Hello again after a long delay! This post was written at the beginning of May, but lack of computers, travelling and general things prevented me from posting it until now. The name of the post was the dinasaur name I came up with for myself, and wrote it down in a note on the ipod where i wouldn't forget it. And then continued to write my blog post when I had the time. So, thus the name of the blog from the very beginning was Nicasaratops from the beginning and that's how it shall remain. Now here is the voice of my past self:
Wow! We made it to our last south East Asian country before going on to something totally different in China.
It's been a while since I've written a post because we've so busy trying to absorb as much of Vietnam as possible.
We started out in Saigon, the old southern capital. As a note for those wondering why Saigon doesn't show up on a map; since the independence and reunification of north and south Vietnam, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city after their communist leader. But, after double checking with a Vietnamese bartender, everyone still only calls it Saigon.Here is a photo of the alley way where we stayed. Always old ladies sleeping, cooking cockels and pho, or selling raw meat. We also met a drunk guy who shared a beer with us! A great place to stay to get a real feel of Saigon:
There was definitely lots to do in Saigon, and we dove straight in by going to the Ben thanh market (same name as a delicious viet-Thai restaurant in Cambridge!) We also kicked off Vietnam with our first of many bowl of pho which is beef noodle soup with all the fixings.
The next day we went to the war remnants museum which was very interesting. My whole life I've only ever heard of the "Vietnam war" and to have it displayed as the "American war and occupation" spins that notion on its head. The museum was very much centred around the injustices and atrocities of the war. Although it wasn't really news to me, as I learned about it in university, it was so astonishing to read about how unjust, unnecessary and brutal the war was. Another interesting aspect of the museum were the pictures on the walls from every country and person that protested the war. They also had a section on the effects of agent orange, including a letter from a girl to Barack Obama, asking him to send money to support centres for victims of agent orange in Vietnam as people are still suffering at the hands of the American forces.
It was so different from most war museums I've been to. I don't think I've ever seen a war museum that showcased war resisters and pacifists before. Normally they glorify the work of the soldiers and mourn their sacrifices. To have a museum almost totally dedicated to the victims of war and the injustice of war was a very different perspective.
It also made me glad I wasn't an American as it would be a lot to handle on the way of national guilt. But we can't pass judgement on the Americans of today who maybe would not have made the same choices as the American soldiers did then. But then i think about Iraq today, and I can see the same museum being built in five or ten years, with equal if not greater atrocities displayed but with less protestors. It makes me so disheartened and angry that the American government has not learned from its mistakes and continues to cause such harm and destruction on human lives while under the guise of a protector of democracy and human rights. And Canada is right there beside them. It's the same story repeated throughout history and even with international laws forbidding wars of aggression, it doesn't seem like much has changed at all. How will we stop these atrocities when they are being committed by the countries who are supposed to be leaders of democracy? It's a big question which was always debated in my human rights courses, and being in Cambodia and Vietnam (and reasing a Noam Chomsky book) I've been thinking about it alot. I think it's our job to pressure our governments to actually stand up for human rights, and not allow ourselves to get caught up in the lies and propaganda they use to convince us to sit back and allow these things to happen under the guise of our security.
To understand more about the American war, we then went to the Ci Chi Tunnels after a frustrating miscommunication with the lady at our guesthouse, which made us miss our bus there and we ended up having to pay a million dong to go see it (not exaggerating!) it was worth it though as these tunnels were so cool! Because the town of Cu Chi was very close to Saigon, the American Base during the war, the Americans wanted to have control of it. But that was not cool with the Cu chi people and they were not going to let the Americans get hold of their city no matter what. So they moved underground! Literally, their houses, schools, and kitchens were all underground with tunnels leading through all of it. They had the tunnels hidden and small enough that the Americans couldn't fit in if they found it. The cu chi people also took the metal from the bombs dropped and made really horrible booby traps hidden in the jungle. The ambiance of the place was really realistic as they had an on site shooting range, so throughout our whole tour we could hear machine guns and shotguns going off in the distance. The frequency of shooting ranges around here is still so weird to me. And how they're always placed in war memorials where I feel the least tempted to shoot a gun. Here is a photo of Jake in the tunnel that was widened for tourists:
From Saigon, we took a day bus to Nah Trang and decided to just keep on going to Hoi An, so we hopped on an overnight bus twenty minutes later. After twenty four hours of being on a moving bed with just enough of an incline to be uncomfortable, we made it to Hoi An.
Hoi An was similar to Luang Prabang as it had a river that ran through it and its highlight was the French colonial architecture. Hoi An is also on the coast, with a beautiful white sand beach, so it really has it all. Here is a photo of the old French colonial architecture:
Here is a photo of a young boy selling floating candles for good luck during the Full Moon buddhist festival (very different from the full moon party!). The street lights were all turned off, and the streets were filled with people burning insences and offerings. We bought a candle so we could take a picture of this cute little boy. Hopefully some good luck will come of it too!
It is also known for its tailors, and we have four weddings coming up, so on our first day we went to the one recommended by our hotel and I picked out a nice yellow dress and a winter coat. Jake picked out two suits and a dress shirt.
Watch out Brides and Grooms! We're going to look good!
While waiting the three days for our garments, we once again rented a motorbike and scooted along the coast to Danang, just to check it out. While driving we saw this giant Buddha on a hill overlooking the ocean, so we had to inspect it. After parking our bike a kid told us to climb over the waist-high gate to the pagoda. We were kind of nervous as we didnt even know where we were going. but after climbing up some stairs we reached a giant pagoda on the hill housing the giant Buddha. It was such a surprise and there were lots of people there so I could brush away my fears of being arrested or shot (it's amazing how often I am subjected to those types of feelings).
This was the first temple we visited in Vietnam, and it was so different from the other countries we've been to as it had such an obvious Chinese influence. As well as the long slender Buddha, it also had the chubby Buddha, dragons, warriors, and Chinese symbols. There weren't many obvious Hindu influences like in other temples we've seen although this one was quite new. We also got a beautiful view of the coastline from Danang all the way back to Hoi An.
Thats my thoughts of the South of Vietnam and to respect their differences, and so I don't bore you, ill be writing about our journey to the North next time!
