A long way from home: War Remnants Museum

In Ho Chi Minh we landed lucky with our hotel, friendly staff, clean, a little bit noisy but it is within walking distance of the tourist attractions we wanted to see in the city.

On our first morning, armed with our map we headed for the War Remnants Museum, which basically tells of the war between America and Vietnam and how it still affects people today. Walking the streets is hectic, there are supposed to be 9 million motorbikes in the city and they all seem to be on the road at the same time. Not only on the road, some people decide to cut corners or jump the queues by whiz zing along the pavement instead and bikes not being ridden tend to be parked on the pavements. This makes it very hard to walk on the pavement and you constantly need to be stepping onto the road to go around bikes. Of course there are still the buses ,cars and cyclos which also add to the general mayhem. The trick is to see a gap and go for it and keep going, the vehicles will gauge your pace of walk and drive around you, stopping and starting, slowing down and speeding up just confuses them. Often though me and David are on different sides of the road because one of us chickened out, usually me, I must confess.

We knew we were near to the museum when we saw all the tourist buses parked outside, this is something we look out for now, usually shows we are going in the right direction. It is very cheap to get into the museums and tourist attractions in Vietnam, they are the one country who does not seem to try and exploit their tourists through over the top prices, in fact we have been surprised how cheap it is in Vietnam and actually feel we are taking advantage at times, although market traders try it on big style.

The museum was very interesting and was set out in a modern building on three floors. The bottom floor told you about the amount of toxins that were sprayed and dumped over Vietnam, affecting both plant life and people. The toxins, known as Agent Orange were used to help clear the terrain of plant life, as the Americans were finding it hard to fight in the jungle. Photos showed the destruction of plants but also the affects it had on people , causing many babies to be born with defects right up to this day. This not only affected the Vietnamese but also the Americans who came in contact with it.

This floor also showed propaganda posters used by the Vietnamese and acknowledged the support that Vietnam got from countries around the world, including some American citizens, especially near the end of the war.

On the second floor was this sculpture of a mother made from the shell of an exploded bomb.

Another bomb sculpture.

The second floor showed photos of scenes from the war and gave details of raids on villages. Many families and villages were wiped out during the conflict. There were also artefacts on display from the war such as guns, uniforms, personal items etc.

The third floor was very interesting and told the stories of the journalists that covered the war and
was dedicated to the 134 journalists who died during conflicts in Indo-China. It was nice to see them being recognised and many of their accounts and thoughts on the battle were told through diary extracts, letters home or interviews while they were still alive. Some of the photos shown were the last that many of the journalists took, which made them more significant and thought provoking.

Outside there was an exhibit showing the different types of jails, cells, cages anything really that was used to contain the Vietnamese who were caught by the Americans . This exhibit also showed torture methods used by the Americans to get the Vietnameses to talk. Now, I know this museum shows the Vietnamese point of view and naturally will be biased but I was shocked to see the methods used by a country who are so quick to condemn other countries or rulers who use similar behaviour. I do also acknowledge that the Vietnamese were just as cruel to their prisoners but it was their country that was invaded and being destroyed. I am not an expert on the matter but wonder how we would feel and react if we saw innocent children and families being killed in our villages, towns and cities. I also realise that many Americans were against the conflict which is also demonstrated in the museum.

On one of the outside exhibits there were lots of bats sleeping in the rafters, each brown blob below is a bat, they were fascinating to watch, as they twitch and scratch a lot in their sleep.