Runnin' Down Children in Vietnam

Our last excursion in Vietnam took us to Ta Cu Mountain which is about a 45 minute drive from Mui Ne Beach. Both Heidi and I were enjoying the down time at the beach so the thought of getting carted around in a car was getting less appealing but luckily both the sand dunes and this outing were only morning trips. Our driver spoke a bit more english than our previous days driver so we had some sense of where we were going and what stops we were going to make. On our way to Ta Cu we stopped at Champa Towers which occupy a hilltop near Mui Ne, with sweeping views of both Mui Ne and Phan Thiet(closest major town to Mui Ne). The towers themselves are 9th century brick like structures that are in marginal shape. On the same site is a war time monument and some old bunkers that appear to have been used as a look out site given the 360 views the hilltop provided.





We continued from there to Ta Cu Mountain. The highlight of Ta Cu is the white reclining Buddha. This large Buddha is 49m long and is the largest in Vietnam. Given Heidi's interest in Buddhism this was a more appealing visit than the sand dunes the day before. Getting to the Buddha was a multi-stage process that began with cable-car ride to the top of Ta Cu mountain. Heidi was a bit skeptical of the cable-car but I reassured her that that the Doppelmeyer engineering team that designed the system would whisk her to the top of the mountain safely. I think she was pretty impressed that I knew the name of the company that built the cable-car but thank god (errr...I mean Buddha) for the large logos posted on every gondola and cable tower clearly saying "Doppelmeyer." I love it when male answer syndrome works in my favour.



The cable car ride is unique in that it goes up to the peak and then down the other side forcing you to walk back up to the reclining Buddha that sits on the hillside above. The hike was a steep set of stairs that passes by a large Pagoda (which was under construction while we were there) and various monuments that Buddhist visitors stopped to pray at. Most of the signage in Vietnam is not written in English so it was difficult to understand the meaning of some of the things we saw. Pictures were the best we could do in many cases.



The pagoda was constructed in 1861 during the Nguyen dynasty, but the Buddha was added in 1972. The destination has become an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists, who stay overnight in the pagoda's dormitory. At a distance the structure is impressive. As I moved closer I was disappointed to see that people have plastered graffiti all over the Buddha and it never ceases to amaze me the stupidity of some people. The second thing that jumps out is the large swastika symbol on the Buddha's chest. As I have learned the swastika is an ancient symbol used as a geometrical motif and religious symbol. It has been widely used in major world religions such as Hinduism, Roman Catholicism, Buddhism and Jainism. The swastika was appropriated as a Nazi symbol and gained further association with the Third Reich as the Reich gained influence. Though once commonly used over much of the world without stigma, over time the symbol has become a controversial motif, especially in the Western world.





For the first time during our trip both Heidi and I felt like rock stars or "white freaks" depending on how we looked at it. We had kids and adults staring out our white legs, wanting to get photos with us and trying to speak english with us. There were very few tourists on Ta Cu so our presence was more unique than in other parts of the country. Some of the kids were quite funny and wanted us to say "hello" to them over and over. They also love to get their pictures taken and they like it even more when I hand them my camera and let them take my picture.





The trip down was harder than going up. The steep, long steps made for a knee jarring experience. The heat of the day was coming and I was glad that the Doppelmeyer was waiting. Our diligent driver was waiting for our return and we departed for our hotel. On the way back to our hotel we had the biggest scare of our trip and we came very close to making a great holiday into a disaster. As we have mentioned several times in my blog, driving in Vietnam is an "experience" that is hard to describe. It is chaotic and dangerous but at the same time there is a strange element of unspoken coordination between pedestrians, motorcycles, animals and cars. For the most part it all seems to "work." In most cases. On our drive back to Mui Ne the road narrowed into a two lane winding road with houses lining both sides of the street. We approached a small incline in the road with a house on the left. I could see a little girl (3-4 years old) standing on the side of the road in front of the house pointing across the street. There were no adults in sight which is quite common in Vietnam. Kids play on the side of the street regularly and cars fly by at speeds that would make most parents from North American cringe. As our driver approached the little girl she suddenly started to run across the road right in front of our car. We were doing at least 80km/h. I think the driver and I noticed the girl running at the same time and just as I started to yell he started to swerve to the right hoping to avoid running this little girl down. I don't think she even noticed the car as she did not break stride. Our driver swerved just enough to miss hitting the girl with the front end of the car but we heard a loud "clunk" on the back end as we passed by her. I was convinced we had run the girl over but as I looked back through the rear window I could see her still running. I am not sure what part of her hit the car but something definitely hit it. It must have been her hands. When she made it to the other side she reached for a plastic bag, picked it up and without hesitation turned and ran back across the road. Both Heidi and I started to yell because there was a motorcycle coming the other way and once again the little girl brushed death just missing the motorcycle. She made it back to the other side and it appeared she was heading for her house. As we slowly drove away I could see our driver was noticeably shaken. He said "sorry" while fumbling for a pack of cigarettes. As much as Heidi and I hate smoking I think he deserved the stress relief.

Maybe our visit to the reclining buddha offered good health and good fortune to this little girl! :-)