Inside a Buddhist Temple inside Chinatown, inside Saigon
Recently, in Saigon, we decided to spend a self-guided day in Chinatown. We could do this, right? The cab driver assured us this was the heart of Chinatown when he dropped us off. It probably was. After turning around in circles on the street corner a few times, just to get orientated, out came the maps and off we went to find the temples, markets, and restaurant painstakingly decided upon over dinner the night before. We were lost, very lost, from the beginning.Wandering for the better part of the day we never found a single attraction we were looking for. Its not that we were too proud to ask for directions, it’s just that no one spoke English and we sure didn’t speak Vietnamese, much less Mandarin. At last, a restaurant, not the restaurant, but something to eat and a place to sit down for a while. Judging from the comings and goings we apparently were dining below some sort of bordello. Fortified from one of the worst meals ever, and sure we had our bearings this time, we set off again only to realize we still had no idea where we were. Finally, we stumbled upon this Buddhist Temple. Not the one we were looking for, but needless to say, it was the highlight of our day. As we lingered, people were coming and going, giving their offerings, saying their prayers. We were thankful too for some passing school children with enough English to direct us to a main road and a cab back to our hotel.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. _Buddha
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adinparadise
25 Jul 2012So glad your day had a fruitful ending, Ron. Love your photos. There is a challenge for you on my latest post, if you would like to take part. 😉
fotograffer
25 Jul 2012Thanks for following me and for all your likes, visits, etc., etc. Thanks too for suggesting me for the challenge. Pressure! I’ll give it a go – maybe next week.
adinparadise
26 Jul 2012😉