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...
# posted by Doug Spencer : 9:54 PM
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