Measurements and Remnants

Our first day in Ho Chi Minh city was awesome! Isaiah, Ari, Taylor, Lindsay, and I went out as soon as they let us off the ship. Our goal: find a tailor.

The ship is docked right in front of a little restaurant/cafe/gift shop, which is quite convenient. Also, for our convenience, is a shuttle that takes us the 1 km to the city center. It runs every half an hour and is really, really easy.

We took the shuttle to the city center and walked around. Ho Chi Minh city (a.k.a Saigon) is quite urban, but there is still a rural feel to it. Lots of street vendors, lots of cute little shops, some homeless people, but the standout things are all of the motorcycles.

In a city of over 8 million people, it seems like everyone has a motorcycle. Crossing the street is like playing a game of Frogger. It is much easier to wait for a slight lull in the traffic and then walk than it is to wait for there to be no traffic whatsoever. The motorcyclists weave around you, so it's safer to just keep walking.

We went up and down, looking for a tailor, one that we liked. There were tailors all over the place. We went to a guy who was offering a "big promotion for SAS" but the shop was a little run down so we went elsewhere. We took a taxi that cost $1 to another place, but the suits were going for $100, and the people weren't very nice. Finally, we were just exploring after Lindsay went to go get measured for her dress, and found a nice little place with a very sweet woman working there. We asked how much for a suit and she said $80. That was the best deal we found so far, so we took her card.

After eating lunch (I had squid and garlic it was awesome!) we went and got measured and picked out our suits. It is a good thing Lindsay was there with us because we have no fashion sense whatsoever. I got two suits: a black one and a white one with black lining. It's gonna be awesome.

We grabbed some ice cream and then went to the War Remnants Museum. This was a very moving experience. They had pictures of the destruction and war crimes from the Vietnam War, recreation of cells, and pictures of people who were born with deformities due to the dioxin. It is impossible to describe the kinds of things that I saw in this museum. The testimonies in captions, stories, but most of all the photos will have a lasting impression upon me.

There were also guest books to sign, and there were messages in all languages, some thanking the Vietnamese for the museum, others wishing peace on Earth. Some of them were quite anti-American, calling us monolingual self-centered people. A lot of these things were shocking to read, and haunted me for some time. I like to believe I'm not self-centered (though I could use some work on my French) and that I truly empathize with other people. It is sad to see that that is how the individual who wrote that views the United States. That is why on this trip I strive to be a positive ambassador of the US to all of the countries we visit.

One last thing: there was a letter from Ho Chi Minh written to the people of the US who were supporting the antiwar movements, talking about how Vietnam has never attacked the US, thanking the anti-war supporters and saying that what is happening is inhumane and is harming the US just as much as it is harming Vietnam. He also said they won't be backing down until the US leaves.

Words cannot exactly do this experience justice. There is only one other place I have ever seen any images as sickening as the once I have seen, and I'm sure you can guess the content of that museum.

That night we went to a jazz club called "Sax n' Art" because Bob was slated to play there. But that will be in the next blog, an experience deserving its own space.