Sunday, March 26, 2006

Cao Daism and the Cu Chi Guerillas

Pictured is the temple of the Cao Dai holy see in Tay Ninh, near Saigon. The link above is a synopsis, their official page is here, but the most interesting bit is this: it's a religion founded in the 1920's that recognizes three saints (I kid you not): Confucius, Lao Tse, and SAINT VICTOR HUGO. Yes, the same Victor Hugo. After visiting the temple with some lovely English ladies I met on the bus, we went to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. Long story short, during the 1st and 2nd Indochina wars, the Cu Chi locals supported the Communists, and built a huge network of tunnels in the forest in which to travel around and hide from the huge amount of bombs that were dropped on them. 'Hardcore' really doesn't begin to describe it. 'Tiny tunnels with lots of booby traps' does, though. Picture.

3 comments:

laura said...

that temple looks like a big birthday cake. and the tunnel story is awesome!

khris said...

interesting.... i wish you could have taken one inside it...

Joe said...

That's a very cool building. Those three saints brings back memories of a song on Sesame Street: One of these things is not like the others..." Hope you're having fun, Matt. Que te viajas bien.
-Joe Krahn