HCMC

Today we woke up with a glorious cyclo tour of the city. As we exited the side street of our hotel onto the main road I let out a little scream which Josh made fun of me for later. My driver put us in oncoming traffic! I had to just trust that he knew what he and other drivers were doing though...

Our first stop on the tour was the War Remnants museum. I was thinking it would be a hard building to wander through, however I didn’t expect it to be as emotionally difficult as it was. I needed to bring tissues, but luckily the souvenir stand sold some that were also menthol flavored that proved to be soothing.

To walk through the exhibits and witness the Vietnamese perspective was intensely draining. There are walls of black and white photos displaying the Vietnamese hardship and suffering: their soldiers, women, children, buildings, farms, and culture. I knew little about the war before visiting Vietnam and have learned a lot about both sides by being here. One particularly struggling part of the museum was a wall devoted to the chemical warfare performed by the U.S. Thousands of Vietnamese died or suffered from full-body burns, dismemberment, or life-altering birth defects. It was really hard being what seemed to be the only American and reading everything...while I wasn’t even born yet, I felt responsible. It was troubling to say the least and it’s hard to really describe in words.

As if I wasn’t having an unsettling enough time, I was in one of the rooms and a woman with an English accent walked by me and said, “your country should be ashamed of themselves.” Im not sure how she assumed I was American, but I lost it at that point and had to leave all together.

After collecting myself outside we continued our tour and did some site-seeing: Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House, Ben Thanh Market, and the Majestic Hotel (which was used in the film, The Killing Fields that I watched before my trip began). The end of the tour marked the end of our Vietnam Intrepid trip. I had to say goodbye to Quan and 6 of our traveling comrades and hello to a new tour guide, Poleak and 3 new traveling girls for our adventure in Cambodia.

Dinner was at an up-and-coming chain Mon Hue- we all shared a spread of rolls and salads that were fresh and delicious! I got to try a jackfruit salad (a fruit that actually tastes like meat to me) that used peanuts and lime for additional flavor- it was a nice change to the deep and stir-fried dishes I’d had previously. The meal was second to the one we cooked in Hoi An with Han.