Day 2: Cai Dai Temple, Cu Chi Tunnel, and my adoptive Filipino Family

I left Huy's house a little before 7AM so i can make it in an 8USD Cai Dai Temple & Cu Chi Tunnel that I booked the day before.

with Huy

After some confusing transfers and some spiteful stares from a bus full, I made it as the last person in my tour. The delay made me understand better how tour packages in Saigon are simply centralized, hence it's best to go simply with the cheapest price quote. They had to toss me from one group to another, a reality that I explained to my 9 co-Filipino tourists that were so relieved they didn't whine about me being "late", when they realized them and my stealth self came from the same home land.

Tour starting at 9AM, with our guide "Slim Jim", a former South Vietnam soldier

As routine to any tour packages (commission-based profit sharing?), we made a stop at a local handicrafts store to see how wonderful frames & displays are made, handicraft style.

2 hours later we arrived at Cao Dai temple in the city of Tay Ninh. We were there for their 12NN worship ceremony, which the Cao Dai / Caodaiism religion makes open to public as a means to attract tourists and raise awareness of their existence.

Cao Dai followers, which are anywhere between 3-6 million believe in 3 teachings: Catholism, Taoism, and Buddism. As a statement of my purely personal & ignorant opinion, the 3-in-1 instant religion and it's open access to anyone feels less sacred and unfairly placing multiple bets on what belief will get one thru the pearly gates after death. Feel free to Google about this religion, but after several minutes of wondering weather people there have Facebook or Twitter, I opted to just go outside, take pictures and enjoy the breeze.

After lunch we proceed to the highlight of that trip - Cu Chi Tunnel. The whole Guerilla system served as a strong hold against the American soldiers during the Vietnam war, and the trip there served as an interesting exhibit of human traps, guns, and a crouching stroll inside the actual tunnels which left me after with newly exercised quads of steel.

It was actually raining pretty hard that afternoon and until the rest of the evening.My 1-day adoptive Filipino family and I, after coming back to Saigon, bought these disposable rain coats for 0.50USD, which I kept and proved to be useful in several future occasions.

Justin, Jhen, Dang, and the rest of my 1-day adoptive Filipino Family

It was such a chilly evening of walking around, smoking, and coffee shop-hopping, until we had dinner in this Noodle restaurant that served sumptuous chendal and meatball noodle for under 3USD.

We concluded the evening by drinking in one of the local bars that sells cheap Saigon beer, sitting there for hours & hours, sharing our stories until almost mid night. My adoptive family are actually 4 married couples plus a kid, who's families are fond of traveling together. It was actually a very fond family relationship that they have going, and I admire on how, in spite each having kids and responsibilities, that they put special value on travel and their obligation to themselves to still enjoy life.

Slept at around pass midnight. Will need to wake up for another lonesome tour. I remember wondering with a bit of excitement, what kind of new friends will I meet on the upcoming new day. But for today, I exchanged my goodbyes to my adoptive family with a promise that we will travel again when we're all back in the Philippines.