onto the Cambodian border

there were quite a few tours on offer at our hotel and we took the opportunity to do as many as possible.. a day tour to the Cu-chi tunnels and then onto the Cambodian border to visit a Temple..

first of all the tunnels.. I had never heard of them before I went to Vietnam. You see, I wasn't very old when the war was going on and I guess I was a little removed living where I did. Oh, yes, we had friends go to war but our life went on as normal... I don't think we even had a television until about 1972 !!
so off to the tunnels... first thing we did was watch a movie.. it was a propaganda movie made by the North Vietnamese... gawd.. I watched the first few seconds and then closed my eyes and went off somewhere else. Then off for a walk around the area. They have preserved alot of the tunnels and it is open to the public. The trees have grown back and are now 10 years old. We walked where B-52 bombs were dropped, the craters were huge! Joe actually went into the tunnels and he said they were like rabbit warrens, I could not bring myself to go down as I felt i would die from claustrophobia. We walked past a tank that was left by America, right in the middle of the jungle. As I walked along the jungle paths, I said prayers and sent love and light out.. it was all I could do.. to try and heal the heartache felt by many. I did not take any photos while I was there as I felt I was on hallowed ground, men died there and I have read that where a person dies that the ground immediately becomes sacred and angels live there.. and yes, I could feel that... it was the same feeling that I had when I stood at the World Trade Centre site in New York in 2001, just after the terroist attack.
it is actually interesting to talk to some of our friends who are Vietnam vets, they are very interested in our time there and keep asking what it is like now.. some of them wish to go back and see it. They have told us of their experiences and what it was like for them at the time

I keep feeling I have to apologize for visiting Vietnam, not sure why, as I wanted to go to see the country as I had heard it was beautiful. And it was. Lotus grew along side the roadways, people worked in rice paddies, fruit grew wild... as we travelled further in towards the Cambodian border, to a temple owned by the very odd sect Cao Dai...

the Temple was incredible and we were allowed inside to see the people preparing for Mass....very ornate and colourful. The religion is a hybrid of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucuanism and Christianity

there are many levels that you must achieve before you get to God, you must attend mass once a day and women are segregated from the men. They all wear white and their level of achievment is signified by a different hat... up at the altar there is a huge globe and in the middle of it is a very large eye.. that I think signified God... very weird as I felt I was being watched all the time and I even got a feeling of not being good enough.. ..I must admit, I felt very uneasy as I watched the people getting ready. Sick and drained. I forgot to protect myself before I went and when I arrived home I had to a very long auric cleansing as i still felt very drained and nauseous. Thankfully I had take some consecration oil with me as well as one of my garnets..
then back home late in the afternoon.. to busy Saigon where all manner of transport is allowed on the city streets including this rickshaw that was pedalled by a little old vietnamese man...


today in Woodford the sky is cloudy... not rainy clouds but those kind of clouds that make the air feel very still,.... like time has stopped for a little while... I hope to get into my garden this afternoon. Yesterday, the magpies were in my trees, about 30 of them, all calling to each other... as i heard them, I realised that yes, I am connected to nature ... I sat and listened for a few minutes and felt blessed.
oh and don't forget Faery Land opens soon... June 1st and continuing through the month of June...