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| getting ready to ride a motorcycle taxi in ho chi minh. safety first! |
The last day in Vietnam I went to the War Remnants Museum. This was an amazing experience. It was unbelievably interesting learning about the war that we call the Vietnam War through the eyes of a people who call it the American War. The museum, in fact, used to be called the Museum of American War Crimes. While it was evidently a museum created with a pro-Vietnamese sentiment, I got the impression that it was somehow catering to the foreign tourist. For example, the entire first floor was designated to pictures and paper clippings from the time of the war from all over the world, including the United States, illustrating opposition to the actions of the American government. I learned, after the fact, that you were meant to begin at the top floor of the museum and work your way down. However, I found it interesting that the very first thing you saw as you walked into the museum was a sort of validation to the argument that the American government was wrong.
After the war remnants museum we explored Ho Chi Minh for our last couple of hours there. We wandered through the markets, tried the street food, spoke with the people we met along the way. For our last meal we attempted to find the place that we had eaten at on the first day but failed miserably and ended up wandering around asking people for directions. We found ourselves at a restaurant that served pho but was not the one we had initially eaten at. At the time, this was frustrating but after all is said and done and I am back home driving to get lunch somewhere I have eaten a thousand times, its this experience that I will miss. How lucky am I that I can say I got lost looking for a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City?
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