Saturday, March 05, 2005
Saigon
Our visit to Saigon was short, but memorable. I'll let you read Katrina's post about traffic patterns and peddlers - definitely part of Saigon's identity.
I was personally moved most by the War Remnants Museum in the heart of old town. Filled with war-torn tanks, jeeps, helicopters, and bombers used by the U.S., there were also several exhibits which pointed to some of the reasons the war became so controversial.
We visited the so-called "tiger cages" used to house the suspected Viet Cong sympathizers, the guillotine room still intact with the original guillotine, and read numerous stories about interrogation practices that will wrench your heart. It's not surprising that the museum is full of such stories, inasmuch as the North defeated the South and established the museum. But the accounts recorded are no different than the accounts I have read in numerous accounts of the war written by Americans and South Vietnemese. Obviously, the tactics of war are never pretty and are often tolerated in the name of "just doing what we gotta do." In the end, however, I think the raw emotions evoked by the exhibits are healthy for the public. Hopefully world leaders will someday be able to settle their differences without resorting to such cruel measures.
In the afternoon we visited the Reunification Palace - once home to Ngo Dinh Diem and Nguyen Van Thieu. It was here where tanks rolled in April 1975, received the South's surrender and hoisted the North Vietnamese flag. There's nothing special about the actual structure outside of it's historical role.
We're happy to be back in a country with paved roads and KFC (not to mention a currency called "dong"). We felt quite rich to pull out 2 million dong from an ATM upon our arrival. Our excitement was quickly put to rest when our simple dinner came to 81,000 dong. On the bright side, the T.V. in our guest house lobby was showing the Suns-Pistons game. Not surprisingly, Katrina decided to take a nap...
I was personally moved most by the War Remnants Museum in the heart of old town. Filled with war-torn tanks, jeeps, helicopters, and bombers used by the U.S., there were also several exhibits which pointed to some of the reasons the war became so controversial.
We visited the so-called "tiger cages" used to house the suspected Viet Cong sympathizers, the guillotine room still intact with the original guillotine, and read numerous stories about interrogation practices that will wrench your heart. It's not surprising that the museum is full of such stories, inasmuch as the North defeated the South and established the museum. But the accounts recorded are no different than the accounts I have read in numerous accounts of the war written by Americans and South Vietnemese. Obviously, the tactics of war are never pretty and are often tolerated in the name of "just doing what we gotta do." In the end, however, I think the raw emotions evoked by the exhibits are healthy for the public. Hopefully world leaders will someday be able to settle their differences without resorting to such cruel measures.
In the afternoon we visited the Reunification Palace - once home to Ngo Dinh Diem and Nguyen Van Thieu. It was here where tanks rolled in April 1975, received the South's surrender and hoisted the North Vietnamese flag. There's nothing special about the actual structure outside of it's historical role.
We're happy to be back in a country with paved roads and KFC (not to mention a currency called "dong"). We felt quite rich to pull out 2 million dong from an ATM upon our arrival. Our excitement was quickly put to rest when our simple dinner came to 81,000 dong. On the bright side, the T.V. in our guest house lobby was showing the Suns-Pistons game. Not surprisingly, Katrina decided to take a nap...
Cambodia
Cambodia - once a synonym for civil unrest and heinous war crimes is now a very poor country with the most primitive road system we've ever encountered. The country's main highway is a 2-lane road no wider than Birch Lane and only paved about 25% of the time. When we crossed the border from Thailand, we were quickly reminded how much more advanced Thailand is than it's other Southeast Asian brothers.
Our first stop was at the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat - one of mankind's true wonders of the world. The gigantic central complex remains the largest religious building in the world to this day. Built over a half century ago, the temple is slowly giving way to nature's deteriorating forces, but is still breathtaking and impressive. We spent the entire afternoon walking around the complex as well as visiting other temples located nearby - some well preserved, others in ruins. For you Angelina Jolie fans: both Tomb Raider films were shot here. Although we fraternized in the same cafe as Jolie and her crew, we decided to pass on her "favorite" creation called the "Tomb Raider:" cointreau, lime, and gin.
Highlight of the Day: We see a young man sitting in the shade next to his horse which is decorated in local Cambodian style. I offer him $1 to let Katrina sit on the horse for a picture. Much to our surprise, he offers her a cowboy hat and a sword!! I had to really talk her into it, but in the end I finally prevailed!!!Memories...
The next day we traveled to Phnom Penh - the capitol of Cambodia. We toured the Royal Palace and secured our visas for Vietnam. We decided to catch a moto-cab on the way back from the consulate and so we both piled on a scooter behind a driver who drove us home. On the way we saw the missionaries pass us on their bikes. We started yelling at them (while trying to keep our balance) but they didn't even flinch. Giving them credit, EVERYBODY here honks and yells, but they'll never know what kind of free meal and good conversation we could have offered them :)
The next morning we spent most of the day focusing on sites related to the Khmer Rouge. "Khmer" is actually "Cambodian" in Cambodian (i.e. their ethnicity). In fact, they still refer to themselves as khmers. The term "Khmer Rouge" was given to the communist faction that overtook the country in the mid-1970s. The terms was coined by the French, where Rouge means red.
One of the high schools in the city had been turned into a torture camp (now a museum) during the Pol Pot regime. They had the actual torture instruments - old battery cells used to shock the prisoners, a stretching table, a drowning tank, etc. - and pictures of some of the victims as well as explanations on the tortures. All of the prisoners would be interrogated at this camp and then marched 15 km south of the city where they were killed. However, because ammunition was so precious, almost all of them - men, women, and children - were physically beaten to death, usually with a hoe, or a bamboo stick. Then buried in mass graves.
We visited these "killing fields" where the graves have since been exhumed. There is a chilling museum there where we saw the 8,985 skulls on exhibit they have found in the nearby area. Several of the guides there had lost family members to the Pol Pot regime and had horrible stories to tell. Almost all of the deaths happened between 1975 and 1979. It was just another reminder how horrible war can be. One story that I particularly remember is how the soldiers would tear the bodies into pieces after bludgeoning them to death, and then bury their bodies in 2 separate areas. Buddhists believe that you must be buried as a whole body in order to return in the next life. Simply taking the life of somebody just wasn't enough for some who thought it necessary to insult the person's religious beliefs to make a point. Overall, it was a memorable experience in the somber way, but one we will never forget.
Our first stop was at the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat - one of mankind's true wonders of the world. The gigantic central complex remains the largest religious building in the world to this day. Built over a half century ago, the temple is slowly giving way to nature's deteriorating forces, but is still breathtaking and impressive. We spent the entire afternoon walking around the complex as well as visiting other temples located nearby - some well preserved, others in ruins. For you Angelina Jolie fans: both Tomb Raider films were shot here. Although we fraternized in the same cafe as Jolie and her crew, we decided to pass on her "favorite" creation called the "Tomb Raider:" cointreau, lime, and gin.
Highlight of the Day: We see a young man sitting in the shade next to his horse which is decorated in local Cambodian style. I offer him $1 to let Katrina sit on the horse for a picture. Much to our surprise, he offers her a cowboy hat and a sword!! I had to really talk her into it, but in the end I finally prevailed!!!Memories...
The next day we traveled to Phnom Penh - the capitol of Cambodia. We toured the Royal Palace and secured our visas for Vietnam. We decided to catch a moto-cab on the way back from the consulate and so we both piled on a scooter behind a driver who drove us home. On the way we saw the missionaries pass us on their bikes. We started yelling at them (while trying to keep our balance) but they didn't even flinch. Giving them credit, EVERYBODY here honks and yells, but they'll never know what kind of free meal and good conversation we could have offered them :)
The next morning we spent most of the day focusing on sites related to the Khmer Rouge. "Khmer" is actually "Cambodian" in Cambodian (i.e. their ethnicity). In fact, they still refer to themselves as khmers. The term "Khmer Rouge" was given to the communist faction that overtook the country in the mid-1970s. The terms was coined by the French, where Rouge means red.
One of the high schools in the city had been turned into a torture camp (now a museum) during the Pol Pot regime. They had the actual torture instruments - old battery cells used to shock the prisoners, a stretching table, a drowning tank, etc. - and pictures of some of the victims as well as explanations on the tortures. All of the prisoners would be interrogated at this camp and then marched 15 km south of the city where they were killed. However, because ammunition was so precious, almost all of them - men, women, and children - were physically beaten to death, usually with a hoe, or a bamboo stick. Then buried in mass graves.
We visited these "killing fields" where the graves have since been exhumed. There is a chilling museum there where we saw the 8,985 skulls on exhibit they have found in the nearby area. Several of the guides there had lost family members to the Pol Pot regime and had horrible stories to tell. Almost all of the deaths happened between 1975 and 1979. It was just another reminder how horrible war can be. One story that I particularly remember is how the soldiers would tear the bodies into pieces after bludgeoning them to death, and then bury their bodies in 2 separate areas. Buddhists believe that you must be buried as a whole body in order to return in the next life. Simply taking the life of somebody just wasn't enough for some who thought it necessary to insult the person's religious beliefs to make a point. Overall, it was a memorable experience in the somber way, but one we will never forget.