HCMC (Saigon)

So we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) around 11 pm 2 days ago (note: I have no idea what day of the week it is), anyhoo, I was bagged and crashed but Steven went out for a few beers. Apparently when he came home and talked to me I sounded something of a person on drugs unable to form words or coherent speech..

The next day we walked and walked throughout Saigon. We bought some iced coffees and played frogger crossing the streets. People in the south (compared to Hanoi) seem so much more prosperous, and the city feels more western then what we have experienced. We got lost in the streets, went to a very trendy pub (we called it the Melrose of Saigon) and had a blast in the heat and sunshine.

We did do some proper tourist stuff along the way and visited the Reunification Palace (Independent Palace), basically its like walking through a 1960's mansion with everything styled art-deco 60ish, with the added bonus that you feel like you are in a James Bond film as you do walk through the bomb shelters, go through the old radio rooms, as this was where the president lived during the war and the building that was bombed by the Americans and where a tank busted through the gates prior to the south surrendering. We then made our way up the War Remnants museum, this is the first Vietnam war memorbilia that we visited. I was in tears walking through the tiger cages, reading about how people were tortured and was distraught after seeing the impacts of agent orange (dioxin) on the people of Vietnam. THis is more than just going through a display and seeing what happened in the past, you see people on the streets of Vietnam that are deformed from when this chemical was sprayed as it is past genetically from generation to generation not only in deformities, but also with rare diseases. Both Steven and I were taken back by this and left the museum a bit down and thankful for the life we have been given and not having to experience such horror. I really did appreciate the one exhibit as taken from the eyes of journalists. The photos were so real, so close to what was actually happening during the war, I really appreciated seeing the pics from their standpoint. I did leave the museum wondering how come individuals such as Senator Kerry who admitted to killing (deboweling) children in front of their Grandma aren't put through trial for their crimes against humanity. For what I read people were killed just because they were in the way, no one knew who they were fighting and as a result were killing everyone. I am not claiming to know anything about this war, but I do know I want to learn more and I did feel deeply moved by this museum. I will point out this museum was truly one sided and the Americans were held in the poorest light throughout the entire time. I do think its important to get more than one side of the story.

We then booked our first tour, and made our way south to Rach Gia. We stopped at a coconut candy making place, saw how pho (rice paper and noodles) are made, went to a floating market, went to a fruit plantation (jackfruit is yummy) and meandered along the various rivers. Steven and I separate from the group after staying in Cat Tho and took the most crowded, hottest, bounciest, noisiest bus ever. Noise is from the ear-chilling,piercing music they played. Steven was kind enough to give me the ipod for the first 2 hours and I fell asleep which made the ride that much easier. But our bus was $4 and really we were trying to save some money. The last 3 days have cost us $55 each for the tour, hotel, travel, and food and when we go to the island tomorrow our hotel (resort) is $55 / night. I would like to fly back to Saigon, but flights aren't as cheap as we anticipated. Though we jokingly said we might just stay on the island for the next 10 days.. who knows. The goal is to tan, go swimming, drink repeat for the next 4 days.

We've learned a lot over the last 2 weeks as we have never spent so much time together. I won't lie, it has been at time WW3; but we have had a lot of fun, shared a lot of laughs and over all have enjoyed this trip so far.