In this great future, you can’t forget your past

Currently in the Sai Gon airport (and will continue writing on plane). Heading north to Hanoi. I always prefer boat/bus/train to plane, but alas time does not permit.

Good day yesterday travelling around Sai Gon. Travelled just outside Tay Ninh to visit the head temple of the Cao Dai. It is a very interesting religion that was not formalized until the 1920s (but has roots in the 1800s). They combine Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity (Catholicism). They have 2-3 million followers worldwide (mostly in Vietnam). They also have 3 patron saints… a Vietnamese mystic (Trinh Trang?), Sun Yat Sen (the Chinese revolutionary of the early 1900s), and Victor Hugo. I wish I could provide more detail (because this is certainly an interesting trinity), but do not have it at this time. They pray 4 times daily in the temple and we watched the noon ceremony. I did not understand it very well, but the participants were well organized (in almost military parade ground fashion) in the temple. When a gong sounded they would bow and repeat mini-bows 4 times.

From there we went to the Cu Chi tunnels (yes… it is pronounced in the same way that would make a school boy snicker). We saw a movie that was filled with propaganda and was pretty disappointing (not just to me… an American… but to many of my fellow… non-American… travelers). I will say that this has not been the attitude of the people I have met. In order to promote re-unification, it seems that the government has decided to ignore the ~500,000 South Vietnamese casualties. The video further showed a teenage girl successfully conducting guerilla campaigns. This is in contrast to the War Remembrance Museum where the US was criticized for targeting such girls. I can appreciate the quandary that many troops found themselves in… is this young girl going to kill me or not? You have a split second to make a decision… clock is ticking…

In the evening I headed for dinner in the upscale Dong Khoi region; not far from the more backpacker oriented Pham Ngu Lau region I had been staying in. Both regions are in District 1 and Sai Gon has 16 urban and 5 rural districts. For the traveler/ex-pat most things are found in or around District 1. The Dong Khoi region has some more interesting architecture than the Pham Ngu Lau region, but feels weird being so high end. There is a rising middle class in Vietnam, but most of my interactions have been with the working class.

I befriended a hostess at a bar (not that kind of hostess or that kind of bar!) who worked with me on my Vietnamese. I came in for a beer (Sai Gon Red!) and since the bar was not crowded she sat down with me. Tho (pronounced Thuh) was from the Mekong Delta (southern Vietnam) and had moved to Sai Gon for school. This seems to be a pretty typical thing to do and I have found youth urbanization movements in Thailand and Cambodia (but not as much in Lao). She is studying hotel/tourism management. Her schedule is very difficult, but once again typical of many of the folks in the working class. Her classes start at ~7am and run till 11am every day save Sunday. From 11am-7pm she studies/sleeps. From 7pm-7am she works at the bar (it is open 24-hours). She says she gets about 4 hours of sleep/day except on Sunday when she can sleep more. Two more years of school… good luck my friend.

New picture at:
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd180/cl8onj1s/Mekong%202008/Sai%20Gon/