Black Lady Mountain, Cao Dai Temple, & Dinner with a friend

After a stunning and delicious early breakfast buffet we headed out of town.  Leaving Saigon and the "suburbs" behind, we drove through small villages on bumpy roads, past the Cu Chi Tunnels to Black Lady Mtn.  Up the cable car we headed, amidst lush green foliage.  At the top was a beautiful pagoda and temple, with throngs of people offering rice, fruit and money while they prayed.  The temple and pagoda are cared for by a group of monks who live on the top.  A truly amazing experience, and we were the only Westerners on the cable car and at the temple. 

Leaving Black Lady behind, we headed to the Cao Dai headquarters and temple.  Phil will have to explain this unique religion to those who are interested, but basically it developed here sometime in the 1920s, has about 2 million followers in South Vietnam, and a mammoth, beautiful temple with a set of rituals that are unique.  The pictures(when we get them uploaded) will do a much better job at describing this.  The observant attend a "service", where they sit on the floor, grouped by their "rank" in the church, mostly dressed in traditional white garb, and chant and pray.  We were honored to be allowed to observe part of the service.  Wait till you see the pictures.....

In a torrential rain, (while Terry napped & Phil had a massage), Roberta and I headed out to the big Saigon market.  A maze of hundreds of stalls, and many people(buyers and sellers).  Bargains galore, but almost impossible to figure out what to buy and how much to pay for it.  A unique mixture of Vietnamese items(silk, lacquerware, etc) and "knock offs" of famous brand perfume, handbags, shoes and jewelry.  After an hour we were exhausted, the rain pouring down, so we treated ourselves to a cab back to the hotel, where we had an amusing time trying to figure out how much to pay our driver.

After a quick rest & shower, we met my friend from Wind Crest, Lorrie Lutz, for dinner.  Amazingly enough we had realized some months ago that we would be here at the same time.  She is teaching at a conference this week quite nearby.  We had a lovely time catching up, eating Vietnamese BBQ, and exchanging tales about our travels and adventures so far. Chocolate fondue was a perfect ending to a long and enchanting day.

On to the Mekong Delta tomorrow,

Still raining, streets flooding,

Barbara