After our time in the delta, Allie and I weren't overly excited about getting back to urban life in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). Despite all we'd heard about traffic and bag-snatchers, we really took a liking to the city once we arrived. We're staying in Pham Ngu Lao, which is the backpacker area of the city. Our street is lined with budget hotels, tour agents, and restaurants - we don't have to go far for a banana pancake, a bus ticket, or a bootleg copy of anything Lonely Planet has ever published. It's also great for people-watching, locals and tourists alike.
During our visit we went to the two main sites that commemorate the Vietnam War, the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace. I had been curious to learn more about the war from the Vietnamese point of view, and learn I did. The museum is filled with gruesome photographs of the war, including the effects of Agent Orange and napalm on innocent civilians. It was one of the most striking historical sites I've ever seen, rivaling S21 (see Siem Reap blog) and the Dachau concentration camp in Germany - but what set it apart is that it was our country's doing, and only one generation ago. There were paintings by young kids with colorful cartoon-like images of helping disabled war victims, and their visions of world peace. One child's version of peace took place in outer space, as he'd apparently given up on this planet. At one point I went into the bathroom and just cried - the magnitude of it really got to me.
Afterwards we went to the Reunification Palace, which was where power was given back to the north at the end of the war. It's a fascinating time-freeze of where dramatic events took place, largely left as it was but now with informative exhibits. There is a replica on the roof of the helicopter that evacuated the US troops, as portrayed in the last scene of "Miss Saigon".
Otherwise my time was spent wandering; I especially liked the parks were locals would do their morning excercises, play badminton, and do synchronized dances accompanied by a large portable speaker.
We left Ho Chi Minh City to head back toward Cambodia, and it seemed to take ages to get out of its sprawling city limits. From here I head via Phnom Penh to Bangkok, then to Hong Kong as my final stop on the journey.
