Good morning, Vietnam!

[I'm a little behind on blog postings - I was in Vietnam Nov 6 & 7. We just arrived in Hong Kong. Tomorrow I will try to post my final thoughts about Vietnam & Cambodia, but then I'm off for Beijing, so I will not be posting until the 15th or 16th. Stay tuned!]

I knew when I decided to go to Cambodia that I would be missing out on getting a feel for Vietnam. And it turned out to be true. I had a day and a half in Vietnam and I will definitely have to return because I didn’t see enough.

I met up with Holly on my first morning in Vietnam (day 4 of the port) and we headed out to the Ben Thanh Market, the best known market in Saigon. SAS had hired a shuttle to take us from the ship to the Rex Hotel (the same Rex Hotel noted for the foreign correspondents staying there during the war). It was great because most things were in walking distance from the Rex. We stopped at an ATM so I could withdraw millions of dong, the Vietnamese currency. US cash is widely accepted in the market, but we had heard you can bargain better when you use dong. I also got a receipt from the ATM with my balance on it. I’m finally a millionaire! (It’s 20,000 dong to 1 US dollar).

We shopped and shopped. We met up with some friends for lunch at Pho 24, a popular chain in Vietnam for pho. The pho was all right, the Vietnamese beer – 333 – was better. The meal was so inexpensive – less than $5 US for a meal, a tissue, and beer (yes, you have to pay for napkins).

We went back to the market and some of the shops down the street and made a game plan. We ended up getting stuck in the market because it started POURING outside for a couple hours and we couldn’t go out in it. Once it stopped, we headed back to the ship to drop off our purchases and regroup before going to dinner. We got back to the ship minutes after our student had been found dead, so my plans for the night changed significantly.

The next day I decided to proceed with my plans to go to the War Museum with Jodi and Chris. I needed to get off the ship. So we took the shuttle into downtown and faced the same issues we had in Singapore with getting walking directions. Nobody walks here! Everyone said the war museum was too far (including the concierge in the Rex Hotel). So we took a taxi, which was a dollar, but the museum wasn’t that far.

The War Museum of the “American” war (what the Vietnam war is called here, which makes sense). There were a number of bomber planes outside as well as tanks. After Phnom Penh, I really thought I was prepared for the gruesome images and the story that was to be told. I was wrong.

I’m struggling with how to talk about the War Museum because I don’t want anyone reading this to feel uncomfortable with my opinions. I wasn’t alive during the war, and although I know quite a bit about it, I recognize that it’s different to look back upon something than to actually live through it. Have you heard the phrase “there are 3 sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth”?? Because that’s the only thing I could think of walking through the museum. I grew up in my US history classes learning the US side of the war and the US perspective, both from those who were for the war and those against it. The museum was certainly the Vietnamese perspective, as one could expect since I was in Vietnam and they won the war. But I walked away with the overwhelming feeling that the truth is somewhere in the middle. Both sides did absolutely horrible things to each other. Unforgiveable things. BOTH sides. Both sides want to justify their actions. Both sides blame the other side for forcing them to act in the way they did. One of the quotes on the wall alluded to the fact that nobody depicted in the thousands of photographs was a war hero or a war criminal, but rather everyone was a victim. And that was one sentiment I agreed with 100%.

There were many images that moved me in the museum. But the one that will stick with me for years was one of a family of 2 grandparents and several children. They were huddled together and had the undeniable look of fear on their faces. The caption said that this family was about to be executed when the photographer shouted “hold it!” so that he could snap a picture. He did, and then walked away. He said that as he walked away, he heard machine guns open fire and saw bodies fall out of the corner of his eyes.

The atrocities committed by the US were on full display (obviously, there was no depiction of the atrocities committed by the Viet Cong), as was the blatant propaganda by the Vietnamese government . The Viet Cong were referred to as the Liberation Army. Many key phrases were in quotation marks, to imply American lies. It was just fascinating, and I tried to brush away any defensiveness I felt because my goal in visiting the museum was to be open to another story, another side. Again, the overwhelming feeling I had when leaving was that both sides committed unspeakable acts of terror and violence.

I was trying to figure out why I was affected so much by the museum – even moreso than at Tuol Sleng. I think because in Cambodia I was looking at the result of Cambodians vs. Cambodians, but at the War Museum, I saw what my nation had done. I felt like I stuck out as an American there and that people were looking at me as if I were an interloper. I’m positive this wasn’t the case and that it was all self-inflicted (there were many people from many different countries there) but it felt very strange to be there.

It was a very easy walk back to the Rex and we stopped for some lunch as well as at the post office, which is a gorgeous building with the French colonial influence quite apparent. We ran into our friends Sam and Shannon who agreed to accompany us to the market to pick up a last few items, spend the last of our dong, and to pick up the suit that Sam had made for him the day before. AGAIN we were trapped at the market and forced to do more shopping because of the rain. We ended up having to take a cab back to the ship (it was pretty expensive… $2) because the rain wouldn’t let up and we couldn’t make the ½ mile walk back to the shuttle stop.

I had to do gangway duty that night, so thank goodness for the rainjacket I bought before leaving on the trip. It kept me pretty dry for the 2 hours I stood outside in the rain. I was also thankful that it’s pretty warm in Vietnam. Cold rain would’ve been miserable.

We technically weren’t sailing until the next morning at 6am so the harbor pilot could lead us back down the river in the daylight. The ship had lured students back early by serving a BBQ for dinner (only the 3rd one this voyage…. It’s definitely a day to look forward to). There was also a parents reception because Vietnam was the parents trip for the voyage.

I know I will need to go back to SE Asia, because I only got a brief overview of both countries I visited. I especially feel like I didn’t see Vietnam. Adding it the growing list of "places to return to..."