Cao Dai Temple

7th May 2004.

The Cao Dai temple sits about 90 kilometres from Saigon, in the Tay Ninh province. This place is seriously cool. The people that work in the temple are so friendly and actively want you to enjoy and take pictures of their place of worship.

This is the outside view of the rather garish main temple of the Caio Dai religion.

They believe that the eye symbolises the focal point of their God. This is the all-seeing-eye that adorns the open-air windows

This is our favourite bit. Rather than arguing over who you pray to, these guys want it everyway, including Buddha, Jesus, Laotse, and Confucius.

The main altar and the global-eye that follows you as you walk around.

Praying is seriously hard-work in this heat, and after the 6am session, what else is there to do until midday?

... tell jokes. Our Vietnamese is not so good but we think we heard him say "Did you fart Bert?"

At midday the faithful enter the temple and pray away to the gonging from the back of the temple. It is fabulous ceremony where you can sit and watch the people chant and pray.

It was a very nice morning. Well worth the three hour sweaty bus ride out there.

Off to Cu Chi Tunnels for the second half of this day trip
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