Vietnam - Day 11

29.05.2017

We started our day again very early. The alarm ⏰ rang at 7 o'clock, but our first night in our suite was not very restful - we were not used to the size and heard noises all the time that startled us. 

At just after 9 o'clock, fueled by breakfast, we started the day with a 'chauffeur' to Tà Cú Mountain ⛰, where a Buddhist Tà Cú Pagoda stands. The mountain is located about 50 km inland. Once again, we had the fastest and most impatient driver, but it still took us almost 1 1/2 hours for the journey (not only the train routes but also the road connections are not really well-developed here). In addition to the impatience of our driver, he apparently only had a CD with exactly four songs, which played over and over again during our drive. 

At Tà Cú Mountain, we actually expected to have to hike up on foot, as we had read on the internet that we should do this. But our driver wasn't quite so enthusiastic about the idea and handed us tickets for the cable car (thank God it was from Austria, so we didn't have to feel bad about it). 

In retrospect, we were glad to have taken the cable car because the many steps that we had read about on the internet, which you have to climb to get to the Buddha, were still ahead of us. 

On the way to the Buddha, we passed numerous graves, a Buddhist temple that is still inhabited today, and 3 statues of the gods of mercy that stand below the Buddha statue.

After about 350 more steps, we finally reached the 49-meter-long and 11-meter-high reclining Buddha statue. 

What caught our attention with each statue was that they all have a vertical swastika on their chest. However, we were told that this symbol is called 'Swastika' in Buddhism and it is a symbol of good luck. It was particularly considered a auspicious sign and a symbol of an eternal cycle. The emblem, which appears as a running wheel, is considered a symbol of Buddha and is therefore found in many corresponding depictions. In Buddhism, the right-winged swastika means ascent, birth, and fortune; the left-winged one, on the other hand, means decline, death, and decay. 

The cable car ride back also gave us a great view of parts of the country. 

On the way back from Tà Cú Mountain, we stopped at a dragon fruit plantation (the plants resemble a headless squid 🐙).

Afterwards, we were of course safely, very quickly, and of course, accompanied by the same four songs as on the way there - the earworm for the next few days was thus secured - delivered to our hotel by our driver.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing again and of course, with a visit to the kiosk 🍹🏝.