Today Jessie and I enlisted in the ‘Do It Yourself City Tour’
run through the ship. The tour was just
basically transportation for the 2 ½ hr drive to Ho Chi Min city (also known as
Saigon), then we made our way around sightseeing at our own pace.
During the drive to the city, we were on a bus and there was
a young family behind Jessie and I. The
mother was talking to her son, who was about 6 years old. He was very smart, but extremely
talkative. For the entire 2 ½ hours, he
talked. He wanted to know how cement was
made, if he could have a pet alligator, why the days of the week had their
certain names… the list goes on.
Throughout this I was bordering insanity… Jessie and I discussed whether
mothers have an innate ability to tolerate their own children or perhaps I just
shouldn’t have kids. I would NEVER have
the patience to answer one question after another EVERY minute of the day… it
would not happen!
Anyways, once we arrived in Ho Chi Min city, it was time to
go off exploring. Jessie and I went
along various streets stopping into shops along the way. Jessie bought a new set of calligraphy brushes
and ink (that I successfully bartered for).
Eventually we came to the market where we were bombarded with sellers
wanting us to buy.
The day was extremely hot, measuring 33degrees and very
humid. The market was swarming with
people and air-conditioning was nowhere to be found. It didn’t take long for me to announce that I’d
be ready to leave whenever Jessie had had enough. We ended up shopping for a little bit more (I
bought a very nice candle holder) and then decided to break for lunch.
We were warned about food safety in Vietnam, so we decided
to try a recommended restaurant chain called Pho24. Jessie and I were very impressed by the
food: fresh spring rolls and delicious
beef pho. Soon after, we decided to keep
on trekking.
Eventually we arrived at the Vietnamese war memorial
museum. This was highly recommended by
people who’ve been to Ho Chi Min before so Jessie and I decided it was a must
on our things to do. Now, I’ve never really taken a strong interest
in history and can admit that I don’t know very much about the Vietnam war, so
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we went into the museum.
The first floor was very tame. There was an area where local school children
draw pictures of peace and unification which was very nice. I really wasn’t ready for what was to come on
the 2nd and 3rd floor.
The images, descriptions and photographs of the brutality inflicted in
the war were so intense that I couldn’t go through the whole exhibit. There were graphic pictures of children being
cut up, people being tortured and abused… it was too much.
Next we learned about the chemical warfare, including phosphorous
gas and Agent Orange. This just
disgusted me. To see that generations of
these people have been hugely affected by the toxins that have infected all of their
resources is devastating. There were
photographs of numerous deformed babies and adults all reportedly due to the
chemical warfare. It made me sick.
Jessie and I discussed the rational for having such a museum
open for public education. Personally, I
did not enjoy my time touring the museum, and overall it made me quite
depressed and disgusted with mankind. I
do see that education is a great tool and that people need to understand the
past but perhaps I’m just a little too comfortable in my happy bubble.
Looking back on the day now, I
guess it’s never a bad thing to learn about the realities in life, it just
forces us to grow out of the childish mindset that the world is a decent place
and accept the fact that there’s pain and suffering everywhere, even if we’re
not in the middle of it.
Touring the museum didn’t leave
that much extra time in our day. Jessie
and I took a quick walk back to the bus and were able to snap a few pictures of
the Notre Dame Cathedral which was beautiful.
Due to the depressing museum, my mood was a bit of a downer, but it was
soon uplifted when the little boy on the bus behind me continued with his array
of random questions to his father. I
spent the rest of the ride listening to this patient man answering question
after question of this little boy. By
the time we returned to the ship, I was pleasantly charmed by the simplicities
and innocence of young minds.
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