Further down the river, we headed for a nature reserve. There were shallow lagoons, mangrove swamps, waterfowl and fruit bats in the trees.
Vietnam – a village market – photos
Heading up the Saigon River – Photos
The Saigon River turns to Gold – Photos
Life along the Saigon river – photos.
Taking a small outboard board to go a little way up the Saigon river can feel as if you are back in time. Surrounded with tropical forest with shacks in the clearings. There is plenty of wildlife and country folk going about their business. You would not believe that the bustle of Saigon was just a few minutes away.
Beauty and disturbing aspects of the Floating Temple near Saigon – photos
I spent quite a while marvelling at the intricate decoration and architecture of the floating temple. Everywhere you looked was something else to marvel at. The artwork was amazing.
It was a place of wonder and beauty.
But there was a peculiar and disturbing feature. Sitting around at the front of the temple were some vietnamese with cages and bowls of birds and animals. There were baby turtles, fish and all manner of exotic birds. They were all cramped together and looking distressed.
These people did not like their picture being taken.
It seemed that one could earn good karma by paying these people for the release of these poor animals. That seemed a bit bizarre to me. What about all the bad karma these people accrued by catching and imprisoning the creatures in the first place? I felt like smashing the cages and releasing the lot of them but I most probably would have found myself very bruised and swimming in the river. Bad karma all round.
Saigon – the amazing floating temple!
We headed up the Saigon river on a tiny boat with an outboard motor. We were heading for the floating temple! It is renowned for its intricate artistic detail. Some might find it gaudy and garish but is is truly amazing. It is constructed so that it does appear to be floating.
It floated in the water among the waterweed but was really on a island.
It is a dragom temple constructed in the Chinese style – very heavily decorated and brightly coloured. Mosaics, reliefs, paintings, sculptures, caricatures, demons and dragons. It has it all.
I’m enjoying going through these photos from our amazing journeys around the world. We’ve been so incredibly privileged!!
Saigon by night! A spectacular display – Photos
Saigon in the daylight! Photos.
The Củ Chi Tunnels near Saigon (Ho Chi Min City)
The Vietcong built an elaborate set of tunnels near Saigon. They used these to store ammunitions and equipment and carry out attacks on American troops.
They also built traps with evil spikes for troops to fall into. Nasty stuff. The spikes were coated with pig faeces to cause infections of wounds and incapacitate soldiers.
