Day 3 : Cao Dai & Cu Chi Tunnel

We signed up for a whole day tour to Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnel, and had to be at the meeting point by 8am. Tour was organized by Sinh Cafe - one of the more reputable travel agencies in town, and priced at 80,000VND per person - you are entitled to a 'welcome' bag - one bottle of water, one packet of peanut and one packet of refreshing towel (well, i sort of expected more food like biscuits or chips, but oh well, you are in Vietnam after all, don't complain...), land transfer by an A/C bus (air-con is a bit the weak though) and English speaking guide; lunch and admission ticket for Cu Chi tunnel are excluded.

Crowd outside Sinh Cafe. Taking photos to pass time.

Our destination - Cao Dai temple is located at Tay Ninh, about 60 miles (100km) northwest of Ho Chi Minh City and near the Cambodian border. Bus journey would take about 2 hours and the estimate time to arrival (as informed by the guide) would be 11.30am. Hmm, the maths didn't tally right?? It's only 8am plus now and 2 hours journey = 10am plus... The tour guide then announced that the bus would stop for a 'washroom' break at a provider of traditional Vietnamese craft products AND we can take a look at the craft products and buy them as souvenir to bring home. **the usual tourist-trap tie up

Hence, while princess and ex-irish were napping away, i took photos of the outside world as the bus traveled down a surprisingly well-maintained highway...

Tourists having alfresco breakfast. KFC, the ONLY fast food restaurant in HCMC.


Peddler with colorful balloons for sale. Vietnam flag soaring in the wind.


Lady with conical hat, so viet! Churchgoers at Sunday Mass.


Tons of motorcycles at the traffic junction.

First stop: Local Arts n Craft provider
Cost: FOC

The 'washroom' break at the traditional Vietnamese craft products place was actually time well spent as a lady brought us around the workshop and explained to us how the craft products were made by the locals.

The making of a mother-of-pearl products has to undergo several stages and include drawing of design onto the shell, polishing, sawing of shell according to the drawing, chiselling, inlaying pieces of oyster shells in the surface of a fixture, scratching and polishing.

Artisans select shells from oysters and shellfish which have rain-bow veins and inlay the beautiful looking pieces of shell in the surface of their products. The colors in this work of art is more durable and mother-of-pearl inlaying process can be done on any wooden objects such as jewel cases, surface of tables or desks, etc...

Chicken eggshells are gathered, sorted by color (sometimes as many as 20 different subtle shades), washed and then dried. Depending upon the design and intent, the shells are crushed to a uniform shape or size.

The item, whether it is a box, a candle stand, furniture or other accessory is painted with an organic black primer which acts as the base adhesive for the shells. The pattern is typically scribed onto the tar base and the shells are then applied by hand or tweezers into the pattern and then allowed to dry. If the pattern calls for different colors, then the dyed or sorted eggshells are used.

After being applied, it is sanded and reviewed. If any of the shell came off during the sanding process, it is painstakingly re-applied by tweezers wherever needed.

The item is then layered with lacquer. The lacquer paint can be a color or clear and multiple layers of the lacquer help to build the crevasses and depressions around the shells. As the paint layers build, it is repeatedly sanded with water and a fine grit paper. This polishes the items while making the surface uniform.

During this layering process - other materials like silver and gold leaf, metal, seashell, etc, can be added or inlaid. The final layer of lacquer is applied in clear for the top-coat and can be matte or shiny.

Impressed by what we saw and the amount of work it required to make each product, we went into the store to browse...

Loveflower with eggshell art and Princess with lacquer art.


Ex-irish and the inlaid mother of pearl art which he purchased for USD16 (??)


Colorful wooden bowls

Second stop: Cao Dai Temple
Cost: FOC

We were the last ones to board the bus (oops!) and napped for quite a while before arriving at Cao Dai temple - “Cao” literally means “high,” while “Dai” means “tower,” “palace,” or “abode.” The combined verbal image is used to represent both a heavenly place and a Supreme Being envisioned as creating all religions and beings on the earth. The visual symbol used by Cao Dai followers for this Supreme Being is an all-seeing eye.

Beautiful garden beside temple. Front view of Cao Dai Temple.


Cao Dai Temple and its symbol, All-seeing Eye.

Constructed between 1933 and 1955, the Great Temple of Cao Dai closely resembles a Christian cathedral in its architecture - two square towers, a long central nave with upper gallery, and side aisles. The altar, an apse and ambulatory are at the opposite end from the entrance, just as in a typical church.

The exterior and interior of the Cao Dai Temple are both extravagantly decorated, incorporating symbols, abstract designs and images of saints. The high ceiling is painted sky-blue with fluffy clouds and the floor tiles have busy patterns. The dragon-encrusted columns that run the length of the nave number 28, representing the 28 manifestations of the Buddha and seven-headed cobras represent the seven human emotions. The most important symbol is the Divine Eye, representing God and it is a left eye because God is Yang, and Yang is the left side.

Dragon-encrusted columns. A sphere depicting the Divine Eye.


Traditional Cao Dai altar. Close up of the cute & candy like dragon.


Colorful decor beside the altar. Craving on wooden door.


Corridor and steps leading to the temple

The three principal colors of Cao Dai are yellow (for Buddhism), blue (for Taoism), and red (for Christianity), and these appear in worshippers' robes as well as the temple. There are four ceremonies with chanting each day: 6:00 am, noon, 6:00 pm, and midnight where an orchestra of 10 musicians and a choir of 20 youths lead the service in prayer and hymns. The hymns sound western, but the accompanying music is traditional Vietnamese.

Sea of worshippers dress in flowing robes and assemble in orderly rows during ceremony. Men sit on the right and women on the left.

Most worshippers are lay followers, who wear pure white robes. Men with the rank of priest and higher have brightly colored robes reflecting their spiritual allegiance: yellow (symbolizing Buddhism and virtue), blue (Taoism and pacifism) or red (Confucianism and authority). Bishops and cardinals have the Divine Eye emblazoned on their headpieces.

Third stop: Local restaurant for lunch
Cost: Steep by Viet's standard

Next, we proceeded for lunch at a nearby restaurant (no choice man!). Food was so-so, pretty small portion and priced quite steeply. Ah, got chop lah! (Note: Lazy to post lunch photos cos it wasn't great or worth mentioning...) The bus journey to Cu Chi tunnels was quite scenic though... Imagine yourself strolling through the paddy fields on a sunny and breezy day.... Nice! (Note: strolling and not working)

Fourth stop: Cu Chi Tunnels
Cost: 80,000Dongs

Cu Chi Tunnels is a massive network of underground tunnels and chambers which stretched for over 250km from Ho Chi Minh City and all the way to the Cambodian border and were three levels deep. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters, and were important for the Viet Cong victory during the Vietnam War.

Princess and loveflower at the entrance of the place


Cu Chi's network of underground tunnels and chambers


Entrance of the underground tunnel. YESH, it's so small! Loveflower can fit into the 'hole' quite easily...


..while ex-irish had some difficulty. BUT!! He did it!! A round of applause for him pls.

The district of Cu Chi was the most heavily bombed, gassed, defoliated and generally devastated area in the history of warfare. It was declared a "free fire zone" which meant that artillery fire fell on it at night, and that bomber pilots were encouraged to drop unused explosives and napalm on the area before returning to base. In essence, anything that moved was considered a target and blown away.

Outdoor traps to ambush the enemies - Sharp bamboo poles stick out from the bottom of the pit. Ex-irish demo on how to position yourself at the barrack.


Unwelcome/unfriendly guests to the house would be treated to swinging iron targeted at the head and groin.


AK47 live firing gallery

Although the tunnels have been widened to accommodate the larger dimensions of foreigners (read: ex-irish), anyone much above average girth and height would find it difficult to get through, and anyone claustrophobic would be wise to stay above ground! Notwithstanding this, we decided to crawl through a small stretch of the tunnel system, just for the experience! While the gals could walk with our bodies half bent (though not very comfortably), ex-irish had to duck-walked. =( The tunnel was narrow, dimly lighted and very very stuffy. We had to stop our crawl now and again as the people in front weren’t moving or there were steps (leading down) which we had to be careful. Towards the end of the stretch, the tunnel was in total darkness and I couldn’t tell that the exit was to my left till someone in front told me to turn!

Inside the narrow and stuffy tunnel. Omg! I cannot imagine myself living inside the tunnels for 3 YEARS!!


Out into open space.. And we did it, what a relief! A very exhausted ex-irish as he duck-walked for the entire stretch...

We were very impressed by the resourcefulness and determination of the Viets to fight and win the war! Today, the tunnels still stand and prove that the determination of the people - and not technology - can determine who wins a war... We agreed with this statement wholeheartedly!

Fun time didn't last and it was time to head home. The tour bus dropped us near our guesthouse and we hopped onto a cab (the cab driver actually drove onto the pavement from the other side of the traffic just to 'fight' for our business. wow! he caused a slight traffic chaos lor, hahaha) and headed for the city's shopping centre. Shopping was only so-so and as all of us were pretty tired, we decided to go for quick dinner at the food court and retired home. Yesh, air-conditioned dining venue with yummy food and drinks and nice sofa; prices were quite reasonable too. =P

Last stop: Food court
Cost: Reasonable

Dinner at food court