War and Peace

I wasn't sure what to title this post. Monday was an interesting day, to say the least. HCMC is like nothing we've ever experienced, and I don't mean that in an entirely good way. If fact, I don't mean it in any good way. As Nancy noted, the city assaults (that's the right word, assaults) you via all your senses. It's very hot, very noisy, dirty, intermittently smelly, and, in the market at least, some vendors are inclined to tug on you. I really can't describe what it's like. The tooting of horns is incessant. There are thousands of motor bikes. At a stop light there will be a few hundred and when the light turns green they all start up at once. Occasionally they come up on the sidewalk, usually in front of you but not always. Crossing the street, other than at a light, is, as I mentioned yesterday, an exercise in the power of prayer. The city is, frankly, more than a little intimidating. Nancy, bless her heart, has been a good sport about it all, but our hotel room has proved a refuge in a way we didn't really anticipate. Having said all that, the place is also a bit of a hoot in that it's simply so very, very different from all our previous experience. And the food is great. Oh, here's one more thing. To top it all off, Viet Nam is blocking Facebook. Now, really, what's with that? Not that I care, but Nancy likes to use my account to check on the world, and I had to log in through a proxy server to enable her to do that. What do you suppose they are afraid of? Oh well, on with our day.

Monday was Valentine's Day. I was clever enough to remember the Valentine's Day cards I had been toting around with me for the past few weeks, and Nancy found them waiting for her in the morning. Fun! After breakfast (that's another story, actually, and don't get me going about the $40 in Cambodian currency I didn't need in the first place and now can't unload) we left on a morning tour of the city with a sort of English speaking guide. Our first stop was the War Museum.

The War Museum is about, of course, the Viet Nam War. The Vietnamese kicked out the Chinese after a thousand years of occupation. They got rid of the French after 90 years of occupation. Then they had to deal with us. The top floor of the museum is a photographic exhibit. The photographs are all from an exhibit (also a book) titled "Requiem: By the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina". Looking at the photos, it all came back. It was such a bad time for the U.S., and it was absolute hell for Vietnam and much of Laos and Cambodia. Perhaps three million died in North and South Vietnam with many more injured. There was a big section on Agent Orange and other defoliants. I hadn't realized we sprayed 20,000,000 gallons of Agent Orange, and that it was contaminated with Dioxin. The principle purpose was to destroy food crops and drive people into the cities. This it did, by devastating the land causing massive suffering and hunger. Also, tens of thousands were directly killed by the stuff, and there were an estimated 500,000 people born with birth defects. Apparently these people, if they are able to reproduce, are more likely to also have children with birth defects. The whole thing was depressing beyond words. It really was. I got the sense that the prosperity we see, all those annoying motor bikes and all the shops, are but a sheen on the surface of a vast ocean of sorrow and pain. Well, we wanted to see Vietnam . . . .

Outside, along with an exhibit of how men were tortured in captivity

were lots of U.S. aircraft. People were walking around and taking photos. It was more than a bit surreal, I thought.

All in all, it was a heck of a way to start the day.

The rest of our tour was more prosaic. We went to a lacquerware making place and bought a small bowl.

I thought you might enjoy a driver's eye view of HCMC traffic.

Then we went to Chinatown and to a temple dedicated to a god-like lady whose name I didn't catch, but who is apparently quite popular. It was smoky

and colorful.

Next we went to the market.

Nancy and I started in the hat section.

There were a lot of hats.

In fact, there was a lot of everything. Some guys were going through the market. They were all in red accompanying a dragon, or something, and it's attendant (or something). Some of the guys in red had cymbals and a drum. They were making an infernal racket and, together with the dragon, scaring the heck out of every little kid they encountered.

On the upper floor Nancy found a dress she thought would be really cute on Evynne.

When she asked the price she was brusquely told it was not for sale. "Here," the lady seemed to be saying, holding up something that looked like a cartoon dress, "you can buy this crappy dress instead." What fun!

After leaving the market where we couldn't buy stuff we crossed the street. Please forgive my obsession with the motorcycles, but you have to realize these guys aren't stopped, they're just avoiding -- hopefully.

Safely on the other side we tried some Chinese "sweet tea". This is an iced drink with seaweed and some blobby white things in it. It tasted vaguely like sweetened oyster juice with tofu. We didn't drink it all. In fact, we didn't really drink very much. But, dammit, we tried it.

On we went. Here is Notre Dame Cathedral - a reminder of the days of French occupation.

A couple was getting wedding photos taken by the cathedral.

Across the street is the post office, another lovely example of French architecture.

Inside, it looked just as it should.

and across the street an elementary school band was enthusiastically playing "Do(e) a deer, a female deer" from "The Sound of Music."

That was the end our our morning tour of the city. After lunch (German food, good beer!) we went for a walk, stopping often to check the map and dodging motorcycles at every street corner. We were more or less accosted by a man selling coconuts as drinks, and ending up buying one even though we didn't really want it.

We took refuge in a park where we just sat for a while, sweating and calculating how to cross the fewest streets getting back to the hotel.

We watched the children playing before heading back.

We settled on a route, took a deep breath, and trudged on, past the kitschy park attraction,

past the sidewalk motorcycle repair shop,

past the sidewalk vendors of all things unwanted,

and past the scary electric wires

to another market

from which we beat a hasty retreat after one too many vendors tugged at our sleeves imploring us to buy from them. Once safely back in our room, we contemplated the fact that we needed to go out one more time, for dinner. And so we did. It was Valentine's Day, after all. We found the restaurant suggested by the hotel concierge and had a great meal, pink candle and all.

Afterwards we strolled back along the Saigon river

and back along those wonderfully lit streets

with their hordes of engine buzzing, horn tooting motorcycles,

stopped for a quick look at the hotel pool we'll never have a chance to use,

and fell gratefully into bed.