Becky got here on Saturday, I changed hotels and we met the tour group, they all seem nice. The guide is ok...he repeats everything three times which could easily get on my nerves but will try to see the funny side or close my ears. In the evening we went to bar Go2 and watched the England v Australia rugby match, lots of fun and we even won - amazing!!
On Sunday we decided not to go back to the Mekong Delta with the group and instead went to a Cao Dai temple - the Holy See in fact - and the Cu Chi tunnels. But first we stopped at a handicapped art village, which was surprisingly interesting, the way they make the things is incredible, so delicate and time consuming (3 or 4 months to make one piece). (see photos). Our guide for the day was wicked, Slim Jim (real name Thong) - full of information in a really entertaining way, loads of colloquialisms he's picked up over the years, so funny. When we tried some tea for instance he came out with a whole string of sayings, I'll be mother, one for the road, dog and toad (now that is colloquial!)...great guy. Wish he was our guide for the rest!!
So this Cao Dai religion is a funny mix of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Catholicism....its founders claimed they got the idea straight from God. They have 3 saints: Sun Yat-sen, Nguyen Binh Khiem and: Victor Hugo!! They practice vegetarianism at least 10 days a month and believe in reincarnation. There's no Pope at the moment, he died and the new one is chosen through a seance and currently there's no one worthy. The temple was v.colourful (photos) and the ceremony was interesting, with the aroma of the incense and the bright colours and the music it was all a bit trippy.
Lunch and on to the tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were by the ones used by local southern Viet Cong, so pretty interesting stuff. We watched a video, but instead of being historically informative, alla History Channel type stuff, it was a propaganda film in black and white presumably from soon after the war. Which in itself was interesting but not that informative - if you see what i mean!! All anti-american (like how many soldiers they killed and how heroic all the VC were) instead of impartial facts. It struck me as fairly odd since it is a tourist site, but on the other hand it's a socialist country - McDonalds hasn't even invaded - and there're soldiers there so I spose there's no real chance of retrospectiveness...Hrm.
In the forest, Becky went in a hole (used by VC snipers, see photos), a teeny tiny hole that the Canadian guy didn't fit into, seriously doubted i'd fit so didn't try it. Saw some truly disturbing boobie traps, ingenious no denying it but sick. Decided not to try out any guns on the firing range (tho the sound effects made by those who did lent it an air of authenticity). Didn't go in the tunnels either (tourist size, not Vietnamese size - which was 80x60cm!), knew i'd just panic so no point, that's if i even fit! Good day.
