Stanley's pictures: Day Thirteen,

another early start,

a quick breakfast,

bacon, gherkins, tea and toast,

on each of the tables in the lobby there was a lovely orchid on display,

our car and driver arrived along with our lady guide for the day Chi,

I was idly taking a few pictures as we moved out of town then I spotted it,

a Jollibee! Diana was so happy, but it was a long way from the hotel, but we may make it there,

I continued taking pictures,

the numbers of motorbikes out here has to be seen to be believed, Chi mentioned that Saigon has a population of 10 million people, there will be days when it appears everyone of them owns a motorbike!

speaking of motorbikes this is where you go to buy a large capacity imported one, it is also the dealership for Minis,

over the railway line that goes to Hanoi, the railway line from Hanoi station to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) station is a distance of 1726 kilometres, the journey takes approximately 34 hours, if you fancy the trip the prices and times are here,

as we made our way out of town every so often there would we a plethora of shops all selling the same thing, yesterday we went through the wood carving area, today marble carving shops,

giving way to massage parlours,

and then garden centres,

a bit difficult to see but the tricycle in the middle of the picture has a load of steel about 3 times the length of his bike!

if ever you see a truck decorated like this it is a hearse transporting a body, we then made our way along Highway 22,

we arrived at our first stop, the Workability International workshop, the group champions the right to work of any person who has a disability or is otherwise marginalised, so everybody here has some form of disability, but rather than resort to begging or living off of the state can be gainfully employed,

this is a factory that specialise in lacquer ware and inlaid mother of pearl and duck egg,

yes I had to read that again, duck egg inlay, each process had a number of steps,

typically from 9 to 13,

we started our walk around the workshop,

as workers,

completed each stage of production,

some inlaying,

whilst at another workstation,

the product was being etched,

as the work piece goes through each station,

the surface is built up to the level of the finished product,

delicate,

and painstaking work,

then comes the reveal,

as the work is is placed in water and fine abrasive materials are used to remove superfluous material,

we made our back through the workshop,

the level of skill here has to be seen to be believed, take this lacquered screen with mother of pearl inlay,

on each of the creatures each scale has been painstakingly etched into the mother of pearl,

and this is the gentleman that performs such a delicate task,

no second chances here,

amazing!

we watched another worker,

working on a panel,

the pieces she was using,

were traced and cut out using a light-box,

we had a final look at the workers,

and made a small purchase before leaving in the hope that more centres like this one will open,

we past the extinct volcano known as Núi Bà Đen meaning 'Black Lady Mountain' in the 18th century there was conflict between Trinh King and Nguyen Kinh that had put the country into turmoil, around this time a story of love and death emerged, for the full story have a look here,

we then arrived at our next destination, some 60 miles or so north-west of Saigon,

the Cao Dai temple,

it has the creed that, 'all religions are one'

it encompasses five religions, Shakyamuni (Buddhism), Lao Tze (Taoism), Confucius (Confucianism), Jesus Christ (Christianity), Jiang Ziya (Geniism),

and within those all should live in peace and harmony,

the Caodaist church has similarities with that of a state, there are similarities between the hierarchy of the Caodaist clergy and that of the Catholic Church, besides the Pope, the Caodaist hierarchy has Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, and further ranks, the church also uses many symbols, I guess most of us have heard of yin and yang, the two forces that balance the universe, this religion is where the symbols come from,

the church itself is stunning,

outside it is decorated with figures,

and the all seeing eye,

Chi very kindly took this picture of us,

we made our way inside,

one of the side entrances with spectacular lions each side of the steps,

inside followers at prayers,

the ceiling,

and pillars richly decorated,

the central rose,

each window with an all seeing eye,

along both sides of the building,

at the far end, the altar,

in the entrance hall is a painting of the Three Saints signing a covenant between God and humanity, from left to right, Sun Yat-sen, Victor Hugo and Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm,

we went up to the balcony,

and took a picture or two there,

a last look,

and we were away,

for lunch,

in a small restaurant,

no problems with the language barrier here, just point!

the restaurants shrine,

our lunch arrived,

a selection of chicken, pork, rice and spring rolls with a potato curry,

the restaurants entrance,

and sign,

we passed the Black Lady Mountain again to a place that could not be more opposite than the one we had just visited, from the peace and serenity of the temple,

to the screaming terror of war,

we had arrived at the Cu Chi underground tunnels,

at the time of the war this would have been jungle,

but it is now a museum,

so the top of the ground has been removed,

to expose part of the tunnel system below,

the part we are standing in now is the top or highest of the three levels,

there are two more levels below us,

the map explains where the two main tunnel systems are, the one we are in has 50 miles of tunnels, the larger one to the north has over 250 miles of tunnels,

a typical tunnel entrance,

drop in,

lid above head,

and drop down,

in thick jungle nearly impossible to see,

the tunnels provide refuge for the Viet Cong (VC), and for the unwary looking for them traps were spread like this,

a simple trap door,

we continued our walk,

looking at parts of the tunnel system that had been exposed,

some of the entrances impossibly small,

a tree growing in this one,

the area has been cleared to make it easy to walk, but at the time would have been covered with forest litter,

a number of camps have been set up in the area,

using battle dress of the time,

also here,

a relic from the war,

a tank that had run over a delay mine in 1970,

a fire trench,

in both directions,

at another area there was a display of booby traps,

all simple,

and easy to make,

but vicious,

in their effectiveness,

I can not even think,

of the horrors,

of walking into any of them,

or tripping a trip wire as you open a door,

or having one of these swing at you from a tree,

we made or way down to another part of the system,

where unexploded ordnance,

was recycled,

to the advantage of the VC,

also here was shooting range,

where you could purchase ammunition and let fly with a few rounds, I have fired a few guns with Juu in Pattaya, so did not feel the wish to fire any more,

we were then shown a rice paper demonstration,

in the tunnels the VC had to provide everything,

a look down to the second level,

everything had to be below ground, the manufacture of clothing, schools and hospitals,

recycling car and truck tyres into flip-flops,

we past one of the huge craters left after a USA bombing raid,

then it was our turn to go into the tunnels,

ladies first,

and down to the second level we went,

it does not look it here, but a bit further back it was a very tight fit!

it was no great problem for Diana and the guide, but for me I could not crouch that low,

so I was on hands and knees, it was hot and humid and definitely not to be recommended to those that do not like enclosed spaces, I would have liked to have continued down to the third level, but my knees were so sore, next time I will wear long trousers or use some form of knee protector,

we continued our walk,

past stands of bamboo growing in bomb craters,

we next made our way to a meeting room,

again the topsoil had been removed,

and replaced with a thatched roof of nipa palm leaves,

a wash and brush up next under a piece of bamboo with holes in it that water comes out off and a brush down of encrusted sand from my knees,

we past another bomb crater,

then arrived at the kitchens, this one opened for us to see but at the time would have been underground, now this was really neat, cooking was only allowed in the late afternoon, but what about the smells and the smoke? the smoke was fed through 3 separate rooms each one helped the smoke to disperse and clear,

the final room led to piles of leaves, so that in the morning all that would be seen of the little remaining smoke would look like an early morning mist, going back to smells dogs were brought in to sniff out VC airways, where fresh air entered or expelled, but this was easily over come we were told, small pieces of clothing or other items that smelt of Americans would be placed near airways, so the dogs would recognise the small of a friend and not an enemy,

we then tried some food that the VC used, it tasted like a dry boiled potato and with tea was pleasant,

Diana strikes the pose,

we made our way back past other now exposed tunnel entrances,

to a small theatre to watch a programme about the war,

a last picture and we were on our way,

back to Saigon,

it was late afternoon, so things were getting busy on the roads, interchanges like this one saw motorbikes meeting head on,

the drivers weaving in and out trying to miss the oncoming bikes,

then the rush hour really began!

we stopped first for a quick drink,

at the mezzanine,

a shower and a change and we were out,

for a walk and a meal,

to one of Diana's favourite restaurants Burger King,

unfortunately one of the signs on the door meant no photographs,

but inside on every set of tables the was a plastic sticker asking you to take photographs and enter the Burger King photographic competition! go figure,