This morning we woke up early and grabbed a quick bite to eat before leaving our hotel. We had a short drive to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh. Once arriving at the airport we found out that our flight had been delayed. Fortunately, this gave me time to finish my new Nicholas Sparks book, Safe Haven. It was a great book and I’ve added my favorite quotes at the bottom of the journal.
Our plane finally boarded and we were on our way to Ho Chi Minh city. Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh, we were immediately aware of the heat and humidity. I welcomed the new climate with open arms. It was so exciting to shed the jeans and sweatshirts for the shorts and brightly colored clothing I had brought along with me. A map of Ho Chi Minh City is below.
We met our new tour guide, Trhang, and boarded our new bus. Might I say the new bus is a mix of 80’s design and Indian design. It has quite the design and color for curtains, seat covers and flooring. Our schedule changed a bit today due to us all being tired from the flight and waking up early. We first headed to lunch. It took us a while to get to lunch because of two things. The traffic in HCM is awful. I would dare to say it was worse than Shanghai or Beijing, maybe even New York City. The second reason it took a long time is because our bus shut off 16 times on the way there! The boys on the trip said it was the driver and that he didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. We finally gave up and ended up walking the last couple of blocks to the restaurant.
The restaurant we ate at was called Pho 2000. We later learned that the 2000 was significant because this is when President Clinton had visited the restaurant and had come to Vietnam to work with the government. Pho in Vietnam is a type of noodle dish that is much like chicken noodle soup. The exceptions are that any meat is applicable; the noodles are longer (much longer) and squarer. You can also add different fresh spices such as lemongrass, cilantro, etc into the bowl. I have not cared for the Pho the last couple of times I have tried it. Instead, I ordered a grilled chicken dish. Everyone around me was jealous when my food arrived at the table. It was delicious and well prepared.
We left the restaurant and headed to the ‘China Town’ part of Ho Chi Minh. We visited the Binh Tay market, which is a wholesale market for the locals. We saw everything from fresh food to electrical equipment to handbags being sold in bulk to the local people. It was a huge market, and very crowded, not to mention it had a very potent smell. While it was neat to see where all the merchants buy their goods, I knew this was not the place I wanted to do my souvenir shopping! We were given 10 minutes free time while we were there. Everyone in the group was so wary of the crowds and didn’t want to get lost that we ended up staying in a line walking in a small circle before telling Trhang we were ready to go.
After leaving the Binh Tay market, we headed to the War Remnants Museum. Before arriving, we were warned that this museum depicts the story of the war from a Vietnamese perspective. We were also told that it was not for the ‘queasy’ stomach. I honestly have never been taught really anything about the Vietnam War (referred to as the American War here), and I was interested to learn more.
Walking into the gates of the museum there were many fighter jets and tankers that had belonged to the US army. Words cannot describe what it felt like to be so near to these pieces of machinery and imagining them fighting on the front lines. They were massive, and it signs of battle were evident on each one. I began looking at all the exhibits on the first floor (which is really the second). In this display, there were many pictures and artifacts from the war. I saw pictures of American Soldiers torturing the captured. Many of them were quite graphic. I saw how the Vietnamese women and children suffered during the time of war. I even saw a few of American Soldiers being tortured. Displayed on this floor were different artillery and bullets as well as scraps from machines that had been bombed. It was really interesting to see all of these laid out together. I honestly didn’t realize how big some of the guns and bullets were until seeing them at the museum. I headed up to the second floor (which is really the third). The display on this floor was photographs from journalist during the war from many different countries. The photographs were stunning and haunting. They also had photographs of children who had been affected by agent orange. I headed down to the ground floor next to look in a small room. There were many pictures on the wall and several books. I chose one book to look through. Upon looking through the book and reading, the captions I found a picture of one of the girls I had interacted with at the Friendship Village. I was so excited! In the book, the caption read that she had been in the village for five years and that she was 17 years old. The book was copyrighted in 2003. This would have made the girl about 24 years old. I believe that is how old she told someone she was when we were there. I took a picture of the picture in the book. It was so neat to recognize a girl I had interacted with only a short time ago! Outside was another exhibit. I was able to see what the tiger cages looked like and what the cells that prisoners were kept in looked like. They also had the bigger bombs and bullets on display. Many were much bigger than I am. Upon leaving the museum our tour guide asked what I thought about it. I had so many thoughts running through my head. Many people were frustrated that the Vietnamese painted America in this light, but I was not. I thought more along the lines of how tough it must be to be an American Soldier and what our men and women in service really do for us as a country. It made war more real to see the graphic photos that are never talked about or displayed in America. I also believe that while the war was horrible for both sides, both were at fault for torment and brutality of the soldiers. I also thought about all the children for generations who have been affected by agent orange, and the life challenges they will face. My heart really breaks for these children. I wish they could have a ‘Camp Twin Lakes’ experience, however I know many of them will end up on the streets begging for money. I also realized the psychological impact of the war not only on the soldiers, but the families and children of anyone involved in the war. For me this was huge being a psychology major. I hadn’t thought about how much war really could impact an individual or family. After seeing the photos I did, I can sure see why many of them have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or other various mental illnesses brought on by the war.
Next, we headed to check in at our hotel. Thankfully, it was a very nice hotel and somewhat different from the others we have stayed in. Our door opened up to the inside of the hotel, but there was a place were you could look down a few flights of stairs. I believe it was some sort of dance floor we could look down on. Our bathrooms were small, but we had huge closets. We were given the afternoon to relax and freshen up before it was dinnertime.
Around 6:15, we met the group in the lobby of the hotel for a group dinner. We went to Hard Rock Café Saigon (former name of Ho Chi Minh City) for a girl on the trips 21st birthday. I had a cheeseburger and it was FANTASTIC. It was so great to eat meat that I could actually recognize and knew had been imported from America. After we finished, dinner a band played and we stayed for a bit to hear the band. They called Sarah, the birthday girl, up on stage to sing Happy Birthday to her. It was definitely so cool to see all of Hard Rock singing happy birthday to her. We left dinner and headed back to the hotel. I was still so exhausted from traveling and touring that we all went to sleep. Sarah was thankful that she had a wonderful birthday and got to bed early as well! I have really gotten to know her on the trip and she is such a sweet girl! After skyping John for a little bit, I went to bed.
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