Well I just got back from my Mekong Delta tour and I've got 4 hours to kill before my sleeper bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. So the time is ripe to update you all again. I'll stick to Saigon and the Mekong, but it will still be long. So pull the chair closer to your computer, get comfortable, and enjoy.
I got into the city Thursday night and immediately headed out for my hostel. I met up with a few other teachers from Korea on the flight down and we all headed to the same place. My first night was spent taking in the city again and chatting up the other backpackers in my hostel. It never fails, no matter how many amazing places I see or how many wonderful pictures I take, the best part is always meeting other travelers from all over the word. That night's new group consisted of 1 Japanese backpacker, 1 Aussie, 1 Israeli, and 2 Brits. We stayed up the whole night swapping stories and sharing traveling tips. None of us had known any of the others only 5 hours beforehand; god I love backpacking.
The Mekong Delta tour was very nice. Nothing out of this world great, but it was really good to see the river life as it is. So far its relatively genuine but some parts are a little touristy. Not that I'm complaining, as it allows me to see a part of the world I've never had the chance to see before. And tourists also provide the locals with some extra cash; so everyone wins.
We got to take a slow boat on several island inlets and a big boat up and down the river. We checked out a fish farm, a homestyle coconut-candy shop, a floating market and a dragon fruit farm.
The best part though, was the scenery. The Mekong Delta is one of the last places on the Earth that is still genuine Tropical Rain Forest and seeing it up close and personal was definitely the highlight for me.
The only other things I'll talk about right now was something really interesting that my American friends will like.
Now, the first time I was in Saigon I went to the War Remnants Museum with Scott, Nikki, and Laura. Scott, Nikki, and I didn't like it all that much because some of the anti-American propaganda was disgusting and really obscene. Now I am well aware of the fact that America did some pretty messed up things during the war, but so did the North Vietnamese. I always hate it when historical museums are really propaganda factories that spew out rhetoric instead of history. I saw this all the time in China and in Vietnam.
Anyway, this time around, a girl I met on the flight from Korea wanted to go to the War Remnants Museum. I didn't really want to go, but she didn't want to go alone, and honestly, I wasn't doing much so I went with her.
As expected, most of the museum remains a propaganda palace and spews out plenty of Anti-American BS. However, there was something I did not expect, 2 new floors had opened up that weren't there last time. As I checked them out, I realized something; they weren't biased at all. In fact if anything, they were conciliatory. Some even talked about some of the good things America did during the war (infrastructure projects mainly) and that we have done since we've re-established diplomatic relations (trade agreements mostly). I was finally beginning to be turned when we got to a department called "Historic Truths". Instantly my good sentiments dropped and I expected the BS to start up again in spades. But I was wrong.
The new wing mainly showed pictures and statistics. The pictures were before and after shots of famous places throughout the country. How they looked after the fall of Saigon in 1975 versus today. Another part showed statistics of various things from numbers of soldiers to bombs dropped to countries that sent troops. In the entire wing, I didn't find a single article, picture, or blurb that was incorrect or misleading. It was probably one of the most historically accurate and unbiased things I'd ever seen in Vietnam. It was amazing.
But the absolute best part was when I got to the gift shop.
Most of the items being sold were relics and a few nicknacks. Some of them were nice, some campy, some just stupid. When I walked in, the lady at the counter asked us where we were from. When I said "America" her eyes just lit up and she said "America! Obama!" When I smiled and answered yes, she took me straight to the corner of the shop and pointed out the books for sale.
When this museum was set up 30 years ago it was one of the biggest American bashing, Western hating, capitalist loathing sites in the entire country; a final slap in the face to America and every Vietnamese who fought alongside us. But today, the world has changed so much that the most popular item for sale in the gift shop is a book.
The title of the book is "The Audacity of Hope" and the author is Barack Obama.
I nearly cried with joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment