16th - Last day in Tay Ninh. We are both still on Queensland time so 5:30 wake ups (8:30 Qld time) are sleep-ins so a lazy start and then off to breakfast. The chef has now realised he has western guests so he made the effort to put together some bacon and sausage for us which was appreciated.
We rallied ourselves and arranged a taxi to take us to the Black Virgin Mountain which is a 1000m high mountain jutting up from a very flat surrounding Vietnam. The mountain is a sacred Buddhist temple which cannot be seen from below. The ground facility is obviously set up to handle great numbers of visitors but we were early so all good. Once you pay the entry and purchase a bus ticket, all of A$1.50, an open bus took us on a 5 minute ride to the real entry and the start of the climb to the temple which is at the 800m mark.  We had the choice of an extreme trek up the mountain or take the Austrian built cable cars. After some discussion, not, we took the cable car which was an amazing ride withe amazing views. There is evidence of a light rail system and another chair lift, both now unused. At the top the temple and associated buildings jump our from the surroundings. How this stone, brick and timber facility was built here all those years ago is a testimony of very strong faith by the builders. We still had to climb about 100 steps to get to the site but worth the effort. Many people were there paying homage and all being respectful. A monk sat quietly in a corner of one of the buildings. His ling tan coloured robes and shaved head were quite distinctive. A junior monk came out and rang a bell which was 4.0 M high and would weigh many tonnes. Again one wonders how they got this up the mountain. Superb and amazing place but now we had those stairs to descend, down the cable car and back to the hotel for re-grouping.
A trip to Cafe Le Petit for lunch and an encounter with a young chap who spoke good English he learnt himself from his smart phone. We has cheese sandwiches with icing sugar coating followed by some yummy deserts. The young man then picked up his guitar and started to play. A guy going far in life.
We decided to walk back but then the heavens broke and a tropical downpour stranded us under shop awnings. A downpour of biblical proportions ensued for around an hour and a half. The streets were awash and then partly flooded. Didn't stop the bikes who just put plastic sheets over them selves and pressed on, hardly slowing. Eventually we managed to hail a cab and dragged our wet bodies back to the hotel to dry.
In the evening, being brave, we took a cab to a chosen restaurant. La Dem was listed on Tripadvisor as the No1 restaurant in Tay Ninh. A small compact eatery with inside and outside dining. Again a young lad who spoke some English served us our pizza and pasta along with a couple of Tiger beers on ice! We checked later and found there were no 4-5 star restaurants in Tay Ninh just a few modern eateries and lots of local eating halls.
The food was great and at the end of the meal the proprietor came out for a chat. He was a Frenchman with a great accent. He had been in Tay Ninh for 8 years having traveled widely. He knew Melbourne describing it as across between Paris and London. He tried to emigrate to Australia but was told he was too old - 38 I think!! He said he was one of only 11 Caucasians in Tay Ninh, mostly French, Australian and English. He likes the place but fears it is changing. He said he would not go back to France as it had changed too much over the last 10 years it was no longer the France he grew up in.
We wished him and his Vietnamese wife all the best, grabbed a cab and headed off to bed.