It took an entire week to fully recover from our adventures in Thailand and Vietnam, but I am recharged and ready to recount. I have poured through tons of pictures to refresh my memory and now that I have a can of Asahi Super Dry by my side I am ready write.
Ho Chi Minh City was the first stop during my week-long vacation away from Japan. Along with brave friend Thomas (brave for considering spending an entire week with me and my Geminian mood swings), I settled in for a six hour flight to Saigon International Airport from Tokyo exactly two weeks ago. For some strange reason, perhaps the two warm beers I had on the plane, I was not feeling all that great coming off the plane. I have only dealt with jet-lag once in my life, but I know this feeling was not the same. It wasn’t lethargy, but as if I had an irritable stomach before even attempting to try Vietnamese or Thai food. Perhaps I could blame it on the airplane food.
Nevertheless, after we settled into our hotel, among several other Japanese tourists, we did a little exploring. Our first mission: find some coffee for Thomas. Thomas has an ongoing love affair with Starbucks, but unfortunately he committed a minor infidelity by patronizing Highlands Coffee (not to be confused with the wonderful coffee shop on LSU’s North Gates).
After enjoying quite possibly the smallest cup of coffee known to man, we continued on our pursuit of Vietnamese nightlife. We literally walked in circles, allowing our radius from the hotel to lengthen ever so slightly so as not to get completely lost. And consequently, our walk made it much easier the next day when we actually developed a game plan.
That night, while I soaked in the tub, Thomas found some great places for lunch and dinner. I mentioned that I wanted to go to the Reunification Palace and the Vietnam War Museum. With that basic plan, we went to sleep. The next morning however, the plan started slightly drifting off-course, in a good way. We stumbled upon a really cool post office, which happened to be across from the Notre Dame of HCMC, a decent copy of Paris’ famous tourist destination. We walked up and down one street in particular looking for our lunch spot before realizing it was closed. Not being able to read the Vietnamese sign, we decided to go next door, to a Bún restaurant. Bún is rice vermicelli, which are very thin, white noodles. Lunch was amazing and the café was quite picturesque, drawing inspiration from nature and the greenery that thrives in Southeast Asia.
We took quite a few handsome shots that really incorporated the ambiance before moving on to the Reunification Palace.
There’s not much to say about this building, except it is well-preserved, as if the 70s never ended. After we left, we headed immediately to the Vietnam War Museum (well, after getting more coffee for Thomas). Inside, we were expectedly bombarded with pictures of war atrocities. Of course the coalition against North Vietnamese Communists was terrible. But the museum does not take a unbiased tone, it goes a little too far in sensationalizing the event to draw sympathy from those of us who are limited in our capacity to understand the era. That may sound either complex or emotionless, but my parents were barely alive during the Vietnam War. It is somewhat an alien concept to me and I cannot force myself develop strong feelings about it. I can honestly say if I were alive then I would be a part of the protests, but I can also say that if I were alive then I would not nearly have the broad circle of international friends that I do now. Looking at these pictures started to make me cry at first. There are some quite brutal and graphic images. But, as if someone used a plunger on my head, my capacity to care drained like a leaky pipe. I went from mortified and embarrassed to be from America, to remembering that the Vietnam War was not started by Americans, nor was America the only country involved. I never thought I would get defensive about American involvement in the war, but it was hard to see how the museum did not seem to emphasize that the war was fought by two halves of one country. Then again, Communist countries are known for their propaganda, and why should this museum in this country be any different. And it was not just me and my American arrogance, but Thomas, who is Japanese, started to feel overwhelmed as well. It was a full-out assault with a deadly weapon- ambiguous truth.
And, well, since we only had two days to spend in Vietnam, that- as they say- is that. I did enjoy the trip, and the food was amazing, but to say I never planned on going to Vietnam and had no expectations is an understatement. However, not knowing what to expect and giving the country a chance was a wise decision because I got to witness something so different from Japan and America, something real and yet equally ethereal. Especially when someone is coming at you on a motorcycle and you are rightfully standing on the sidewalk. It was a good trip, and if I go back I hope to meet up with someone who can actually show me things off the tourist grid. That’s the kind of thing I felt missing from our trip.
And that’s Vietnam. Next time I will give you the stats on Bangkok and Phuket. Till then…
Peace out.xx
Oh yeah! Here is the link to all of the pictures we took in both Vietnam and Phuket. Enjoy.
