So we head off a good ways out of the city... passing by all sorts of stuff being sold on the street... include carp... in plastic bags... like goldfish... it was awesome...
Anywho… the Giac Lam Pagoda is the oldest in Saigon, built in 1744. Its also the first place where I had to take off my shoes… a habit that has become custom by this point. The whole place is mostly dedicated to monks who have died. Its surrounded by tombs and there is a mausoleum in it as well.
Here is the main altar
A cool candle holder (with out and with flash)
Some Freaky Buddhist statute
Cool multi armed Buddha (with out and with flash)
The court yard
A Bodhi Tree— Buddha first found enlightenment under a Bodhi Tree in India
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This shrine is to Wuan The Am Bo Tat (Avalokitesvara, the Goddess of Mercy)
A flowering Bonsai tree
Monk Tombs
Me and a giant Buddha
A pagoda
We then road back into the city, and headed for the Cholon District… aka China Town, where we went to the Thien Hau Pagoda dedicated to the Goddess of the Seas.
Outside the Pagoda
Looking through the doors
Incense is incredibly important for Buddhists… the incense hanging from the ceilings represent prayers… you can buy different sizes… some last a day, some a month. The sticks are used when praying to the altar. You hold them in your hands, kneel, bend down touch the ground several times… Usually even numbers… Unless you are praying to the dead, then you bow three times. Then you place the sticks in pots of sand to burn. They do this everywhere… even in their homes… you can only imagine what it does to my allergies.
The whole pagoda was full of altars, paintings and other decorations, including elaborate roof designs that could be seen from the court yard.
These here are two of my favorite pictures. I love how you can get a full view of the rooms and see the smoke rising from the incense
These are prayers along the wall
This last image over the door is that of the sea goddess.
The next stop was the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. There was a bride there having her pictures taken. The bride’s maids all wore florescent pink… Reminded me remarkably of my what I pictured my own wedding to be like… back in the early 90’s… when hot pick was awesome.
The first part of the museum had these creepy taxidermy animals… including this deer with fangs… and of course a tiger. *Please note... since I do have a slight obsession for themed things, and the title of this blog is chasing tigers... I have a goal of throwing in as much random tiger stuff as humanly possible...
Then another room had these cool artifacts… I love the crazy dragon.
At this point I was hungry, so we went and had lunch at Restaurant 19… Now I won’t be mentioning everywhere I eat… but this place, was quite possibly my favorite out of everywhere I’ve been… Highly recommend it… you should all go there if you are in Saigon.
Next we just rode around for some photo shots of...
the Notre Dame Cathedral,
the General Post Office,
the Opera House
and City Hall.
Then we stopped off at Saigon River… where some guys were showing off for me.
The next place we hit up on our great mini adventure was a Hindu temple… which was incredibly awesome. Super colorful, and full of people worshiping. In case you didn’t know this… Buddhism isn’t so much of a religion as it is a way of life. It was began by a Hindu prince, and its ok to be Buddhist and Hindu, or Buddhist and something else. I wasn’t supposed to take pictures of the middle section/main altar area, so that’s why you mainly just see the figures on the walls; though I did try to candidly steal a snap shot of the middle, but I got mostly ceiling.
The final stop my tour was back at Notre Dame Cathedral so I could check out inside. Wasn’t particularly exciting… except that they use halogen lamps around all the statutes… kind of like out of the most recent Romeo and Juliet, where they used florescent light crosses inside the tombs. And its not just in Christian churches… the do this kind of thing around Buddha too… sometimes even putting shiny hologram things around the head, or having running lights (yeah, kinda like Christmas lights) all around him.
Then we stopped off at Saigon River… where some guys were showing off for me.
The next place we hit up on our great mini adventure was a Hindu temple… which was incredibly awesome. Super colorful, and full of people worshiping. In case you didn’t know this… Buddhism isn’t so much of a religion as it is a way of life. It was began by a Hindu prince, and its ok to be Buddhist and Hindu, or Buddhist and something else. I wasn’t supposed to take pictures of the middle section/main altar area, so that’s why you mainly just see the figures on the walls; though I did try to candidly steal a snap shot of the middle, but I got mostly ceiling.
The final stop my tour was back at Notre Dame Cathedral so I could check out inside. Wasn’t particularly exciting… except that they use halogen lamps around all the statutes… kind of like out of the most recent Romeo and Juliet, where they used florescent light crosses inside the tombs. And its not just in Christian churches… the do this kind of thing around Buddha too… sometimes even putting shiny hologram things around the head, or having running lights (yeah, kinda like Christmas lights) all around him.
Now real quick is the view from my room
Holy wow was that a long day… and we got back by around 4 ish. As an unfortunate damper… Hung wouldn’t haggle the price and I ended up paying way way way too much… and that’s when I learned that the Vietnamese will take you for all your worth if they see the chance. I also learned riding a motorcycle all day kinda feels the same as riding a horse all day.
After a quick nap, it was time to meet my first tour group… but I guess all those details can be left for the next post.
1 comment:
Matt and I were thinking about getting massages next week to relax after all the insanity. But it will probably break the bank... Send me a $1-2 massage please...
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