The Perfect Retreat

Vietnam, Cu Chi Tunnel

2011-12-13T09:56:00.052+08:00

30 Nov 2011

Traveling from Tay Ninh Province after lunch, we traveled to Cu Chi to visit Ben Dinh Underground Tunnel complex. The complex has been recognized as a national revolutionary relic in Vietnam's Anti-American resistance by the State and those sacrificed in the war were venerated heroic martyrs.

Undeniably the pride of the Vietnamese, the spirit of nationalism is very strong here; not just in successfully deterring the Americans but it also serves as a symbol of national unity. From what I understood, the tour guide mentioned that there was already a civil war between the North and the South, which was also the reason why the Americans came.

Cu Chi Tunnel Organization Brochure

Above is the map of the Complex, which I had. Indicated were 2 preserved historic sites - Ben Duoc Tunnel and Ben Dinh Tunnel. I supposed these 2 tunnels were opened to the public. The guide told us that the actual military base extends to more than 200 km all the way to Saigon River, but some might have collapsed and were unsafe to go in. Imagine a nest full of snakes in the tunnel; just thinking of this gross me out. I suspect that there might be more 'secret' tunnels in the entire Vietnam that nobody knows about.

The people, who built these tunnels were the Vietcong. The phrase Vietcong means Vietnamese Communist. Most Vietcong came from the north and they wanted to liberate South Vietnam.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/720577.stm

The Vietcong Tunnel Complex is certainly very complex. Consisting of a network of tunnels and common areas, it was quite hard for my mind to acknowledge the brilliance of the technique used to defeat their enemy. The Vietcong were far backward in terms of technology but they made full use of their home ground advantage. These tunnels were dug by hands but how did they manage it?? Resilience is the key factor to victory.

The tunnels, however, were dug since 1948. At that time, the Vietcong were fighting the French for independence.

The Vietcong practically lived underground for the most part of their day and came out at night to scavenge for food. I was thinking of those underground survival shelters built in case of disasters. Are some of the basic ideas taken from the Vietcong Tunnel Complex because it seems that the Vietnamese built them first?

The entrance to the sight-see area of Cu Chi Tunnel.

I had a sticker pasted on my shirt by the admission officer. We were brought to the meeting room, which was a semi-underground hut, to watch a documentary.

It was quite dark in here. We sat at the back and I wasn't really listening to the documentary. All the information could be read from books afterward. Besides, I was more interested in the real structure itself. There were 4 tunnel entrance found at the meeting room.

This one was found directly behind where I was seated. The tunnel was pretty narrow and already I had some thoughts like what if I got stuck in the middle and could not come out. It would be sensational world news report, with embarrassing headlines - "First girl found stuck at Cu Chi" or "Never happen before, but girl stuck at tunnel" or "Girl failed to analyze body composition before going into tunnel"

Shivers.. Nightmarish thoughts...

This site was our first station. The soldier, who was demonstrating to us how guerrilla warfare was practiced, is very popular because I have seen his picture in many travel brochures and online blogs before. Apparently, the small underground pockets were commonly used to launch a surprise attack. For example, a Vietcong soldier quickly sneaked an attack and then disappeared underground as soon as their enemies turned their back.

Is it cowardice or brilliance? Take your pick.

Entering the forest-cum-museum. The forest appeared to be sanitized and "cleaned up" for tourists. There were no ants and creepy crawlies in sight.

The traps installed for any suspecting enemies. Brutal, but that is the nature of any war; both sides were brutal in trying to outwit one another.

Ant nests were placed in this pit and then covered with leaves. Enemies, who fell into the pit is a goner.

The Northern Vietcong do not mix with the Southern Vietcong recruits. There were separate resting place catered for both groups; the Southern Vietcong were the minority and the exhibit subtly depicted how life in the camp could be lonely for the Southerners.

A common feature of the Vietcong is the Guerrilla Identification 'Burberry' scarves they wore around their neck. A Vietcong could be a man, woman or child. Some of them were farmers and peasants in the day but provided intel and attacked enemies at night. It was because of this that unarmed civilians were reportedly killed by American soldiers because they were suspected to be Vietcong spies.

In any case, innocent people were always victims of war because Vietcong soldiers also killed civilians.

The life firing range at Cu Chi, where you could choose the gun used by Vietcong and shoot at targets, all at a given price. The gun fire was so loud; no wonder soldiers who had came back from war had hearing problems. The sound was scary too, as if an impending doom had entered the domain.

This was the cooking area in the Complex, where a lady demonstrated how rice paper was made.

Cp was trying to grind rice to make rice wine; the tool was quite heavy. The exhibit here showed a Vietcong fishing for some seafood. It did not strike me as fishing because I had an idyllic image of going to the stream, lake or the sea to fish. Furthermore, what kind of fishes live in a well?

http://www.destination360.com/asia/vietnam/cu-chi-tunnels

Finally, we entered the Tunnel! We crawled in and went through 40m length of tunnel and seriously; it was dark, hot and suffocating. I had night blindness so I was practically hanging on to the person in front of me. Thankfully, the tunnel was made clean for visitors like us to crawl in. Ironic? Haha... it is always human nature after all to experience the bizarre and satisfy their curiosity.

After the experience, I wouldn't want to live in a tunnel. Period. In reality, the tunnel was not like this at all, the ones which we went in had been widened a bit for those who were slightly big size. And the 'real' tunnels were infested with all kinds of insects, rats, scorpions and snakes. Those who lived underground were also prone to malaria. Although the Americans came to know about the tunnels in the later part of the war, they could not successfully hunt down the Vietcong because of the high casualties going down into the tunnels. Booby traps were placed in the tunnel for the American soldiers.

Well, after the thrills had died down, we ate tapioca, a common food during wartime and then washed it down with tea. This marked the end of the trip.

This was at the exit. The message here was - victory to the communists.

My next post will be on the trip to the Mekong Delta. Stay tuned!

Vietnam, Cao Dai Temple

2011-12-09T19:14:00.058+08:00

30 Nov 2011

We followed a full day tour with Tuan Travel to the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnel. The tour guide was a chatty and good looking guy. The bus picked us up from our hotel that morning and we assembled with other tourists, who were also following the same tour.

Our first destination is Cao Dai Temple, which is located in Tay Ninh province.

The journey was quite far; it took about 2 hrs. In between, we made a stop at the ceramic factory for toilet break.

These were some of the art work sold at the Ceramic factory. It's hard to believe that these masterpieces were created by handicapped workers, who were disfigured by Agent Orange, a biological warfare used in Vietnam War. Although it would be of great help to the handicapped workers if we buy their beautiful art work, none of us bought anything.

I was amazed by the woman artist, who used egg shells for her paintings. She is really talented. Sad to say that for some of these artists, their talent will just remain in this factory. Looking at the bright side, at least they were better of than some, who would rather use dishonest means to earn a living. Worse, to become beggars along the streets. To these workers in the factory, I admire them the most.

We set off to Cao Dai Temple...

http://www.tripwow.tripadvisor.com

...and reached the temple around 12 noon, which was just in time for the prayer service. This place is massive, surrounded by many gates and large courtyards that stretched beyond the Temple.

What does Cao Dai means?

Cao Dai literally means high tower. I think it also represents being supreme above the rest. This religious sect is called Caodaism and it is claimed to be founded in the 1920s. The religion is uniquely Vietnam and there are around 2 to 6 million followers today. In fact, it is the third largest religion in Vietnam and at one point, Caodaist religious leaders harbored the idea of instituting Caodaism as the Vietnamese state religion.

Cao Dai worshippers wearing white robes on their way to the temple. I thought they were Muslims at first; they looked like Indian and Pakistani Muslims with their turbans. Unlike Muslims, Caodaists pray 4 times a day - 6 am, noon, 6 pm & midnight.

We had to take off our footwear to enter the temple. The temple structure look like a church from the front view and a temple from side view. I found it strange because it seems that the architect got mixed up with the designs. Confusing too because in my logical mind, this religion seemed to be a fusion of all the major religions.

Walking gingerly into the huge hall, I noticed the dragon carvings encircling each pillar.

According to the Chinese beliefs, dragons protect the house of God. In this case, dragons protected the pillars, that held the Temple in its magnificence. I noted that everything was constructed with grandiose in mind; even the carvings and drawings were intricately elaborate.

Visitors are welcomed in the temple as long as we do not obstruct the ceremony. We viewed the ceremony from the 2nd floor.

Here, the worshippers stood in rows and waited for the bell to ring (like Christians??). Again the way they stood look like how prayers are done in Islam.

When the bell rung, the bishops, who wore colored robes, led the ceremony. The different colored robes symbolize their ranks and their spiritual allegiance. The normal followers were robed in white; the female worshippers on the left, also followed certain ranks. Those with ranks covered their heads with white scarves.

I was right about Caodaism being a fusion. According to the tour guide, yellow symbolizes Buddhism, blue - Taoism, and red - Confucianism. I think the tour guide forgot to mention that it's not just the Chinese, the Western (Christianity) and Indian (Islam) thoughts, and cultures had also been harmonized to form Caodaism.

The ceremony was accompanied by music and a choir.

Seems like there were also ranks based on seniority. Young girls/women participated in the ceremony by chanting and young boys/men played the musical instruments.

Near the hall, there was a plaque, which stated 3 people, who were venerated as saints - Sun Yat Sen (Chinese revolutionary leader), Victor Hugo (French poet) and Nguyen Binh Khiem (Vietnamese poet). I am not sure why these 3 people were the chosen ones, but notice the ceiling of the temple; it was painted blue with fluffy clouds and 'friendly' dragons.

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/vietnam/longxuyen/caidai/caodai4.html

So the poets were chosen because as the clouds suggested; there was always time to daydream and poets wrote their poetry in such a manner, where emotions were recollected in tranquility. The dragons, on the other hand, signified strength and character, which is why Sun Yat Sen was chosen. Perhaps, the Caodaist see their religion as revolutionary.

LOL.. my logical sense... these rationalization were made up by me..

Or the drawings on the ceiling just symbolized Celestial dragons in heaven. Or dragons protecting the ceiling, which sheltered the Temple.

Moving on...
The tour guide stated that Caodaism was involved in the nationalist movement in the past, against the French who colonized Saigon, and the Viet Minh which was led by Ho Chi Minh from the North. The movement was rather influential and had spread to Cambodia but it was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Due to its political history, the Vietnamese government still see Caodaism as a threat and has suppressed its activities to a certain extent till today.

Revolutionary --> Sun Yat Sen... Hmm.. hmm...

So who or what were the Cao Dai worshippers praying to?

______________________________________________
Cao Dai worshippers pray to the Divine Left Eye, whom/which they consider their God. The Eye symbols were everywhere in the Temple; there was one at the altar, which I did not take with my camera - that Eye was rather scary. According to the Caodaist, that Eye had a vision of the All-Seeing eyes and it was said that all religions will one day eventually return to it.

Further reading:
http://caodai.org.au/pdf/Caodiasm_as_History_Philosophy_and_Religion.pdf

Continue the next post with my visit to Cu Chi Tunnel.

Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City

2011-12-06T12:12:00.081+08:00

29 Nov 2011
from Changi Airport to Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Time: 5.35 am

All set to go for a perfect retreat. This is our first time to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I feel like it is important to get acquainted with the national flags of the country I am going to. Just a habit, which actually started from a game, whereby I had to identify the flags of different countries.

The other Vietnam flag with the hammer and sickle symbol represents the ruling Communist Party in Vietnam. I find out that after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there are only 5 Communist countries left in the world today; namely China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea & Vietnam.

It's interesting how countries got caught up in the Cold War. Vietnam, for example, fought its war for 20 long years with the US. Although I must admit that I do not know much about the Vietnam War, I'm hoping to find out more during this trip, so I'm really excited.

Map of Vietnam (Lonely Planet)

Time: 10.00 pm

We arrived at 8.40 am (SG time) in HCM City. We took quite awhile to find our way to the 'right' taxi stand. Well, not exactly a taxi stand, it was some sort of a booth located at the domestic terminal, bearing the Vinasun logo and manned by men with green shirts. I always kept in mind whenever I took a taxi, there are only 2 trusted taxi companies in Vietnam - Vinasun and Mai Linh.

I've also created my own personal note of precaution while I was in Vietnam - To be wary of dishonest citizens everywhere I go. This was because my Vietnam trip was marked by some unpleasant experiences.

To those intending to go to Vietnam
1. Make sure that the taxi taken bear the exact logo of Vinasun and Mai Linh; there are scams who claimed to be from the companies and they charged without using the taxi meter. One driver offered to drive us to our hotel for USD25 and we immediately walked away.

2. Never take any motorbike rides to tour around the city. I had taken motorbike rides in Bangkok without any problems; but the riders in Vietnam extort money from foreigners. The difference in Bangkok is maybe because the riders there need to have license and operate under a company. Ignore these riders when they approach or call you.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Vietnam

3. Never sample food offered by "friendly" hawkers along the pedestrian walkways. Chances will be, you are intimidated to buy what they sell. It's different back home, where we can sample first, before we decide to buy. We just bought the bahulu-like-cakes because we were quite taken aback by the hawker, who suddenly turn nice to ugly in a split second.

4. Make sure you ask the price first before touching anything. This elderly hawker sold us a coconut drink 3 times its normal price. Initially my intention was to buy a coconut from her to lighten her load, but being kind sometimes doesn't pay off.

There were many street hawkers along the pavement. Some were honest, some were not. It took experience to bargain and somehow, we became desensitized with the 'fierce' locals after 2 days in Vietnam. The whole episodes did not deter me from buying my Economist and Times magazine from a street hawker, with hard bargaining.

Apart from the bad experiences, there were many nice ones too such as the service we received from this hotel.

http://www.clubnets.co.jp

Situated at Dong Du Street next to Annam Spa, it is very popular with Japanese travelers and workers as there is a small Japanese restaurant at the ground level.

For me, it offers the best value price for my kind of affordable accommodation in a safe location. Surrounded by all the 4 stars (Sheraton, Caravelle, Intercontinental, Grand and Hyatt), the location is good because there are many international restaurants found along the streets, especially halal eateries.

The hotel could also help to arrange full day trips to the Mekong Delta, Cu Chi Tunnel and Cao Dai Temple so there is no hassle in finding a trusted travel agency.
All the places in Ho Chi Minh City are situated within walking distance from one another so we could save on transportation cost.

Places near the hotel

Saigon Central Mosque at Dong Du Street.

It was built by South Indian Muslims in 1935. It's a bit hard to find at first, because my attention was at all the high rise buildings. The mosque gave an image of a safe haven to me, a peace of mind as compared to the traffic outside its gate. Traffic was chaotic!!

Saigon Opera House

Not sure how many times we passed this place. It is located at the roundabout junction, in front of the Caravelle Hotel. Somehow, we did not enter the building.

Ho Chi Minh's statue in front of the People's Committee, formerly known as City Hall.

We saw many buildings built by the French during their colonization in Indochina. It was said that the architecture of this building was modeled by a similar building in Paris. The French certainly built all these buildings so that they could feel at home in Saigon.

Saigon Notre-dame Cathedral

This Roman Catholic church was built between 1863 and 1880 by the French. All the building materials were imported including the red bricks which were from Marseille. There is a statue of Virgin Mary in front of the church and at one point someone reported that the statue had shed tears. Although this report was absurd, it succeeded in attracting large crowds until security officers had to be deployed.

Saigon Central Post Office

I noticed that in most French architecture, there is always a clock. The Eiffel Tower, which was designed by the same architect who designed the post office, also has a clock attached to its structure. Does it has to do with the fact that the French are extremely time conscious or is it just decorative art, popularized in those period?

Nearby shopping centre
1. Diamond Plaza (the blue building behind Notre Dame)
2. Vincom Center (feels like you are in Singapore)
3. Parkson Saigon Tourist Plaza

The Tao Dan Park in front of The Reunification Palace

Just like its name indicate, the Reunification Palace is a site, where the Vietnam War ended, after Northern Vietnamese army crashed its gate. From then onwards, under the Communist Party, the North took over the South from the American and the French to form the present day Vietnam.

From the Reunification Palace, we walked to the Cho Ben Tanh Market to do some shopping. All these done in a day!