Tây Ninh town - Bà Đen mountain - Cao Đài temple

Bà pagoda on Bà Đen mountain
It was Sunday and there were many visitors going to
pray at Bà pagoda on the top of Bà Đen mountain.

Sunday 26 May 2013 – I traveled with a Vietnamese friend and his family to Tây Ninh province which has border with Cambodia. This was my third visit to this province. In 1998, I traveled on a one day tour to Cao Đài temple and Củ Chi tunnels. In 2002, I traveled with some Japanese men in my company on a business trip for surveying the future Trans-Asia Highway. We traveled along a road which was close to Cambodia and stopped at a restaurant in Trảng Bàng town. By chance we met a very interesting person. The restaurant owner was brother of Kim Phúc who was the famous napalm girl in the photo which was then awarded Pulitzer prize in 1972. He was also in the photo (the boy wearing white shirt and running on the front side) and the road in front of his restaurant was the place where the photo was taken. This was one of the most interesting experiences that I got on my travel. Unfortunately, the man died a few years later. Last year when I traveled in Hà Giang (the northernmost province of Vietnam), I saw Nick Ut at a market of the ethnic minority people.He is the photographer of the famous photo. I think I was very lucky to meet with the two war witnesses relating to the photo.

Bánh canh Trảng Bàng (noodle soup with pork)
Trảng Bàng is a town on the way from
Sài Gòn to Tây Ninh town.

 Before this trip, my friend and I searched information about the restaurant of Mrs Kim Phúc’s family in Trảng Bàng town where I visited in 2002. We really wanted to visit the place where the famous photo was taken. We tried to call the number I got from internet, but it was no longer available. We also called 1080 telephone service but nobody knew where it was. 11 years were over since my last visit, so I cannot remember its location. We decided we would not visit this place on this trip.

We left Sài Gòn at 6:30am and traveled 93km to Bà Đen mountain. On the way we had breakfast with noodle soup at a restaurant in Trảng Bàng town. Bà Đen mountain is a famous tourist site in Tây Ninh province. There are some pagodas and a historical site during the American war on the top of the mountain. 

Buddha statues at Bà pagoda
There are several pagodas on
the top of Bà Đen mountain.

Tourists can get there by cable car or walk up stairs. There were many visitors in the pagodas on that day and it was stuffy because of incense sticks.

Then we moved on to Cao Đài temple (9km from Bà Đen mountain). This is a popular tourist destination on the one day tour from Sài Gòn. Cao Đài is a local religion which is an odd mix of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. Members of this religion worship 4 times per day and the ceremonies take place at 6am, 12am, 6pm and 12pm. When I got to this temple, the noontide ceremony was going to be held. I decided to take some photos then leave. I couldn’t wait to see the ceremony as my friends were waiting for me outside the temple. I found that the temple still looked the same as the one I visited in 1998, however there were some additional religious works outside the temple.

Dusty road under construction
On the way from Trảng Bàng town to Bà Đen mountain.

We traveled 5km to the center of Tây Ninh town. There are only a few 2-storey buildings along the main road. After so many years the town still has not been upgraded to a city yet. My friend said this town is always like sleepy. Even though this visit was not so interesting like my previous trips, it was still good to go back to this province and see how the place has changed. The highlights of my short visit were the historical site on the top of Bà Đen mountain and view of rice fields from the cable car.

Travel tips: You can book a one day tour to Cao Đài temple (morning) & Củ Chi tunnels (afternoon). The tour price is VND 315,000 (about USD 15) at present (offered by travel agents on Đề Thám street). To get to Tây Ninh town you should go from An Sương bus station in Sài Gòn.

Blog about meeting brother of Kim Phúc: The people I met when traveling

Blog about meeting Nick Út in Hà Giang province: Hà Giang - Part 4 (Mapileng pass & Mèo Vạc)

Tây Ninh – Ngày 26/5/2013