Trivia: Saigon was renamed "Ho Chi Minh City" by the Communists/ North Vietnamese when they took control of the city on April 30, 1975. To the locals and most South Vietnamese, the name "Saigon" is still used.
I found a cheap hostel in a great area, called "Backpacker's Saigon Hotel" for $5/ night. For the following day, I had two "Must-See" things on my agenda: The Cu Chi Tunnels, and the controversial War Remnant's Museum. I booked a half day tour of Cu Chi with my hostel. I had no idea how heavy the day would be for me as an American, and I was the only American on my tour there. It was hard.
The drive to Cu Chi was about 2 hours east of Saigon. My tourbus picked me up at 8am and we were off. On the bus I sat next to a friendly South Korean girl and her mother and father. The 3 of them were stopping over for the day in Saigon on their way to tour Europe for 6 weeks. Just like Halong Bay, our tour bus stopped briefly at an art gift shop selling handicrafts made by disabled Vietnamese (they were really, really beautiful). At the tunnels, we purchased our 90,000 dong entrance ticket (about $5) and we were shuffled into a screening room where we watched a short film on the "American War of Aggression." I found the film pretty one-sided propagandist, but it was fascinating nonetheless. One of the narrations introduced the Americans, "Like a crazy batch of devils, Americans wanted to destroy the peace" (then the film showed pictures of obedient Vietnamese school children and quiet villagers) "They bombed schools and babies, Buddhas...even pots and pans...thousands of miles away from their home." The short film also showed images of young girls who helped kill Americans during the war. One girl, who killed 118 Americans herself, was dubbed an "American Killer Hero" in the film.
The tunnels themselves were amazingly tiny, as were the jungle boobie traps that the Viet Cong used. In some of the captions, there were photographs of old women and young girls helping to carve bamboo boobie traps into spears, trap doors, etc. It's amazing how determined the North Vietnamese were, how clever they were, and how they made use of the jungle and their knowledge of it (which the Americans didn't have). The Americans' expensive, technologically advanced chemical defoliants and B52s were not enough to win against the determined North Vietnamese.
Even though I was the only American in my tour group, I spent the day with a really nice British man named Paul exploring the controversial War Remnant's Museum. It was helpful for me to be able to bounce thoughts off of him in the War Remnant's Museum, and to talk about the flip perspective. I am lucky that I was not totally alone in the museum, because it was hard enough.
After the museum, the two of us bought ice cream on the street, and leisurely walked back to our hotels. We stopped at a famous market where Paul bought a watch, and I bought a small wooden Buddha and a present for my Dad. I also bought many beautifully hand-carved paper cards (see pic below). I also bought 1 kilo of mangosteen :) When we were finally walking home after shopping, I passed a girl about my age sitting on the street, with horrendously deformed legs. I walked over to her with a dollar or two, and gave her the money. She had a beautiful smile on her face. I asked her if her deformities were from Agent Orange. She told me that they were. I told her I was very sorry, and that she was still very beautiful. She smiled. I felt terrible. This girl was my age! Lasting evidence of the war...Not only that, but I felt bad that I only had American dollars, and not dong, to give her (think of the irony there in me, an American, handing her currency from the country responsible for her deformity). Paul and I were almost cheated by cyclo drivers on the way home, but we worked it out with them. For only having one day in Saigon, I accomplished everything that I really wanted to, and made a new friend. I was ready to head back to Bangkok early the next morning :)
I am currently in Luang Prabang, Laos and it is beautiful. Interestingly enough, the Thai King's National Anthem is playing on tv, because it's 6pm, and Laotians watch Thai television. Many Americans might not know this, but Laos was bombed extremely heavily during the Vietnam War. There is some resentment here about that, as there should be.
Enjoy this very meaningful, hopefully educational post!
My delicious DE-LIC-IOUS morning baguette sandwich.
(With cheese!!!)
A disabled man cuts seashell and makes it into a
peacock formation at a detour stop on our way to Cu Chi.
The introduction video at the Cu Chi Tunnels
A really shocking (to me) map of just how extensive the
underground tunnels were. So clever: all of the tunnels
were slanted downward so that water would drain when
there was rain. The tunnels did not flood (so clever, right?)
The first, and one of the only authentic tunnels at Cu Chi
that we saw. The tunnels/ entrance were teeny tiny. It's hard
to imagine the Viet Cong living here for months on end.
The Viet Cong had maps, and knew where entrances were.
Very, very erie...almost surreal for me as
an American to try and descend in the tunnel.
The tunnel was so narrow that in order
to slide down into it, or get out, you had
to put your arms up to make yourself smaller.
Not the best place to be if you're claustrophobic.
Or afraid of snakes!
Trying to hoist myself out
Happy to be out
Our guide, who was the only Vietnamese throughout my
entire trip who made a light-hearted anti-American joke,
demonstrated a bamboo trap that the Communist Viet Cong
used in jungles to kill Americans soldiers.
The trap door would slide, and then the soldier would
be stabbed with tons of sharp metal rods (can you see them?)
Climbing down into another real tunnel
Smiling because there was a HUGE worm down there
A real tunnel.
Another real tunnel and a wider entrance
A replica of a Communist Viet Cong guerrilla soldier.
S/ he wears the black and white checkered scarf of the
Viet Cong, along with special rubber sandals (more description
later on). The only thing s/he carried is the plastic sack to the
right. This did not hold food or supplies. This was a body bag
for when a fellow Viet Cong, or him or herself, died.
AHHH can you imagine carrying your own body bag?
The tunnels would get very hot. So cleverly, the Viet Cong
created hidden air holes, often using ant hills. The Americans,
aware to the tunnels and their need to be ventilated, brought in
sniffer dogs that were trained to smell humans through these holes.
In response, the Viet Cong sprinkled chilli pepper around the air holes.
The dogs could then smell nothing.
A captured American tank
Wow...
I found it disrespectful that, as part of the tour, you could
climb aboard the old captured US tank, smile and have
your picture taken. People died here, no doubt.
Many people climbed on the tank and took photos.
I think that even if I was not American, I would not
have wanted a smiley happy picture there.
Then there was a section of the different traps that
the Viet Cong created (very, very clever traps). This trap
was called the "Rolling Trap" and, as you can see, was
designed to trap and pierce the American soldier who
unluckily fell in. The Vietnamese used these traps on
animals (previously) when hunting in the jungle.
There were so many different traps, and I really
did not want to take a picture of every single one.
Photo of Viet Cong building traps and weapons underground.
Part of the tour showed life-sized Viet Cong soldiers
building spears, prods, and traps to kill the Americans.
It gave me chills being here.
If you wanted, at the end of the tour you can shoot some
pretty scary rifles. I passed haha.
Bom, my South Korean friend and me :)
She was lovely.
Our guide demonstrating the special, hard core rubber
sandals that all Vie Cong soldiers wore.
The classic Vietnamese rubber sandals, in every size.
Apparently, they are extremely durable and heavy duty.
(Amazing, when you think of sandals compared to US combat boots!)
A man making the sandals
Me inside one of the tunnel networks
(However, this tunnel was rebuilt for tourists
and is much larger than the original tunnels.)
The man in front of me. It was dark and hot.
A redone meeting room (that would have been underground)
showing the Viet Cong flag (right) and a picture of Ho Chi Minh.
After the tunnel tour, me and one other young British man
were dropped off at the War Remnant's Museum.
A poster at the entrance to the museum:
"Aggression War Crimes"
War Remnant's Museum
The entrance/ grounds to the museum displays 10 or so
captured American aircrafts that were used during the war.
US war aircraft (I don't know the details, but they were there!)
So many war planes
US Air Force
An American who was born after the war, with a plane of her people :)
This plane looks so old now!
I saw this aircraft in so many different propaganda posters
The place where bombs would be attached and then released...
"Agent Orange Aftermath in Vietnam War" poster
The medals of a high ranking US official from the Vietnam
War, donated to this museum, with a note (top left): "I am sorry"
Self-immolation's were far too common, both among
regular people (including Americans) and monks.
Posters from the war (in protest of US occupation)
A photo of an American burning his draft card
Again, this did not seem respectful to me. I had no interest
in smiling in front of the current Communist Vietnamese
flagsand taking a happy "joke" picture.
An entire room, a large room, dedicated to photos and stories
of horrendous "Aggression War Crimes" by Americans.
Caption: Even women and babies are targets of US American
Division mopping up operations; Quang Ngai Province 1967
Caption: GIs from the 1st Cavalry Division round up
Highland inhabitants, drive them out of their homes, and
put them aboard helicopters; Binh Dinh Province 1967
This photo really got to me...I think because I know a bit
about the hilltribes, and they are usually a peaceful people,
and were caught in the middle. If you look at their
legs, they aren't even wearing pants.
I had a problem with the final sentence, "The US government
is guilty of genocide vis-a-vis the Vietnamese people."
The word genocide is a very strong word, and I found
its use incorrect here. (Americans did not kill Vietnamese
because of their religion or race. However, that is not to justify
that some of the things Americans did were by any means right.)
I was shocked and saddened by this photo.
Caption: GIs tie up prisoners to their tank
and drag them to death.
The famous photo from the book (which you must read),
called, "The Girl in the Picture" by Denise Chong.
Caption: Little Phan Thi Kim Phuc burned by US napalm
bomb; Trang Bang 1972)
Caption: Victim of Phosphorous bombs
Caption: Ho Van Loi was wounded by
stepping on a US unexploded mine.
Terrible.
Wow...dark, dark statistics (especially the 2 million civilians)
Tourist explore the "Aggression War Crimes" room
Horrible, sad, no-words information about the Son My Massacre.
The last 3 bullets are statistics about the Vietnamese civilians who Americans murdered
The US used chemical weapons which have had devastating,
lasting effects on both the environment and the
people who were exposed to them :(
Caption: US chemicals eradicated mangrove forests
in Ca Mau province.
(Everything in the Agent Orange room was on an orange background)
Caption: Bomb craters in rice fields in Western part of
Saigon, which were ploughed up by B52 bomber.
(Absolutely devastating...the US really bombed hard)
Photo of American soldiers honoring 7 dead companions.
The dead are honored with one of their boots, their gun, and
their helmet. This photo especially got me, too, because if you
look at the young men in the background, many of them are
black, too. (Right around the Civil Rights movement, too...Wow)
A forest completely poisoned and destroyed by American defoliants.
The creepiest part of this photo is the child standing near the middle.
Do you see him?
Daunting facts about other US wars compared to the Vietnam War
The walk back to our hostel from the museum
The Saigon Reunification Palace
So many motorbikes :)
At a red light (I'm surprised they stopped!)
Paul and I stopped to admire some beautiful hand-carved
paper cards on our walk back. We also stopped at a market.
We were convinced to get a 5 minute cyclo ride for 15,000 dong
(a little less than $1). We were very clear about the price...Paul!
Me!
Smiling for a pic with my driver, right before he tried
to say that we agreed to 150,000 dong, not 15,000 dong.
(Probably the oldest trick in the book, and a ridiculous price for our 5 min ride).
We gave each of our drivers $1...more than we had agreed upon to begin with!
One of the best hostels I've stayed at :)
For dinner, I got another delicious baguette sandwich with
cheese, ham, cucumber, tomato, and mayonnaise! Mmm...
Ahead: The Saigon Opera House
The Continental Saigon
(My new friend Leigh and I explored...felt like we
were in a Graham Greene novel!) This was a favorite
haunt of American soldiers during the war.
The Saigon Opera House
(Now I have been to the Opera House in Hanoi and Saigon!)
Getting drinks at the Caravelle Saigon (where the reporters
and journalists during the war used to go). A Cuban band was performing.
My Vietnam trip route: I started in Hanoi, and
traveled all the way down south to Saigon (where I
flew back to Bangkok from). It was beyond an
Incredible Journey :)
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