Vietnam -The War Memorial

Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City was dead quiet. It was Family Day (sort of like New Year's Day) and was apparently the quietest day of the year. We were told that everything would be closed but, fortunately, we discovered that the War Memorial Museum would be open in the morning. We had been told that this was a 'must see', so off we went. It was incredibly depressing and shocking. There was a whole section dedicated to all the journalists that lost their lives documenting the war, there were some amazing shots. There was also a section that displayed photographs of the people who had been affected by Agent Orange and Napalm. And two preserved babies in jars showing the birth defects associated with the chemicals. It was terribly sad and just when we thought we'd reached the end, we discovered the section called 'Tiger Cages'. These were the jail cells that they kept people in during the war. They were tiny cells with little air circulation, during summer (which is hot and humid), up to 15 people would be kept in these cells and only given a cup of water per day and during winter only one person was kept in the cell so that they would feel the full effect of the cold. That's not all, there was a section that described the shocking methods of torture and pictures documenting the people who had experinced such tourture. It was a terrible war and it is shocking to see what people are capable of doing to each other.



After the Museum, we were feeling a bit thirsty but most places were closed and the ones that were open were full. We decided we would walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral to have a look at it and, luckily, on our way there we came across some women who were making a sugar cane drink. They had a little cart and they had laid out some tiny tables and deck chairs on the pavement. Two women peeled the sugar cane while another squeezed it through two turning drums on her cart and out came the juice. We decided this was as good a place as any to have drink. It was quite nice, we got to watch all the traffic pass us by and lots of the locals were also sitting at tables having a drink.

The Notre Dame cathedral was closed so we walked around for a while and Brad decided he was hungry. We went to restaurant where we could sit outside. Brad ordered a tuna sandwich and considering, the fact, that the restaurant was part of some fancy hotel, he thought he'd get a decent sandwich. Unfortunately, all he got was some tuna on two slices of white bread with the crusts cut off. He wasn't impressed but I had a good watermelon drink and some icecream.