Personal website of Mithun Divakaran, a guy you may or may not know -- or like.
Date: 26 October 2019
After starting my tour at a handicrafts workshop and then the Cao Dai temple, post lunch we were driven to our final stop on the tour — the famed Cu Chi Tunnels.
It’s a large area and some tours include a stop at Ben Duoc Memorial Temple, the large swimming pool, and there’s even a paintball shooting arena.
Continue reading “Vietnam: Cu Chi Tunnels, a must do attraction from Ho Chi Minh City” »
Date: 26 October 2019
Yesterday’s day tour of the Mekong Delta was showcased across three posts: Vinh Trang Pagoda, Bến Tre canal boat ride, and coconut sweet making factory in Bến Tre. Today I embark on another full day tour and this is the first post in that series.
I am doing a full day tour (cost me VND330000 /₹1000/$14/€11.85) that would take me to the infamous Cu Chi jungle tunnels but before that, the first stop would stop at a handicapped handicrafts workshop before heading to the largest Cao Dai temple in Vietnam.
We took a long drive out of the city and arrived at a handicrafts workshop wherein most of workers are handicapped. We were going get a guided tour of how they create the various works of art.
The base of the painting is wood. The artisans then etch the designs and then inlay it with mother of pearl pieces or egg shells.
Continue reading “Vietnam: Cao Dai temple in Tây Ninh” »
Date: 25 October 2019
Today was my third day in Vietnam but day 2 of my sightseeing. Yesterday, I saw Ben Thanh Market and Mariamman Hindu Temple, Independence Palace and Norodom Palace Exhibit, the War Remnants Museum and finally checked out Bui Vien Street — Ho Chi Minh City’s nightlife area (for tourists).
I had booked a tour of the Mekong Delta today but let me be clear — it wasn’t really a tour of the Mekong Delta — just stops at My tho and Ben Tre. You see, the Mekong Delta is a huge region in south western Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The places I would visit today as part of this day tour only covers a fraction of what Mekong Delta is. There are multi-day tours of Mekong Delta which include stops at the rice paddy fields and such but I’m from Kerala — where there are enough rice paddy fields only a short drive away from me.
Instead, I did this short tour (cost 320000 VND or ₹1020/$13/€11.8) — mainly for one activity — which will be in the next post. The first stop on the tour was a temple called Vinh Trang Pagoda (a Buddhist temple) in Mỹ Tho, an hours drive from Ho Chi Minh City.
From the rest stop, it was a short drive to the temple. Our minibus parked outside the entrance.
Continue reading “Vietnam: Vinh Trang Pagoda in Bến Lức” »