Day 4 Tay Ninh and Nui Ba Den

We got up early this morning and drove about 2 ½ hours outside of Ho Chi Minh City to the city of Tay Ninh. The city is situated close to the Cambodian border. We wound through the streets of Saigon until we reached the outskirts of the city. There we drove on a 4 lane highway through the countryside all the way to our destination. The drive was very interesting as we passed by miles and miles of rice paddies and rural homes. All along the roadside cows were tethered so that they could graze in the ditches and grassy areas. Many of the rice paddies that were not being cultivated were filled with grazing water buffaloes. We passed several carts being pulled by teams of oxen. I was really surprised at the size of some of the oxen. Most of them would have weighed 2000 pounds or better. The trailers that they were pulling were made from the rear ends of large, medium duty trucks. The cart alone was a major load.

We reached the city of Tay Ninh about 11:00 and we made our way directly to the Cao Dai temple. Cao Dai is a very unique religion that was begun right here in the city of Tay Ninh. The religion holds very strange beliefs that mix Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity. They believe that Jesus descended from God along with Buddha and Victor Hugo. They also hold approximately 70 saints which include Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, Jr. Their temple complex and worship ceremony is something to see. It is very colorful. The practitioners of the faith worship four times a day at 6 am, 12 pm, 6 pm, and 12 am. We were there for the 12 pm service and we got to watch the event.

Anyone who enters the temple must remove their shoes at the sidewalk just as the practitioners do. Visitors are welcome and the people inside the temple showed us around and explained some things to us. The center area is off limits to visitors and they are not allowed to step into the area which is identified with different color tiles. Men must enter the temple from the right hand side and women from the left. We walked around the inside and then waited for the service to begin. During the service, visitors had to watch from the overhead balcony area.

After we left the Cao Dai Temple, we drove about 10 km out of Tay Ninh to an ancient, dead volcano known as Nui Ba Den or The Black Virgin Mountain. The mountain can be seen for miles around as it ominously rises from the rest of the flat rice growing land that surrounds it.  The mountain holds religious significance for followers of both Cao Daism and Buddhism. Atop the mountain there are a couple of Buddhist temples and a number of monks who live there. The area is also now home to a theme park of sorts that has a sky bucket lift that goes up the mountain and a large alpine slide that comes down it. The whole place is old and ramshackle and I had no doubt that it was not on the to-do list for many Westerners. I did not see a single non-Vietnamese person there. DeanAnne was reluctant to get on the sky buckets, but I moved ahead and took the boys right on up. When we got to the top we saw many Vietnamese people who had come to pray and burn incense in the temples. We took a few pictures, and while we were there, we saw some monkeys. It was definitely a unique experience and the view was beautiful. You could look out over the delta area from the top and see for miles. American forces used the mountain as a radio relay outpost and the area was the scene of some intense fighting as the Ho Chi Minh Trail ended just a few kilometers away from the mountain. Viet Cong soldiers used many of the caves in the mountain to stash supplies and ammunition. Just seeing the place is enough to confirm that the mountain would have been a coveted piece of territory.

We drove back to Saigon from Nui Ba Den and the traffic was terrible. I took some pictures just to show how crazy it was. I think we are going to stick around the hotel area tomorrow and give the boys a chance to recover. They were exhausted by all of the day’s riding.  

I also wanted to share a picture of the toilets at Nui Ba Den with everybody. You better make sure you go before you walk up the mountain. If you fall because your legs are weak, there's no telling where you might end up. At least the women don't have to worry about the men leaving the seat up.