Friday 10 June 2016

The 15 Day trip to Vietnam - The Mandarin Route - Day 4 (morning cont.) - Ho Chi Minh City - Cholon district - The Cha Tam Church and the Binh Tai market - The 21st of May 2016


(...)

Despite having told myself several times that I wouldn't let myself be affected by the misfortune associated with the camera the truth is I couldn't help wondering why it had happened to me and especially into the fourth day of my trip. It wouldn't be but much later that I'd definitely get used to the idea of not using the camera.


All the photos of the Cha Tam church  were taken with my mobile phone. Said to have been built around the 19th century it is mostly known for having been the place where President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother  were seized after they took refuge  after fleeing the Presidential Palace.


The two were  officially taken into custody though they were shot at point-blank range on their  drive through to the centre of the town by the November 1963 coup leaders.The Church has now quite an active congregation of 3,000 ethnic Vietnames and 2,000 ethnic Chinese. Some sort of New Year festivities were being prepared as we approached its main entrance.









































From there we headed ot the Binh Tai market whose permanent structure was built under the initiative of a Chinese merchant in 1826. It is huge with its four wings and mostly a wholesale market. We wandered around so as to get acquainted with some of the available items for sale, which ranged  from "identifiable" goods to items I had never seen before.






















(To be continued)









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