Back to Ho Chi Minh City!

My last day in Vietnam was spent at the War Remnants Museum (formally known as the War Crimes Museum, and before that was called the Museum of American War Crimes . Interesting). My two friends and I decided to get to the museum via motorcycle taxis, which were quickly becoming my favorite form of travel. I cannot say the same is true for Ali, who I have a video of sitting on the back of a motorcycle saying, "I'm panicking," with a terrified look on her face. I've never laughed so hard at her. Okay, so that's a lie, I laugh at her expense all the time. I'm just such a great friend.

 

Anyway, we got to the museum unscathed, and found ourselves facing two huge tanks on one side of the entrance, and a couple of fighter planes on the other.Going inside, we started in one room on the second floor, which functioned as an illustrated timeline of the events leading up the the war, what happened during it, and the many devistating after effects. I saw photographs of children whose parents had been exposed to Agent Orange during the war, children  born with life-altering physical and mental handicaps. As an American, it had been so easy for me to consider the Vietnam War as a thing of the past, something terrible that was over fway before my lifetime. Yet here in front of me was an entire generation of Vietnamese people who are still reeling from the effects of a war that I considered history. I felt so ashamed of my own ignorance in that moment as I stared in horror at those black-and-white photographs.

 

Next to the museum was a replica of the prisons in which the South Vietnamese government held political prisoners. Inside there were more graphic images and detailed descriptions of the various methods of torture that the guards used in order to get information from the prisoners. It was extremely disturbing, and I was definitely ready to leave after spending two hours at the museum. I wouldn't say I had a good time there, but I would say that it was a necessary visit to take.

 

We spent the remainder of our time in Vietnam walking around aimlessly in the markets, trying to use up the rest of our Dong (Vietnamese currency), and of course, picking up our dresses from the tailor. I loved mine, they really did an amazing job on it. (I won't tell you what it looks like, you'll just have to see pictures later!)

 

Getting back on the ship and leaving Vietnam was tough because I definitely didn't get to do everything that I wanted to do there. I didn't have time to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta, two things that are absolutely going to be on my to-do list for the next time I visit this amazing country.