Chúng Ta Đi Part 2

So, once off the bus, I followed Thuy and Diep who were following The Four Ladies. It was a bit disconcerting when one of the ladies asked me what I was doing (following along with them). I explained that I was with Thuy … I guess I had not been mentioned in Thuy’s original discussion with The Four Ladies. However, I was quickly embraced by them and they all had fun trying to say my name … Sheeee-laaaa. It turns out that Mimi (the one with English) lives in Santa Ana and comes back to visit her home town and relatives in Vietnam only every three or four years since her parents passed away. I got a chance to ask her about the confiscation of goods and she said as far as she knew, the people weren’t doing anything illegal and she thought it was very mean to take away goods from poor family people who had only enough money to buy one or two cases of things. Howard, my colleague, told me today he had read that there was going to be a crackdown on illegal imports, but again, the question remains why officials wouldn’t go after the store instead of poor individuals. Someone else said something about tax-free goods. Dunno.
So, I had hopes that we might make the 12 o’clock service at the Cao Dai Temple, but Thuy said it was already past 12 and The Four Ladies were inclined to get some lunch. But first a taxi for 7. No problem. One was quickly dispatched and the driver agreed to basically be at our beck and call for the rest of the afternoon. We went to Cho Long Hoa (big flower market?) and found a stand that could serve us all … I had ban cuong, which is like rice noodles cut up with vegetables and stuff on top and then it has some fish sauce and condiments on it. Yum. A sweet drink, called chè sam bô luong to top it off (more yum) and then we went in search of more treats for The Four Ladies to buy. I can’t begin to tell you how hard it is to describe the types of foodstuff that is available in these markets. I literally don’t know what 90% of it is. However the ladies knew and buy they did. Then it was off to find our taxi driver who was catching 40-winks in the shade but quickly hopped to when he heard us coming. Off we went to the mountain, called Black Lady Mountain in English and Nui Ba Den in Vietnamese.
I didn’t realize it, but Nui Ba Den is a very famous place with a long history. It is a conical mountain just jutting out of a very flat area … rice fields and the like. It’s about 850-900 metres high – a dormant volcano, I read. The legend is that a young wife, Hương, leapt off the mountain to her death rather than be raped by three abductors. She later appeared in a vision to a Buddhist monk and her legend was born. Thuy told me that prayers offered here are very powerful. Apparently it was a US military outpost during the Vietnam War and before that a location fought over in the war with the French. There are some interesting blogs written by American ex-servicemen who have returned to Nui Ba Den. Now it is a Buddhist tourist/pilgrimage destination with a bit of amusement park tossed into the mix. Apparently not many foreigners go there; I was the only one I was aware of while we were there.
We arrived at the park surrounding Nui Ba Den and were greeted by several men negotiating many things .... entrance fee, tram ride, cable car, toboggan run, and so on. I was aware that the object of attention was really Mimi, the Vietnamese American woman, and one or two of her friends who were buying various things for the monastery up the mountain. There were commercial enterprises all about selling souvenirs, as well as incense, flowers, candles, and all kinds of foodstuffs. I think The Four Ladies bought things at every shop. Various touts just wouldn’t leave Mimi alone. They kept imploring her to buy rice, and cases of fish sauce, soya sauce, noodles, and the like. And she did … I hope she hadn’t been intending to meditate because she didn’t have a minute’s peace. Except maybe when we were going up the mountain.
The mountain has a path going up that takes an hour or more to climb, but we opted to take the cable car up to the pagodas. We could see a long way as we went up … all the way to Cambodia, in fact! As Mimi and The Four Ladies prayed at various altars, the things they had purchased were brought to the various places to be blessed. I can well-imagine that the chua needs to have these touts, as the monastery is quite remote and must depend on charity, but it was disarmingly transactional, from what I could discern. We stayed at Nui Ba Den for quite a while … many, many altars and more things to buy, birds to release, monkeys to look at, another level to climb to, and temple people, dogs, and cats to watch. Poor Thuy was feeling quite badly at one point because she knew that I had had my heart set on going to the Cao Dai temple and it was getting later and later. I told her not to worry … that I would come another time to see the noon service … khong sau … no problem. But eventually almost all the money was gone and we enjoyed a simple meal of soup and rice and pumpkin before heading out. Just one more stop at the bottom of the mountain to buy rice wrappers and snacks and spicy chili salt that people dip fruit (apples, mangoes, and cherries) into and a couple of drinks and more snacks and, and, and … no wonder people were happy to see The Four Ladies and sad to see us go.
We did stop at the Thanh That Cao Dai long enough to walk through the temple and to get an idea of how large the grounds are. I will have to do more investigating, but the place was very interesting and the people we met were very quiet and respectful. No commerce visible. The women all wear white ao dais and the men wear white robes and black turbanish head gear … like Omani turbans, if you know what I mean. But black. Everyone invited us to come at 5 p.m. the following day, because it was an important festival, but alas, we had to work. Our taxi picked us up after 20 minutes or so and whisked us to the bus station where various people clamoured for our business. I thought we were all set to take a non-stop bus to HCMC, when The Four Ladies decided the price was too high … apparently a difference between 25,000 and 40,000 VND … a difference of about 50 cents. My heart sank when I thought we were going to have to take a slow bus, but eventually it all got negotiated and we hopped on the soft seat direct bus.We almost made it too … except we blew a tire just as we entered Saigon. Oy, such a sound. We all just piled off the bus and another city bus came along within 20 seconds and we paid a nominal fee and piled on it. The seating was very limited, and Mimi insisted I share a seat with her … however, I sat on a step in front of her and was very comfortable. One of The Four Ladies nattered at a vulnerable-looking guy until he got up and gave me his seat. He was wearing nice pants and I was ultra-grubby after a day of touring about, so was fine where I was, but he would have none of it. The mood on the bus was cheery and strangers and friends all chattered away in the growing darkness and it all felt quite cosy … me not having a clue what was going on. Eventually we got to the bus station … not at all where I thought we would be. Thuy and Diep lived near there and they handed me over to Mimi’s friend. Co Tam lives in District 7 and we agreed we would share a taxi … but would a woman who was prepared to walk away from a direct bus over 50 cents REALLY take a taxi? Apparently not. But I was entrusted to her care in spite of having no common words … so two more looooong city bus rides and a very short taxi ride and an hour and a half later, I was home! A very memorable day.
Lots more pics on flickr ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/raven_chick