St. Patrick's Day

Short Version:

1.) War Remnants Museum in Saigon = Horrifying, guilt ridden and eye opening experience
2.) Vietnam Water park = Freakin' Awesome and only mildly dangerous
3.) Cheap beer and meeting new Australian travel buddies over some dried squid = AWESOME!

Long Version

On St. Paddy’s Day, we hit the War Remnants Museum straight away. Of course, Google Maps gave us a run for our money and pointed us to a completely inaccurate address. But we made it eventually. What an eye opening experience! We were overwhelmed by the damage done by Agent Orange, phosphorous bombs and napalm. It made Jess want to become a Canadian on the spot and left us both wondering if the Tungsten the US wanted in Vietnam was really worth it.

The museum was mostly photographic displays peppered with a few displays showing chemical bombs, nail bombs, land mines, and guns used throughout the Indochina War. The first photographic display was of the damage Agent Orange does to the offspring of those exposed to it. It is truly depressing to find that children born as late as 1997 of parents exposed to Agent Orange are still born with brain damage, deformities and all sorts of health problems.

The next set of pictures of the effects of phosphorous bombs and napalm were equally horrifying. Whereas Agent Orange’s effect on people who come into direct contact with it tend to be invisible to the naked eye (symptoms include headaches, nausea, wasting, cancer, etc.), the napalm and phosphorous bombs are instantly visible on the sufferers in the form of burnt and peeling skin. There is a particularly famous photograph of a young girl, completely naked, running down the road with her arms spread open to keep them from touching her body. Tears are streaming down her face and her mouth is open in a scream. Her entire body is covered head to toe in third degree burns. She is surrounded by other children, also screaming and displaying burns, running away down the road from US troops. Horrifying.

The entire experience was both eye opening and horrifying. Our feelings of guilt were mixed with sadness and anger trying to understand what the U.S. could possibly have been thinking when they engaged in war through such means.

Reconciling that experience with our next activity was a challenge. Being St. Paddy’s Day, we went to a water park within the city limits of Saigon. It was a good 20 minutes or so from the neighborhood we were staying in. It cost us only 90,000 VND each, or about $4.75, for the entire day. We stopped off across the street from the water park for a quick lunch of com ga which is fried (sautéed, really) chicken and rice and shared a beer.

The water park was empty when compared to US water parks, but there were still enough people around for classic people watching without us having to wait for any of the rides. We wore our bathing suits, of course, but the outfits on the Vietnamese were hilarious. I’m talking be-sequined tank tops and short shorts, dresses worn with bra and undies beneath, one piece swimsuits that looked to be straight out of the 1920s and more. It was great.

The rides were loads of fun as well. We went first down a two-person tube ride that was pitch black. It was mildly scary but very thrilling. There were a few two-person tube rides and then a slide that looked like the ones at carnivals you go down via a burlap sack. This one you had to go down on a little mat and was loads of fun. We raced each other but Amir always won, which he claims is a result of weighing more than I do.

There was one ride that did not involve tubes called the Twister. We were too chicken to even contemplate going down it. The ride started off at a steep descent and then rocketed the rider into a spaceship like ball at the end where the rider would careen around and around until the water level dropped and then fall out of a hole in the bottom of the spaceship. If it had been constructed in the States, we would have considered it.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon we retreated to the sanctuary called the Foreigners’ Lounge and read for a bit and then napped. Afterwards, we went back down to the rides until 4:30pm or so before changing to go home. It was a very fun afternoon but we couldn't help reflecting on the museum every now and then which made for a strange experience.

The one major difference, aside from the crowd levels, of that water park versus one in the States is they didn’t price gauge you on the refreshments. Beer was about $0.75 which is slightly more than normal but still very affordable. Popcorn and a soft serve ice cream together cost us about $0.50. It was amazing. You could even eat a full meal for only 10,000 VND more than you would find outside. US water parks could learn a thing or two from that; airports as well for that matter.

After the water park, we went back to the guesthouse for a bit of a rest before we went out for some St. Paddy’s Day celebrating. Amir couldn’t find an Irish pub that was affordable and near enough to walk to so we decided to hit the streets instead. For dinner, we ate at a restaurant only a few doors down from our place because they promised to give us a 20,000 VND discount on a bottle of white Dalat wine. Turns out that was a mistake.

The wine wasn’t even remotely chilled so we had to wait for 15 minutes or so while it cooled off in a bucket of ice below our table. We ordered a curry and a bangers and mash breakfast meal but they were out of bangers. Amir opted for “sausage” instead but that turned out to be hotdogs cut in elaborate designs. The food was entirely disappointing between the hotdogs and the curry that only had enough for about 8 bites.

We left and headed out to the draft beer place where you can get an entire jug for $0.60 and that is where we met Sarah and Will (Steve Willis). They were ordering up some squid jerky from a street vendor and let us try some. I thought I could do without because it tasted completely fishy but Amir had to have an order so I ended up having a few bites more than I really needed to.

The conversation between the four of us was fantastic. The two of them have been together for 8 years, are Australian and have spent the last two years teaching in London and saving up to come away on a trip to Southeast Asia for 4 months before returning home. Sarah taught autistic kids and Will taught inner city/street kids math and PE. He said it was a pretty rough gig, albeit invaluable experience, and was looking forward to teaching more mainstream kids upon returning home.

The both of them are amazing and kind people. When we found out they were heading to Phnom Penh only two days later, we all decided to meet up the evening that we would overlap there. We exchanged emails but thought it would be more fun if our plan to simply rendezvous at a place at a certain time worked out.

The beer joint we were in ran out of fresh beer (draught) so we walked half a block down the street and set up at another beer joint that still had some left. They ended up practically taking the stools out from under us when it was time to close up. And after that, there wasn’t anything else really open so we said goodnight with promises to meet up only a few days later in Cambodia. Amir and I went off to find him a snack of xiaolang bai (doughy meat/quail egg pies) and I had some cookies back in the room.

Next day we caught a bus at noon to Phnom Penh and only 6 hours later we arrived, thoroughly pleased that we were no longer in Vietnam. Passing through the Vietnamese and Cambodian borders was a piece of cake. We did a little dance of joy and I sang a song once we had officially arrived in Cambodia. Goodbye, Vietnam!