Day 2 of Ho Chi Minh City was our big sightseeing day. We hit all the highlights (at least according to me) and are pretty proud of ourselves (especially since it's so hot out-just had to make sure I mentioned that at least once).
First stop: Brunch! We were ready for some pho, so we went to this random, hole-in-the-wall noodle shop:
I ordered pho with pork and Aaron ordered pho with chicken. For those of you who don't know, pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup with broth, noodles, meat and herbs. With the pho, you get this plate of goodies to add to your soup, if you so desire:
There's lime, chilies, basil and some other greens. They also provide chili sauce and fish sauce. Aaron added the lime and I added some basil. Here's our pho:
Insanely good! The broth was tangy and had a really deep flavor and the pork I had was amazing. Altogether this meal was less than $7 (including a fresh pineapple juice and water). Not too shabby!
We walked back to the night market area and I got some day shots of the financial tower and the roundabout:
I've mentioned before how there are motorbikes everywhere! And it seems like there are no rules, you can drive on either side of the road, or even on the sidewalk. It's nuts.
For pedestrians it's even more nuts. Yes, there are crosswalks marked in the street and yes there are SOME lights telling you when to cross, but at the end of the day, you have to just weave through the traffic. You literally have to walk (run) into oncoming traffic and bob and weave your way across, it's no joke! Everyone does it and it's the only way to get across because cars and bikes never stop coming. We're kinda getting used to it because for the most part they'll drive around you, but it's still pretty scary, especially at night. Aaron took a video.
Here's the map we used and all the stops we took, in order:
Stop #1: Independence Palace
We just walked by because it was on the way to other stuff. From the street, it didn't look like much:
We have been wanting to try fresh coconut water, so we ran into this guy:
It was honestly kinda gross:
This is my new dress I got at the night market the night before. Super comfy and cute and only $6.
FYI: this is how people eat around here:
Just on the street at plastic kiddie tables. This is how they do street food. We never did this because after walking and being outside all day, our only comfort is indoor fans while eating. Especially since we're eating hot foods like pho. I can't imagine being in super humid weather eating hot soup. Craziness!
We kept walking until we got to Stop #2: Jade Emperor Pagoda
It was technically closed (lots of sights close for lunch), but the guard let us walk the grounds.
The Jade Pagoda is a multi-faith temple and is supposed to be really cool inside, but we didn't get to go inside. Oh well.
There's a separate staircase for women and men:
At the top:
I peeked in the window:
Nice!
We were a little overheated from walking, so we took a short break (not to mention the museum we were going to was still closed for lunch):
It's a San Francisco ice cram parlor all the way in South Vietnam!
Totally rejuvenating.
Next stop: War Remnants Museum
This was our main attraction. It's all about The Vietnam War and although we knew it would be hard to see, we felt like while we were here we should see it.
Now, a couple things to note:
First off, this place is pretty one-sided, and we don't come off smelling like roses. However, I've read that a lot of the most brutal pictures of torture by The U.S. were contributed BY THE U.S., so we kinda had our say.
Second, many of the pictures are really graphic. It really elicits the absolute horrors of war and doesn't shy away from the most brutal atrocities. If you're squeamish, you might want to skip this part.
Okay, let's do it:
They give you these stickers to wear:
Our first ones blew away while I was trying to take a picture and we had to fight tooth and nail to get a couple more. OMG this ticket lady was NOT trying to give them up, thinking we were trying to take extra or something. Who cares?? I only wanted them because I figured that's how they recognize who paid.
Anyway, we're in and they have all these old planes and tanks out front.
After exploring the front, we went into a neighboring exhibit:
This exhibit detailed the different prisons where The Vietnamese were kept, tortured and murdered. It's pretty brutal.
The guillotine seems like one of the more humane ways to go compared to what you're about to see.
Tiger cages:
People were kept in these low, small cages and could not lay down or sit up, so they had to stoop uncomfortably. Unbearable.
Iron grill:
Prisoners were stripped and forced to roll over these iron grills and the little hooks in the grill would tear their skin and pull their hair until they bled.
Example of a prison:
Haunting.
The cells were called ovens because they were so stuffy and the women would have to take turns standing by the door for air:
More cages:
Horrendous torture:
Different sticks used for beatings:
Interesting:
There were actually a lot more pictures that I didn't post. It was an extremely sad, scary place.
Now we're inside. There are 3 floors and you're supposed to start at the top and work your way back down, which I thought was weird because no one really tells you what to do (there's a random map on a random wall), so everyone starts walking around at the bottom until they realize they're going backwards. Stupid layout.
I got a pamphlet and here are the different rooms:
I took a lot of pictures in #1: Historical Truths, but it was mostly just pictures and writing about all the details of the war from start to finish. I figure if you're interested you can google Vietnam War. It was definitely eye-opening, to say the least. I did think this was really interesting:
Crazy!
Room 2 was really neat. It was called Requiem:
Here's what it's about:
It was compiled by renowned war photographer Tim Page and it shows the works of those photographers and journalists from around the world that were killed while covering the war.
I suck at taking pictures of glass (I really need someone to show me how to use my camera!), so bear with me (I'm in the glare of like every picture).
List of all the photographers/journalists killed while reporting on the war:
The exhibits are really extensive and I took a ton of pictures, but I'm only posting a fraction of them because it's kind of one of those museums you can only truly appreciate by being there.
Next up:
Lots of weapons and some disturbing images:
This is actually a famous photo. It won many awards, including The Pulitzer Prize:
Facts about the war:
Casualties of land mines and bombs:
This just happened 12 years ago! People are still stepping on land mines:
Next room:
Are you ready? This gets pretty bad.
That Agent Orange is absolutely atrocious!
The bottom floor was about how we repaired our relationship with Vietnam and we're all friends again and how other countries support Vietnam and how they rebuilt everything. We kinda glossed over that section because we had been there for 3 hours and were ready to be done.
Aaron left his mark:
I kept mine. So, overall it was a really heavy place. Lots of intense images and stories. War is just not worth it, that's the message I took away. Hopefully, we (as a world) don't end up repeating our mistakes.
We continued walking, seeing random stuff along the way (I told you, walking is the best way to explore a city):
until we got to The Notre Dame Cathedral.
Yup, you heard me. It's named after the French Notre Dame because Vietnam was occupied by France a long time ago and they had it build (entirely of French materials btw). Although nowhere near as exquisite as the French version, still pretty spectacular.
We then walked across the street to The Central Post Office:
Yup, you heard me right again. This is the post office. It was built by Gustave Eiffel (Eiffel Tower guy) and it's a legit post office, as well as huge tourist destination:
They had these really neat maps on the walls:
I wonder what time it is in California:
We walked down a few blocks and got to this long strip of concrete in between two huge roadways. It was like a random park with the statue of former President Ho Chi Minh:
He's the one who's face is on all the money (and obviously the city is named after him).
Behind it is The People's Committee Hall:
We passed this too:
They have some impressive buildings here.
We walked down all the way to the end of the concrete park:
Across the street is The Saigon River:
We were able to watch the sun start to set. Magic.
Looks like a courthouse maybe?
Bitexco Financial Building again (helipad side):
We were pretty much done with sightseeing at this point. We were covered in sweat and my sandals were cutting into my feet. We walked back a bit to find a place to rest and eat. Saw this at a cake shop:
and ran into this outdoor market:
We finally found this restaurant and the food was incredible (but pricey):
Yup, he really did pass out waiting for his dinner. Poor baby.
He got a meatball sub, which he was obsessed with:
and I got bun (a noodle dish with meat, veggies and usually some type of egg roll (this one didn't have the egg rolls)):
I got pork and shrimp and it was fantastic!
We tried to find a cab home, but for some reason were unsuccessful (usually they're everywhere!), so we walked:
We got back to the hostel around 7pm, showered and put the same clothes back on (I know we're gross hippies) and joined a pub crawl:
It was $1 for girls and $5 for guys and you get free shots and a hat!
We met the coolest guy from So-Cal named Adrian:
No idea who that chick is. Really fun night!
The next day was a relax day and since we had done all the sightseeing we needed to do the day before (we're total badasses), we were okay to just lounge around. My dawgs are tired!
Today we woke up early (6:30am) and caught a flight back to Bangkok and after a 4 hour wait, caught another flight back to Phuket. We got some yummy food at the airport. I had roasted duck with rice and soup:
and a couple BBQ pork buns:
Okay, the buns were not great. Dry and old. Eww.
Aaron went to McDonald's (of course) and got a Snoopy black burger:
Black bun!! Looks so weird, but tasted totally normal.
I'm so happy to be back at our apartment, I can't even tell you! Aaron went out and got us a ton of street food for dinner:
OMG the fried chicken here is so good!
Overall, super long travel day (12 hours!), but getting a taste of Cambodia and Vietnam was so worth it. Each country has strong similarities on the surface, but also huge differences that somehow make it completely unique. It's been super fun exploring a little more of Southeast Asia!
So lucky to see all that! Videos put you right there
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