Good Morning, Vietnam!

Day 35, Grand Asia 2017

Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017 – Phu My/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

When I watch cable news commentary on the MS Amsterdam, I have a choice of two very different views of American politics. Switching between MSNBC and Fox News, I sometimes can’t believe that they cover the same country.

I felt that way today as I toured the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (also still called Saigon). The presentation of what they call the American War (we call it the Vietnam War) is from an entirely different perspective than the one I brought here.

Of course, the enemy we then called North Vietnam won the war, and they are telling their story. It is one of American aggression and atrocities. Big displays illustrate massacres and murders on the part of American soldiers, but there is not a word about the torture Sen. John McCain and many others suffered during their incarceration at the “Hanoi Hilton.” I’m glad I’ve seen both perspectives. There is a lot of room in the middle for the truth.

Regardless, the Vietnamese people could not be more welcoming to Americans. It’s a young country full of people born since the war. One fellow traveler told me that when the Circle K would not take a credit card or American cash (many places accept it) for his 333 Beer, a local behind him in line generously paid.

If the war museum was the most solemn point of the day, our rides in “sit lows,” aka trishaws, were the highlight. They consist of a three-wheeled bicycle with a passenger seat up front and are a blast.

We took a 30-minute ride through the streets, dodging the crazy motorbikes and cars. It wasn’t unusual to see a whole family fly by us on a scooter. I did see lots of children laughing and waving as they passed us by.

Our day trip to Saigon also included a stop at the main post office, where graduating classes gathered for pictures and old phone booths still line the lobby.

Nearby was the familiar – to some – rooftop where South Vietnamese surged to try to get on the last helicopter to leave the city as the Americans pulled out.

I made one of my few purchases at a lacquer shop, where we watched an artist incorporate goose egg shells into the design.

If Pho 2000 was good enough for a stop by President Clinton in 2000, it was great for our lunch. The walls are covered with his pictures. My Bún Thit Bò Xào (sautéed beef and vermicelli) was hot and flavorful.

Other sights included Notre Dame cathedral and a final stop at the Thien Hau temple and pagoda before making the hour-long-plus bus ride back to the ship, docked at Phu My.

As we left the city, we saw modern buildings and tall apartment skyscrapers under construction. Ho Chi Minh City, with its estimated 13 million people (and 8 million motorbikes) lags behind some other modern Asian cities, but it is working hard to catch up. And it could be making the building crane its national bird, too. But first it needs to do something will all those wires and cables strung along the roads.

Because we missed Nha Trang the day before due to a typhoon, I didn’t see a lot of Vietnam. I’m putting it on my short list for a full-blown vacation some day.