When we traveled in 1997, we were on a ferry from Bali to the mainland island of Java, Indonesia where we met Kylie and Andrew. We immediately got along while waiting all night (I think we couldn't find a room to sleep in) to start the early trek up to the summit for sunrise on Mt Bromo. It's amazing what a few hours of cards will do among strangers! We ended up sharing a number of travelling experiences in different countries, running into each other later in Indonesia in Malaysia (Perhenthian islands) and again in Bangkok. Back then, without steady access to email, I can't imagine what the odds were of running into the same people over and over again thousands of miles apart. I guess we were on the same migratory pattern.
We reconnected about five years ago on Facebook, and started the conversation about our trip "near" them (9 hours by plane is pretty close when it comes to Australia :-)). They happen to have two girls near our girls ages named Ashlee and Sophie, which is pretty cool.
Beth went out for an early morning walk. We hadn't seen the Mudfords yet as they had gotten in late and were staying at our hotel, yet in the building across the street. As she was walking down the street they called out to her - just like meeting in the streets all those years ago! Apparently they were suffering from a bit of jet lag (3 hours time difference and 12 hours of combined flights from Melbourne) and were all up at the crack of dawn walking through the huge nearby Ben Than market.
We had breakfast together at the hotel and caught up. The girls were quite chatty and seemed to get along right away. I'm sure it was as nice for them to hang out with girls their ages as it was for us to talk to adults (no offence to Abby and Robin if you're reading this.... Let's be honest, you're not reading this unless you've grown up and are reminiscing... In which case, am I right?!).
We walked around the city working up our thirst. It didn't take long so we found a rooftop patio for a drink.
The girls taught each other card games and compared slang. They were both amused at each other's funny accents. Cute!
After finding a mediocre little hole in the wall for lunch in the backpacker district, we decided to walk over to the war museum. When we came here the last time, it was a smallish museum with just one floor of exhibits and a selection of American and Vietnamese machines of war outside.
They have really improved the museum. Outside, there was a section on the Phu Quoc prisons the South had set up with US funding that were used to torture northern "patriots" (the winner of the war gets to determine the terminology :-)). It was pretty shocking for our group - the pictures of barbaric torture methods as well as some of the survivors were disturbing. I was amazed that the methods they describe, as barbaric as they were, were still being performed on suspected terrorists by the U.S. Army and CIA just a few years ago. Pretty sick.
Abby and I checked out the new photo exhibit on the making of the Ho Chi Minh trail (the supply delivery system from North to South that went all throughout Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), and it really connected what we had learned when we were in the North (seeing the scarring of mountains bombed in Phong Nha national park), Laos (seeing the UXO exhibit at the COPE office) and Cambodia (seeing and hearing stories of land mine and UXO damage in a country not participating in the war). The pictures of women moving supplies thousands of kilometres by hand pulled and pushed carts, and of kids building floating bridges across rivers really hammered home just how much of the population was on board the "resistance".
The most disturbing part of the museum was the Agent Orange exhibit. We learned that the chemical "dioxin" (which scientists agree is the deadliest chemical agent ever discovered - 85 grams can kill a population of 8 million people) that was used in diluted form to make Agent Purple, Agent White and the most used Agent Orange is still affecting millions of people. Dioxin based chemicals, sold by tons of chemical companies but primarily the Mr. Burns-like corporations of Dow and Monsanto, were used by the U.S. Forces to de-forest vast areas of land. Exposure to humans not only affects the primary person, but it alters DNA and creates genetic deficiencies that are passed down to children. We saw..... Horrific pictures. As late as two years ago a woman with one arm and both legs missing (from birth) sent a letter to Barack Obama asking that he allow the 20 plus year old lawsuit against the chemical companies to move forward, or at the very least to support the Vietnamese and U.S. Veterans that were still suffering from dioxin poisoning. The museum did a great job of citing references from international journalists, scientists and trusted observers to hammer down the point that the U.S. involvement was a war of aggression as opposed to an attempt at peace keeping.
An exhibit put together by a photo journalist on all of the photographers that were killed in the war (from both sides) and their associated pictures was also amazing. We were pretty shocked to read about former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey (read here) who recently ran for reelection. He was a leader in one of the raids reminiscent of the brutal scene from Platoon where innocent villagers were murdered.
The whole experience really makes you question what the hell anyone was doing getting involved in this war or any war for that matter. As Andrew said to me, what the hell was it all for? It seemed to have big impact on this kids. I'm not sure the U.S. learned their lesson though.
We walked back to the hotel for a little R&R before our next adventure - a food tour around Saigon.
We got picked up around 5. The plan was to go to four different places and experience scenes and food that we probably wouldn't normally experience.
First up, which ended up being he highlight of the night for most, was a small family owned shop that specialized in spring rolls. We were served an assortment of rice wraps, veggies and meats and made a bunch of different rolls, dipping them in a nice sauce. The beef was a hit - apparently it's a well kept secret by the shop owner... I don't want to know.
We promised we were going to take it slow as you tend to get well fed at these things, but we were all pretty full after stop 1! We went to a local wholesale flower market to get a chance to walk around and get the food processed a little!
We are always amazed in these Asian cities that all of the shops selling the same products or services are invariably in the same block or on the same street. If you want plastic elbow fittings, you go to one of the 10 plastic elbow fittings stores on ABC street! Need a zipper? You obviously go to the clothing parts stores on XYZ street. As our guide explained, it's great for the consumer as the local businesses have to compete on price, quality and service. The only example I could think of where we would have something similar are food courts and auto malls.
The wholesale flower market was no different. It was two or three blocks of flower shops, one after the other.
Next up on the food tour? Exotic foods. We sat in fairly tiny chairs on the sidewalk of a very busy restaurant and had two burners set up. Our guides went course by course, first cooking up the dish, then after we tried, they would tell us what it was. There was a lot of nervous guessing. First up ended up being goat udder - I thought my friend Adam would like this one - it was very chewy. Not my favourite!
Next up was crocodile - basically bony chicken. The curry was great, but the bones were a little annoying and I was getting pretty full on... Well, beer.
The greatest thing we experienced, in my opinion, was sitting out on the street and taking in the action. I love the activity of the streets of Saigon (and anywhere in Vietnam for that matter). Basically there's not enough room to feed everybody inside, and the streets are much cooler at night - so everyone is outside. Activity goes on until around 11pm every night throughout the city, mostly at restaurants and tea shops. Of course there are clubs and they go late, but the everyday workers inhabit the streets eating and socializing on a Monday while their western counterparts are long asleep getting ready for the next workday.
As we ate, we were occasionally approached by beggars, by children with empty baskets asking for money and by elderly people selling lottery tickets (the government allows them to act as commissioned agents for the daily lottery where the max prize for matching 6 numbers is $75,000USD). The best though was this young guy who comes up on his scooter (by the way, there are 6 million scooters in Hi Chi Minh, for a population of over 10 million!) with a huge speaker strapped to the back. He whips out a microphone and starts singing classic Vietnamese karaoke while he sells cappuccino wafer candies for about 50 cents. Now that's enterprising. I had him serenade Beth for 5 wafers....
Last course at this restaurant was deep fried breaded frog legs which were pretty good... Again, predictably tasted like chicken. I asked our guide how this restaurant can add tables and chairs all the way down the sidewalk, in front of other stores. Basically, they pay their neighbours, they pay the police off.... There are numerous payoffs. Corruption runs high here as elsewhere throughout Southeast Asia.
Next up was a seafood restaurant in Chinatown. We had scallops, bbq'ed river shrimp on a stick, calamari and mussel-like clams. All was good, though we were starting to leave behind a lot of wasted food as we were getting really stuffed. We met a Vietnamese guy from Texas (of all places) who was very chatty and super friendly. We are amazed at how many really nice Americans we've met along the way so far.
Last up was the dessert stop. Even though our main course stomachs were full, we all seemed to have room for dessert. It was no Demetre's or crepe wagon (as you can see on Abby's face), but we all still managed to stuff our faces.
The food itself, compared to many of our other food experience, was not the best. However, the tour was a great ice breaker for the four kids and a good chance for the adults to continue to catch up on 18 years of missing stories!
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