No Fixed Abode: Saigon music in Saigon

Sun 20 Mar 2016 - Pagoda and show

A leisurely breakfast with both of us having omelette as nothing untoward happened yesterday. The manager who can open the safe is not on site until 1015 so we were stuck inside awaiting his arrival. Trying to make the most use of the time Glenn set off to find a streetside tailor to repair a couple of items of clothing leaving Yvonne to research transport options for the next week of our trip. When Glenn returned with his two missing shirt buttons and the rear pocket of his trousers re-attached - cost, an exorbitant 65p - we both got to work on line. Seems it’s not as straightforward as we’d hoped to get around the non tourist trail destinations of Vietnam and we may be looking at 12 hr train rides, white knuckle bus connections and private taxis. Although our first destination to Central Vietnam requires an internal flight for the princely sum of £30 with just about half of the charge for our 12kgs of luggage.

Having restored access to the safe courtesy of a new battery in the lock (Glenn - I knew I hadn’t got the wrong code!) we set off in search of the Pagoda of the Jade Emperor, one of the oldest in Saigon. It was a strange place. Nestled in a back street well out of the city centre it was a long walk for us that put our well tuned, fearless road crossing skills to the test. As we zig zagged our way across the road grid system we stumbled across a park containing lots of large marquees all crammed with books and a large pink sign at the entrance declaring “The 7th annual Ho Chi Minh City book festival”. It appears that books are the new chic.

When we finally reached the pungent smoke of incense filling the pagoda, effectively a temple, we tentatively set about exploring the shabby complex. It is not at all like the temples of Thailand or Cambodia, which are grand, tranquil places where orange clad monks wander serenely around and visitors shed their shoes in respect to the Buddha images. This taoist temple was a small, bustling warren of many dark chambers, all containing little shrines to various deities and kitchen cabinet sized safes with slots cut in to receive donations. There were no monks and the constant visiting worshippers bought clusters of incense sticks and wandered from chamber to chamber, each filled with grotesque giant papier mache models of various heroes, painted in a child like way with ridiculous beards. In front of each one they repeating the same routine of bowing three times then depositing one of the incense sticks into a sand vase in front of it and bunging a few notes in the safe. Nobody seemed to mind the tourists wandering around taking photos and watching the rituals. Most strange.

On our way back we stopped in a small chic cafe run by a couple of French gay guys and quenched our thirst with some deliciously fruity smoothies and a vegetable laden baguette all for £2.

Once at the hotel it was a quick shower and change as we were back at the opera house in the evening to watch the AO Show, a Cirque to Soleil esque production featuring young acrobatic dancers that used bamboo poles and wicker baskets of every size to tell the story of daily Vietnamese life with images we have already seen during the Mekong cruise and in Saigon. The show was was a clever blend of music, gymnastics and dance all very well choreographed and delivered with great enthusiasm by the performers. You can see photos and video clips at this link if you’re interested as no photos were allowed inside.

Once back at the hotel it was another late night watching Man Utd beat Man City. All in all a great weekend of sporting victories for Glenn, with the exception of the Australian grand prix.