6.30 but as it turned out, my alarm was running on Malaysian time! My little accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise - I had ample time for breakfast a morning toilet session! After reconciliating myself to my foolishness, I resumed my much deprived slumber. We gathered at 7.30 and boarded our tour bus and headed for the Cao Dai temple first.
It was a long journey and we had a short break at a factory where victims of Agent Orange produce handmade crafts, especially the beautiful and intricate work that goes into an eggshell “painting”. The tour guide said that one eggshell painting would take at least two months to be completed. After taking a look around the workshop (we can’t afford much unfortunately), we quickly resumed our journey and finally arrived at the Cao Dai temple half an hour before noon.
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| Two women working on an eggshell painting of "Tintin in Vietnam" |
The temple is a place of worship for those of the Cao Dai religion. It is a syncretic religion that preaches unity together in faith of one God - no matter of what religion - since as they believe all Gods are representations of one supreme deity. There were enormous hand paintings on the ceiling and pillars full of symbolic references to other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, decorated with dragons. The Cao Dai followers believe that the left eye is the manifestation of God, the left eye being closer to the heart. It was a unique cultural experience but also a spiritual one. And oh, Dr Yeoh accidentally entered the ladies room! How naughty naughty, Dr Yeoh!
The altar at Cao Dai Temple
Lunch was a stone’s throw away from the temple. We had simple food but we had great company with our wonderful and friendly student guides. We left for the Cu Chi Tunnels after lunch and these hand-dug tunnels served as shelter, communication and supply routes, hospital, kitchen and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The sound of shooting in the background made it seem so much more real (we later found out they were really gunshots!). We began with a black and white, rather biased video describing how the Chu Chi tunnels came about. It was truly a genius invention/creation. After the show, we visited some of the smaller tunnels, booby traps, weapons house, handmade splices and much more before finally arriving at the Chu Chi Tunnels. It was awesomely scary...
I decided to chance the tunnel despite my better judgement but then again - carpe diem! It was very tight and cramped. I had to bend my back the entire time and it was very tiring and claustrophobic. We were warned beforehand (by Dr Yeoh) that it might get smelly inside the tunnels as they smear petrol on its walls to prevent insects and animals from getting in.
A quick escape route for the petite Viet Cong
When we finally returned to the hotel, it was already seven in the evening. As we all parted ways in front of the tour office, I had dinner with Dr. James Chin, Dr Yeoh, Joanna and Fei. Too lazy to sleep I decided to join some friends on a short trip to the night market. As we walked through the booths we bumped into another group of fellow travellers who had unfortunate news: Jia Wei’s wallet had been stolen from his backpack!
Not knowing what to do, we headed back to our hotel together. But shortly before the hotel, we parted ways once more. After all, what better way to end the day than a chilled drink?
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Nadia Namwoo Kim, the crazy Korean, studies International Studies. She will eat you if she is hungry. Beware!
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