Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam - Day 5

Today I took a tour of the Cao Dai Temples where they combine Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism into one religion. Services at the temple, held daily at noon, 6 pm, midnight and 6 am, offer another glimpse of this East-meets-West eclecticism. An orchestra of 10 musicians and a choir of 20 youths lead the congregation in prayer. The hymns are much closer to Christian spirituals than traditional Buddhist or Taoist chanting, but the music is unmistakably Vietnamese. The mix, neither wholly Vietnamese nor wholly Western, is both very exotic and incredibly spiritual. During the forty-minute prayer session, a Cao Dai follower explains, the presence of God comes into the chapel and gazes out at the congregation through the Divine Eye.

Worshippers are separated by gender - men on the right and women on the left. In contrast to the vivid colors of the temple, lay followers and women wear pure white. Men with the rank of priest and higher are robed in solid colors depending on their spiritual allegiance within Caodaism: yellow (symbolizing Buddhism and virtue), blue (Taoism and pacifism) or red (Confucianism and authority). Bishops and cardinals also have an eye emblazoned on their headpieces.

I also went to the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Vietnamese fought the Americans during the war using a complicated system of tunnels and traps. I got to climb down into one of the original tunnel entrances and I got stuck - shoulders were too wide to fit through the hole. I also went 60 ft underground through the tunnels. I’ve never felt claustrophobic before…but those tunnels are tiny – in certain parts of the tunnels you had to crawl and are really hot - I was drenched with sweat by the time I was done.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam - Day 5