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A Cao Dai Temple - high priest and women leading chanting
No - I have not joined the nazis!
Remaining stilt houses
Wok Shop
Getting Out of District One – 20 June 2008.
On Saturday, deciding that I deserved some time away from my text books and flash cards I arranged with Mr Minh to go on a tour around some parts of the city outside of the central District One where I have spent most of my time. District One has almost all of the publicized tourist attractions and is a captivating place but there is much more to the city. For nearly five hours we scooted around nosing into narrow lanes and passing places where goods of all sorts are made and sold. Mr Minh is a great guide. He is responsive to individual preferences and knowledgably answered my myriad of questions. He speaks English really well but with a strong accent and the typically Vietnamese practice of not pronouncing the final sounds of words so at times, particularly when making our way through the traffic, I found him difficult to understand but I have learnt to apply the 80% rule – ie don’t try to understand every word, just aim for understanding of about 80% of the overall content.
Firstly we followed the Sai Gon River for quite some distance. Although Ho Chi Minh is a long way from the sea it is a port city and the rivers are major highways. Thousands of boats, from hefty rusting barges to tiny wooden canoes conduct business on the river. In one area there were many house boats. Bedecked with pot plants, sun umbrellas, cooking facilities, fishing poles and lines of washing they reminded me a lot of the canal boats in England.
Along parts of the river banks there are still clutters of ramshackle houses precariously teetering over the river of crooked wooden stilts but these are being progressively removed as the city is being modernized. Large areas of old housing are being knocked down and replaced by tall apartment blocks which provide homes for those who can afford them. I do not know the fate of the people who have been moved to make way for this “progress” but I suspect that it is not wonderful.
There is incredible poverty in this city. Some people, including many with devastating disabilities, live in scraps of buildings with few possessions but there is also incredible wealth. The contrast between the opulent houses and hotels with the adjacent shacks and hovels is jarring. Under the constant barrage of hawkers and beggars I have become somewhat desensitized to the poverty around me but sometimes the desperation of people’s lives takes my breath away. Perhaps because of the war and its legacy of land mines and genetic mutation, there are many people here with significant disabilities. Some have rudimentary trolleys and some use ingenious three wheeled chairs that are efficiently propelled with a backward and forward motion of a steering wheel but some are much less fortunate. The other night I saw a man making his way across the road. Without legs his body stopped at the base of his torso. In each hand he clasped a block of wood and, using these for support, he moved, torso swinging, painfully slowly across the street. On my way to school I regularly pass a woman who sits with a man beside her, his misshapen body and limbs lie folded in seemingly impossible angles. With daily sights such as these I thought that I had seen the worst of possible situations but Pat described to me a person he encountered the other night. In heavy rain this person, who had limbs that appeared to be “like jelly, as if they had no bones”, made his way down the wet, filthy and crowded street by rolling over and over. Unable to mount the high gutters he had to continue for some distance until a sloping entrance way allowed him to roll up on to the footpath. This is not a good place for people without sound bodies. I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the difficulties they face and very grateful for the privileges we have in New Zealand.
I wanted to visit the famous Cao Dai Holy See temple some distance from HCMC but the only tours I could find there were linked with visits to the Cu Chi Tunnels that I do not want to see. Other travelers who had made the trip told me that they only had a short, unsatisfying time at the temple so I decided to ask Mr Minh if there was one I could visit in the city. This turned out to be extremely interesting. I arrived at noon when they were beginning a service and quietly sat on the floor at the back. After a while a young man dressed in white joined me and said that it was fine to take photos. He then took me on a tour of the temple including climbing ladders up to the top of the tower. The Cao Dai temples are unlike any of the other temples and pagodas here. A relatively young religion it was formed in 1926 and is an amalgam of many eastern and western religions including Confucianism, Buddhism, Toaism, Christianity, Islam and Vietnamese spiritualism. Apparently the fundamental objective of the movement is the unifying of all religions, and for individuals, the breaking of cycles of karma and reincarnation. Through séances they say they commune with the dead including people like William Shakespeare, Joan of Arc and Lenin. I don’t know if Elvis has been in for a chat yet.
The temples are very ornate and decorated with bright colors, particularly red, yellow and teal. The arched ceilings are pale blue and decorated with clouds and glittering stars. On the front of the buildings and at the alters there is a large “divine eye” somewhat reminiscent of the masons.
The temple I visited is not as grand as the famous Holy See but, being the only visitor and being welcomed so warmly more than made up for the smaller size. At the end of my tour the young man did tell me his sad tale of trying to learn English without having enough money for text books which he was confident that I could help him with. He also entreated me to spend time with him on understanding list of English expressions and colloquialisms. I gave him some assistance with both but was keen to get back to the patient Mr Minh who had been waiting for almost an hour.
Throughout my day with Mr Minh I was again struck by the Vietnamese approach of grouping very specific businesses together. As we moved around we passed areas where different types of goods are sold including wooden furniture, chrome goods, plastic bowls, ropes, fabric, bridal accessories, health products, electronics and baskets. I have always assumed that most of these sorts of products are made in large factories but in tiny little rooms, open to the road all, sorts of items are manufactured. The chrome shower caddy, steel shovel head or plastic flowers that we might buy in NZ may well have come from one of these cottage industries. I asked Mr Minh to take me to an area where I might by silk threads and decorative sewing items thinking that I might find some treats to send home to Jenny. As we arrived at a narrow lane crowded on both sides with threads, ribbons, lace and the like I was feeling very hopeful but disappointingly everything was manufactured fiber or plastic and not at all inviting. I was also interested in buying speakers for my laptop but Mr Minh did warn me that buying electronic items can be risky as it is not uncommon second hand items such as computers to be repainted, packaged and sold as new.
Trying to ascertain whether or not things are genuine is a difficult problem here. Frustrated with some of the limitations of my little point-and-shoot camera, but finding digital so much more convenient that film, I have been contemplating buying a SLR digital. To this end I have visited a number of shops to discuss options. Some of the cameras look great and are probably genuine but I have found it impossible to be sure. When I insisted that I wanted to see the instruction book in one store I had to wait for 20 minutes. It arrived with the warmth of the photocopier still apparent on its hastily bound pages. Other shops have assured me that there is a guarantee but on closer questioning it turns out that this is only valid in Vietnam. In the end, given that this is a big purchase that I really can’t afford anyway, I decided that I would stick with what I have and live with the limitations.
Trying to purchase silk has been equally frustrating. I am not sure whether the young women who earnestly assure me that their fabrics are “genuine 100% silk” when some have all the characteristics of cheap nylon, really believe this to be true but they certainly act as though they do. I have bought several wraps and scarves that I love but I am still not sure that they are all the genuine article. I have read a suggestion that you test the fabric with a lighter to see if it burns or melts but I don’t think that would be appreciated in the shop! I do really like many things about the people here in Vietnam but I have come to realize that they are completely unscrupulous as sales people. They will say anything to make a sale – it is certainly a case of buyer beware.
One of the last areas we stopped at was a pet market. Before I came I had heard that, apart for food, the Vietnamese do not like dogs but I do not think this is true. Everywhere I go there are dozens of dogs, most of which are brutally ugly, but they seem to be pets. The purebred dogs and cats in this market were very expensive and certainly not headed for the dinner pot but Mr Minh did say that kidnapping of pets for ransom is a common practice.
It was an interesting and varied day. On reflection it would have been good to have done this sooner in my stay as I did see some areas that I would like to have returned to. I would certainly encourage anyone who comes to Ho Chi Minh City to include a Mr Minh tour in their itinerary.
Here is a picture of "the enormous crocodile"
and here is a picture of an enormous snake. I am glad it was in a cage. 
