Editor Pick
Giac Lam Pagoda
- February 1, 2001
- Rated 3 of 5 by
jmineo from L.A., California
Even though my wife and I are both Catholic, I wanted to go to the Giac Lam pagoda over on the other side of the city. I'd heard it was the oldest pagoda in Saigon, but more importantly to me, I'd never been inside a Buddhist temple. I'd always wondered since the days of David Carradine and that Kung Fu TV series. My Vietnamese mother-in-law absolutely refused for her children to go to any house of worship, except Catholic churches. So my brother and I arranged to sneak away, with everyone in on the plan but our "Ma." We took his motorbike across town, which was an adventure to write about similar to my first motorbike ride. The pagoda was a haven of tranquility. It was full of mellow woodwork and intricate decorations, with a community of monks who live and study there. At the entrance an old lady beckoned for me to buy a small bird from her cage. I refused politely, but later found out from my Vietnamese brother she basically cussed me out. It was apparently a sin not to buy a bird from her. Actually, I would have been buying the right to release it from captivity - something to do with the Buddhist kindred spirits. Once inside, it was dark and musty but very quite. I was fascinated with all the bats flying around inside the building and hanging from a section of the ceiling. The monks were ignoring the bats as if they were a respected fixture of the pagoda.
From journal Ho Chi Minh City - My Wife's Homeland