The surroundings of Ho Chi Minh City offer a wide variety of activities to better understand Vietnamese culture and history. Just a few hundred kilometers from the city, as seen in previous articles, we find the Mekong Delta territories, where infinite landscapes of rice paddies and lagoons transport us to rural Vietnam. On this occasion, we will travel not to the southwest but to the north of Ho Chi Minh City to visit, in a single day, a temple of the little-known Cao Dai religion and later delve into a very important part of Vietnamese history related to its contemporary past: the Vietnam War, which began in 1955.
Itinerary Summary
- Departure from Ho Chi Minh City at 8:00 AM
- Arrival in Tay Ninh to attend the Cao Dai prayers at 12:00 PM
- Transfer to Cu Chi and visit to the Viet Cong tunnels
- Return to Ho Chi Minh City upon completion of the visit in the early afternoon
Caodaism: Unity is Strength
Cao Dai is one of the so-called syncretic religions. Anthropologically, syncretism is defined as any doctrine (not necessarily religious) that attempts to reconcile different beliefs under a single form of worship. Syncretism has occurred naturally throughout human history through simple cultural assimilation between different peoples or beliefs around the world. In the case of religion, syncretism has fostered the emergence of new gods, cults, and religions; it is the symbiosis between two distinct religious cults that has resulted in the birth of an entirely new one.
A Religion of Religions
Cao Dai is a religion practiced in Vietnam and founded in 1926 that actively seeks to integrate believers of any other religion by gathering and assimilating the best aspects of each. Caodaism is based on the principle that all religions have the same divine origin, although named differently by each—Allah, Yahweh, God…—and that each of these religions is based on love and justice, with its own method of expressing that love. According to Caodaism, religious wars and killings in the name of various gods only cause us to forget the original message that any religion tries to convey, leading humanity to focus on material objects and money.
The Precepts of Caodaism
Caodaism shares many aspects with Hinduism and Confucianism, considering humans as just another part of nature itself—neither more nor less important. Furthermore, Cao Dai advocates for several mandates centered on respect and understanding, among which the following stand out:
- Respect for family, country, living beings, and nature
- Fighting against evil and actively practicing good
- Educating children in respect and tolerance toward other people and nature
- Do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, and do not sin by word
- Eating vegetarian food 10 days a month as a sign of respect for animals and as a ritual of spiritual purification
Furthermore, for Caodaists, turning to dust after death is simply another step in life and God’s way (whomever that may be) of reintegrating us into nature and the world, becoming part of it forever.
Prayers in Caodaism
Prayers within this religion are practiced four times a day, from 6:00 AM until 12:00 AM. As in many religions, it can be practiced at home or in the temple.
Visit to the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh
One of the most notable Cao Dai temples in Vietnam is located in the small town of Tay Ninh. Its importance lies in the fact that the Tay Ninh temple is considered the “Holy See” of Caodaism and is therefore the vital nerve center of this doctrine. Inaugurated in 1955, the building is an architectural blend of Asian and European styles, bringing together construction styles typical of Christianity (the presence of an altar) as well as Hinduism and Asian culture (Asian animals, dragons…). Nature is an inherent part of the decoration, seen in the stars on the ceiling, the globe decorating the end of the hall, and the flowers at the base of the columns and doors.
12:00 PM Prayers
Of all the tourists who arrive in Tay Ninh, the vast majority (as proposed in this excursion) come from Ho Chi Minh City. The journey from the city takes about two hours, and therefore the 12:00 PM mass receives the highest number of visitors. To enter the temple, we must remove our shoes, and although photos of the building and the ceremonies are allowed, talking is strictly prohibited during the service. This lasts about 45 minutes, and once finished, we will head directly to Cu Chi, as there are no other major tourist attractions in the Tay Ninh area.
Cu Chi Tunnels
From Tay Ninh, we can reach the Cu Chi tunnels in approximately one hour. This is one of the most interesting visits in Vietnam, and the presence of tourists is always significant. Built starting in 1945 during the French invasion of the country, the Cu Chi tunnel network was actively expanded by Vietnamese socialists during the second part of the Vietnam War. In that initial French phase, the tunnels spanned 48 kilometers, which were expanded to over 250 kilometers by 1968 after the tunnels became the Viet Cong’s base of operations.
Key Elements in the Vietnam War
This network of tunnels was used for combat, as communication routes, for soldier protection, as weapon and ammunition storage, and as a hospital for guerrillas. The Cu Chi tunnel network was decisive for the resistance the Viet Cong offered against the coalition of US and South Vietnamese troops, which eventually forced the withdrawal of the former from the territory. The Cu Chi tunnel network allowed the Viet Cong to conduct a war of military and psychological attrition consisting of rapid and constant attacks and retreats. The US military, inexperienced in jungle combat and in facing guerrillas who continuously ambushed them by surprise, limited itself for much of the war—but with particular violence toward the end—to the indiscriminate use of heavy artillery, chemical weapons, and large-scale bombings in cities and jungle areas where socialist guerrilla presence had been detected. Films like Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now vividly describe the type of warfare conducted.
The Tet Offensive: The Beginning of the End of the Vietnam War
The Cu Chi tunnels were key to the planning and launch of the so-called Tet Offensive, coinciding with the celebration of the Vietnamese New Year on January 30, 1968. Before the Tet Offensive, the US-backed coalition had been reclaiming territory, and US intelligence services anticipated a quick and easy victory. For that reason, the surprise launch of the Tet Offensive—in which the Viet Cong captured more than 30 of the 52 provincial capitals and nearly managed to enter the US embassy itself—made the US military realize that all the military effort and casualties to date had been in vain if the Viet Cong could counterattack from any direction and in almost any part of Vietnam. Although the tactical and military victory of the Tet Offensive went to the US and South Vietnam due to the massive, large-scale use of tanks, helicopters, heavy artillery, and the mobilization of a large number of infantry soldiers, the significant media impact the operation caused internationally—and especially among the American population (the US lost more than 14,000 men)—meant the loss of the conflict for the US-South Vietnamese coalition due to media, political, and propaganda pressures. The Tet Offensive forced the US to abandon the war through media pressure, which left South Vietnam to stand alone and ultimately lose the war in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.
Interactive Visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels
Living conditions in the Cu Chi tunnels were very harsh: 100% of the soldiers had malaria, and a high percentage had intestinal parasites and other diseases. Although American soldiers knew of the tunnels’ existence, they never entered or explored them for fear of collapses, lack of knowledge about their condition and extent, and fear of ambushes. When an entrance was discovered, they would simply throw a hand grenade inside or collapse it. The Cu Chi tunnels have been fully restored and adapted (even increased in height) for the comfort of visiting tourists. At the end of the visit, you will be able to fire actual models of rifles and machine guns used during the war.
