Day 2 September 24 - Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple
This is a whole day guided tour we took. I was more excited about the Cu Chi tunnels used during the war. I took this from the Internet so basically all guided tours for Cu Chi and Cao Dai have the below itinerary. The only difference for ours was that we stopped by a local factory for Vietnamese paintings, furniture and home furnishings. Their products are majorly for exports but they had a showroom where you can also buy stuffs if you like.
"The tour begins with a visit to Tay Ninh, near the Cambodian border, home to the unique Cao Dai sect, whose patron saints include Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo and Winston Churchill to name a few. The religion is an odd mix of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. The trip to Tay Ninh is combined with a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels. At its height, the tunnel system stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border and was three levels deep. Today the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction giving the visitor a unique experience and a feel of what underground life in the war must have been like. The tour includes a local Vietnamese lunch."
The Cao Dai sect was an interesting religion. I think it is unique to Vietnam. Their temple was also nice, very colorful. We were able to witness their ceremony a bit. Something new as well. The high priests / sect officials were in blue, yellow and red robes. So the site inside the temple during the ceremony was a pretty one.
I was excited about the Cu Chi tunnels. You know, the Vietnam War made the country famous. That war saw the vulnerability of America. So it's interesting to learn how these tunnels were instrumental on their victory, and America's defeat.
We were made also to went inside the tunnels - which was for me scary especially on the part where it was really dark. As there were a lot of exits, my friend and I went out on the nearest exit we could find. But all in all it was a good experience.
The real tunnels are actually so small. Most westerners will not fit in! But they made those tunnels extra big for them.
Overall the experience was good. We got back to the hotel around 5pm.
We had dinner and tried their Highlands Coffee. As we saw a lot of Highlands coffees hops around Saigon, we wanted to try them too. They say that Vietnam is famous for its coffee and so we just want to try their uppity coffee shop. I didn't find the place we went very comfy. I still find the experience in Starbucks is way better. I don't know maybe the branch we visited wasn't the best around town. Maybe other Highlands Coffee places are nicer. Check their site if you want, http://highlandscoffee.com.vn/aboutus_whoweare.html.
Next Day 3 - off to Cambodia...
