Day 01: SAIGON (CAN THO) & MEKONG RIVER
20 April 2013
20 April 2013
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| Traders on Boat at Mekong River |
We boarded the coach after checking out from the airport and we were happily greeted by our guide Mr. Truong Van Tien, "Tien" for short.
Travel from the airport to Can Tho, where we will be having our breakfast takes atleast 4 hours.
While inside the coach, I was so excited though feeling asleep as I missed it while inside the aircraft, I stayed awake and enjoyed the 4-hour travel feeling as if I was still in Manila. The streets, parks and buildings are almost similar to ours in the Philippines.
If our streets and highways in the Philippines are flooded with jeepneys and buses, in Vietnam, the highways are flooded with sea of motorcycles. According to our guide, there are atleast 5.5 million motorbikes in Saigon alone and in the entire Vietnam, there are atleast 25 million motorbikes.
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| Fruit Stand |
There are many fruit stands at Can Tho, well, in Vietnam, you can find a fruit stand almost anywhere.
Of all the fruits that I tasted, my taste buds will never forget the sweet and sour taste of the Sweet Apple. We don't have this in the Philippines and it looks like lanzones.
At 0500H (Vietnam time), we reached Can Tho. We had a short break and then prepared for a boat ride to see the Floating Market. My excitement was doubled.
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| Sun Rise at Mekong River |
While boarding the motor - powered boat, I got a chance a take few snaps of the beautiful sun rise along Mekong River and I was lucky. The river turned like a gold.
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| Native Boat |
We started our boat ride at around 0630H on Mekong River. Though the waters are murky, I didn't see floating trash and plastics except the green lilies. I almost told myself that the Mekong River can be compared to our Pasig River but not. Mekong is alive and neat.
Along the river banks, there are houses most of which are made of woods. After about an hour boat ride, we stopped at a floating gas station to re-fuel our vessel.
We were told by our guide that the busiest time at the floating market is from 0700H to 0900H everyday.
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| Floating Market |
At around 0730H, we were at the floating market. I was completely impressed. As if I was looking at small versions of the Galleon ships. Most of the merchandize are fruits and vegetables and they are cheap.
I told myself, maybe the secret of Vietnam people behind their being "Slim" is because they consume a lot of fresh vegetables and fresh fruits.
The Floating Market at the Mekong River is truly a feast of the eye - each boat is filed with colorful vegetables and fruits. I enjoyed taking pictures. It was totally a new experience for me.
At around 0830H, we turned back and head towards the other side of the river bank to see a village called My Khan.
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MY KHANH VILLAGE & BINH THUY
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| My Khanh Village |
After enjoying the boat ride cruising along the Mekong River and moving around the floating market, we visited a nearby village called My Khanh. The place is like an orchard. According to our guide, the place is more than 8 hectares in area filled with various tropical fruit trees like mangosteen, cocoa, rambotan and others.
We had a sumptuous brunch at a nice restaurant. The food was so healthy and nice - fresh vegetables, tasty soup and of course, the best coffee I ever tasted - Vietnamese coffee.
After indulging ourselves with nice foods, we started exploring the orchard. The first place that we visited was the Binh Thuy ancient house.
Binh Thuy is a 100 year-old wooden house that, according to our guide, formerly belong to a noble family in Vietnam. After the Vietnam war, the owner decided to donate it to the government and converted it as a museum.
The structure is still intact - it is more of a Chinese architecture. Inside, there is an altar with a wooden Buddha and several antique furnitures.
Few meters away from the Binh Thuy house is a small native house and inside is where the Vietnam traditional rice paper is being made. We enjoyed tasting several native delicacies like the rice cake.
There is also a crocodile area filled with tourist nearby. Though the crocodiles are young, there are lots of them and they are active. Crocodile catching - is actually feeding the crocodile with a piece of chicken meat hooked on a nylon cord suspended at the tip of a flexing bamboo stick.
One of the shows at the orchard that I considered "very funny" was the pig race. Five hungry piglets raced along a metal fenced track towards the other end of the line where the sumptuous pig food awaited them. One of our teammates decided to bet. According to the master of the show, the winner takes the pig as the reward. Luckily, we didn't win.
After the piggy show, we started to get hungry and our guide told us that we had to "fish" for our lunch. The fishing area is about few hundred meters away from the pig race track and we walked.
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| Fishing Village |
Both sides of the way are filled with mangosteen and cocoa fruits. There is also a "horror" theater nearby but it was closed at that time.
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| Fishing at a Pond wearing Traditional Vietnamese Farmer Dress (Photo courtesy of Maggie Parani) |
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| A Bailer is use to catch Mud Fish (Photo courtesy of Maggie Parani) |
At first, I thought that it would be a normal fishing activity with a fishing pole and a bait. Unfortunately, I was completely mistaken.
They told us that we have to fish inside a muddy ditch using a Vietnamese Bailer wearing native Vietnamese farmer black uniform. Five of us volunteered.
I was the second one to get into the muddy ditch. It was very slippery. The mud is knee-deep and very sticky. We had to catch atleast 6 mud fish using the bailer and our bare hands.
This was the most challenging yet the funniest part of the show. We spent atleast 45 minutes catching the slippery mud fish. We enjoyed so very much.
After catching the 6 mud fish, we took a shower and then proceed to a nearby shaded park to watch three notorious monkeys perform acrobatic stunts.
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| Monkey Show |
I have to admit, the monkeys are well trained. They are good at - balancing, biking, and others. At the end of the show, the smallest of them wend around collecting donations from the audience.
After the show, we had a sumptuous lunch and we were served with fresh vegetables, fruits, soup and the mud fish from the muddy ditch.
While having lunch, we were serenaded with a Vietnamese traditional song.
At around 0300H, we left My Khan village and head back to Saigon.
At Saigon, after having a dinner at the hotel, we decided to visit the famous night market. The night market is the "Divisoria" of Saigon. Most of the merchandise are apparels and trekking bags.
I picked up a nice trekking backpack and a fleece jacket for 700,000 VND or Php1.4k after nearly an hour of negotiation with the vendor.
This concluded our day 1 adventure at Vietnam.
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Day 02: April 21, 2013 - At FDI Office
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| FDI Office Reception |
at 0800H, we arrived at the FDI office. We were all warmly welcomed by the management and staff of FDI. In fact, everyone was standing when we entered the office, everyone was ready to welcome us.
I have to say that the owner, Ms. Phuong Lien, is so accommodating - beyond of what I was expecting.
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| FDI Office Vietnam |
We were all introduce to each other. The office is so corporate and very nice.
We left FDI office at around 0900H to continue our Vietnam exploration.
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CAO DAI PAGODA
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| Cao Dai Pagoda |
From FDI office, we head on to Tay Ninh to visit a Pagoda. The Pagoda is the official place of worship of the followers of a religion called Cao Dai.
We reached Tay Ninh at around 1100H and the Pagoda compound was still closed at that time. The prayer and ceremony officially start at 1200H until 1300H, according to our guide.
Since it was still early, we decided to take our lunch at nearby restaurant.
At 1200H, we went inside the pagoda compound to witness the ceremony.
According to Wikipedia, Cao Đài (Vietnamese: [kāːw ɗâːj] ( listen), also Caodaism or Caodaiism) is a relatively modern syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tây Ninh, southern Vietnam in 1926. Due to its young age, it shows its syncretistic roots more than older religions. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name; its full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (Great Religion [of The] Third Period [of] Revelation [and] Salvation).
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| Interior of the Pagoda |
Cao means "high" and Đài means "dais" (as in a platform or altar raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it). Figuratively, it means that highest spiritual place where God reigns. Caodaiists often use the term Đức Cao Đài (Venerable Cao Đài) as the abbreviated name for God, the creator of the universe, whose full title is Cao Đài Tiên Ông Đại Bồ Tát Ma-ha-tát (translation: Cao Đài [the] Ancient Sage [and] Great Bodhisattva Mahasattva).
According to Caodaiists, the full title was purposefully chosen by God because within it are representations of the Three Teachings: Saint, Sage and Buddha. Caodaiists credit God as the religion's founder.
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| The Balcony |
They believe the teachings, symbolism and organization were communicated directly from God. Even the construction of the Tây Ninh Holy See is claimed to have had divine guidance. Cao Đài's first disciples, Ngô Văn Chiêu, Cao Quỳnh Cư, Phạm Công Tắc and Cao Hoài Sang, claimed to have received direct communications from God, who gave them explicit instructions for establishing a new religion that would commence the Third Era of Religious Amnesty.
The temple is very decorative and colorful. We were only permitted to walk at the side of the temple and entered through the side door. We had to remove our slippers and shoes before entering the temple.
The temple interior is also very decorative. I noticed two of the front pillars with a pulpit similar to the pulpit of the old Catholic church.
I personally would like to take some more pictures, but I was restricted by the temple guard.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed exploring Cao Dai.
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CU CHI TUNNELS
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| Cu Chi Tunnel |
According to Wikipedia, The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968.
The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped achieve ultimate military success.
Before we proceed, we were briefed by our guide - it's all about the Vietnam war.
We were gathered inside an excavated camp. Our guide was so good at explaining everything about the Vietnam war. There was a film aside from the map showing the geography of those who resisted the Americans, the location of the civilians and those who were with the Americans.
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| Trap |
Right after the briefing we started walking inside the jungle. The first tunnel that we saw was a small one - enough for a typical Vietnamese guerrilla. The cover above with dried leaves served as camouflage.
I salute the ingenuity of the Vietnamese warriors with all the deadly traps they made during the war. Those who fall into it, I'm sure, had a very painful death.
Nearby the small tunnel was a termite-hive like air vent for the tunnels below. According to our guide, during the war, the guerrillas would scatter pepper around the vent so as not to be sniffed by trained dogs.
There is also a firing range at the area. Bullets of different calibers are for sale.
Before getting inside the tunnels, there was a short briefing again. There is a "short tunnel" and a long one.
According to the authority at the Cu Chi, the tunnels were already enlarged from the original size for easier maneuvering inside.
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| Inside the Tunnel |
I took the "long tunnel". While inside the tunnel, I remembered Corregidor tunnel where we had our duck-walk.
I had very nice experience and enjoyed the place.
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Day 03: April 22, 2013 - REUNIFICATION PALACE
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| Reunification Palace |
One of the highlights of our visit to Vietnam is to see the Reunification palace. This is the equivalent of our Palacio de Malacañáng.
According to our guide, construction of the first Palace took place during the colonial period in Vietnam - during the invasion of France.
The first palace was named after the King of Cambodia - Norodom, hence Norodom Palace.
During the World War II, Japan defeated the French in Vietnam and the Norodom Palace became the Japanese headquarter in Vietnam.
After the defeat of Japan in 1945, France returned to Vietnam and restored the Norodom Palace.
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| Palace Interior |
The destruction of the Norodom Palace, according to our guide, happened during the Vietnam war sometime in 1962, when two pilots rebelled, flew two bomber jets and bombed the Palace and it was almost completely destroyed.
Since the damage of the bombing on the structure of Norodom Palace was so severe, it was ordered for demolition and the construction of the present building started on July 01, 1962 following the design from a Vietnamese famous architect Ngo Viet Thu.
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| Executive Room |
According to the historians in Vietnam, the present Palace was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.
I was amazed by the design of the interior of the Palace. It has four (4) flours. The prominent rooms include the President's Office in the Hall, The Old War room Underneath the Palace, Roof of Reunification Palace and the Banquet Chamber in the Independence Hall.
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WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM
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| War Remnants Museum |
For the past two days, we were always been happy and excited of the different places that we explored.
Seeing the War Remnants Museum had completely melted my heart. For me, this is the saddest part our travel.
The museum is operated by the Vietnamese government, according to Wikipedia, an incipient form of museum opened on September 4, 1975, as the "Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes" (Vietnamese: Nhà trưng bày tội ác Mỹ-ngụy), located in the premises of the former United States Information Agency building.
The exhibition was not the first of its kind for the North Vietnamese side, but rather followed a tradition of such exhibitions exposing "war crimes", first those of the French and then those of the Americans, who had operated at various locations of the country as early as 1954.
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| War Picture |
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| War Picture |
This museum reminded of the same war museum in the Philippines at Corregidor. A foreign lady, a tourist, was shedding her tears while looking at the photographs and reading the captions.
A picture of an abandoned child squatting at the ground left by his parents when they evacuated the place with the fear of getting executed by the inbound infantries of the United States.
I was thinking what could have happened to the child...
Although there are some books saying that the museum is entirely one-sided (on the side of North Vietnamese), one thing is very clear, war is hell !!
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| Notre-Dame Basilica in Saigon |
I was so happy to see a Catholic church in Vietnam, particularly in Ho Chi Minh. As a believer, I felt more safe being around and inside the church.
I love the Gothic and Roman-style architecture of the church. Officially, the church name is "Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception."
The church, I must say, is a favorite place for taking pictures specially to those who are getting settled whether they are Catholics or not.
The vicinity of the church is much like those in the Philippines, there were few vendors of Rosaries and other religious objects.
I enjoyed so very much being inside the church and taking few shots with my camera.
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| Basilica Interior |
Wikipedia: Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (Vietnamese: Vương cung thánh đường Đức Bà Sài Gòn or Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn, French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saïgon), officially Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception (Vietnamese: Vương cung thánh đường Chính tòa Đức Mẹ Vô nhiễm Nguyên tội) is a cathedral located in the downtown of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet).
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| Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
All the original building materials were imported from France. Tiles have been carved with the words Guichard Carvin, Marseille St André France (perhaps stating the locality where the tiles were produced). Some tiles are carved with the words "Wang-Tai Saigon". Many tiles have since been made in Ho Chi Minh City to replace the tiles that were damaged by the war. There are 56 glass squares supplied by the Lorin firm of Chartres province in France. The cathedral foundation was designed to bear ten times the weight of the cathedral.
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CENTRAL POST OFFICE
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| Central Post Office |
The architecture is nice.
According to Wikpedia, Saigon Central Post Office (Vietnamese: Buu di?n Trung tâm Sài Gòn, French: Poste centrale de Saïgon) is a post office in the downtown Ho Chi Minh City, near Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, the city's main church. The building was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the early 20th century. It has a neoclassical architectural style. It was designed and constructed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel in harmony with the surrounding area. Today, the building is a tourist attraction.
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| Central Post Office Interior |
Inside the Saigon Central Post office of special note are two painted maps that were created just after the post office was first built, the first one located on the left side of the building is a map of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia titled ‘Lignes telegraphiques du Sud Vietnam et Cambodge 1892' which translates to ‘Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892” The second map of greater Saigon is titled ‘Saigon et ses environs 1892' translating to ‘Sai Gon and its environment 1892. It was constructed between 1886-1891
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