September 6,

Awoke and got around with our Javas. We went really light for breakfast- splitting a large apple with PB/Nutella on it. (We have big eating plans this afternoon.) After we finished eating we head out trekking.

It is only 650 meters (710 yards) and we arrived at our destination the War Remnants Museum. Online it is described as – Memorial museum exhibiting photographs, weapons & other objects from the Vietnam & Indochina wars. We paid the 40,000 Dong ($1.63) each and through the turnstiles into a yard full of old US military items.

There were half a dozen smaller fighter planes or jets (one being a Cessna A-37 fighter-bomber), two helicopters, couple of tanks, a bulldozer, howitzers, (to name a few) as well as many different bombs and casings of bombs. Then still outside we saw more examples of “tiger cages,” which are the barbed wire cages- like we saw at Phu Quoc's Prisoner Camp. (We also learned more on the scale of Phu Quoc Prisoner Camp – outside and inside the Museum. It was the second largest in then South Vietnam, as well as other things.) Then we went inside the building, as all of this was outside on the grounds of the Museum.

Upon entering, we found a flyer that described the Museum…

“Founded 0n September 4,1975, The War Remnants Museum is a member of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

It is the unique museum in Vietnam to systematically study, collect, conserve and display exhibits on war crimes and consequences inflicted on the Vietnamese people by foreign aggressive forces. Simultaneously, the Museum appeals to everybody to oppose unjust wars, preserve global peace, promote friendship and solidarity among nations.

The Museum is endowed with 9 permanent thematic exhibitions and various special collections. All year round, a wide range of activities are organized, including conferences, meetings with war witnesses, temporary and itinerant exhibitions. With nearly one million domestic and international visitors per year, The War Remnants Museum is one of Ho Chi Minh City's most enticing cultural and tourist sites.”

The middle paragraph of the above is the troubling part for me. “Foreign aggressive forces,” this is meaning and referencing the USA… as well as other countries. Anyway, I went through many emotions – mostly negative – during the whole 1.5-2 hours we spent at the Museum. Anger, outrage, some empathy, sadness for humanity in general. It was sobering as well as some bit of heartwarming with some truly, great heroic acts. It was a crazy time and part of my life, but I really only knew of the “time” as the War in Vietnam, not much else. I turned eight the year the war ended. I could go into a lot more about the Museum… but I was emotionally spent.

We left and went back to our apartment. Cooled down and watched You tube to change our outlook. By 1230 we got around ready. Our next venture was a scooter-led, foodie tour.

We were picked up at 1300 by Saigon Adventure for a street food lovers tour. We are each squired on a scooter – my driver is An, Jeff's is Tri. We did a quick introduction; then helmeted up and each loaded on scooters; and off we went.
First stop is for “Bun Bo Hue: beef noodle soup, which is not a Pho.” We given tea as they prepared our soups. We are accompanied by two other people – Chuck, a business man from Arizona and Charlie, a first generation American-born Chinese from the Bay area of California. Intros made, we were served our soup. The soup is a 12-14 hour made broth of beef bone, lemongrass, pineapple, and shrimp paste with a noodle (different than Pho), beef brisket, crab sausage, onions, and green onions. Toppings available were chillies and chilli paste, lime wedges and the plate of greens and crispy onions… Great Start! But I only ate half of my soup, because…

Next stop was a “Chuoi Nep Nuong” … Grilled banana sticky rice. It's a banana rolled with thick layer of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf. This is then grilled. The banana leaf is removed and the rice/banana is sliced and topped with coconut milk sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Very nice and not overly sweet.

Next we did a quick “scoot” to a 1968 developed housing area. (First we were offered a beverage: beer, soda, juice, or water from a frig – Tri, Our leader guide, opened on a corner stall- “his stash??”.) Now for a walk around to digest our food and learn some about HCMC, a city of 13 million people. This section is a small percent of housing areas. It was built by Americans for the homeless during the war here in Saigon. The apartments were given out on a lottery based system, and was considered a Ghetto area. It continues as housing, and still crowded. Tri (pronounced as “tea”) said that five people live in one apartment of one bedroom, one main room, one bathroom– without a kitchen. Crazy – the apartment Jeff and I are in is bigger than this, because we have a kitchen! The bottom level is cafes/restaurants, and the next two are just the apartments. We took the stairs up. In the middle of the stairs was a built in ramp originally for bicycles to take to your room, but now for scooters/motorbikes to be taken to your room. They can not afford to park them in the parking lot and there is a huge potential for stealing!

Next place, Banh Mi 24 for, of course… “Banh Mi: the best-known baguette in the world” and “Vietnam's #1 street food.” We had a choice of assorted cold cut meats, which was sliced pork & brisket (called Banh Mi Thit), or shredded chicken (called Bahn Mi Ga). We both chose the Thit and split a sandwich. These Banh Mi also have pate, “butter”, pickled carrot and radish, cucumber, and fresh coriander (cilantro). Very tasty!

Next our convey of four motorbikes played follow-the-leader through crazy traffic weaving and bobbing to the “Fresh Flower market of HCMC and largest in Vietnam,” according to An now walking us about. So many stalls next to each other with so many different flowers and greens for bouquets. A sea of colors! We saw some six foot tall wreaths being loaded up on scooters for delivery. What gets transported on scooters… well it is unbelievable! From here we walked through “Cambodia Town” in Saigon (like China Town in San Francisco), but An said only Vietnamese live here now. This is where more street food stalls are and little shops. We see all kinds of activity: people cooking away; washing dishes; setting up or taking down stalls; just selling clothes; or selling Black-hooded Oriels. Our tour host, An, has circled us back to a set up table. The other tour hosts had been here visiting many stalls, getting us… more food!

This is our last eating/tour place, and we are given many kinds of foods! First we are given an iced beverage – I had a cane juice with kumquat (a kind of lemon), Jeff a passionfruit one. Then the dishes came. BBQ Beef wrapped in Betel leaf, and Ground Beef around lemongrass stalk with chilli/fish sauce and some holy basil and pickled greens; Fried Spring Rolls with pork mince and herbs; Spring Rolls in Rice Paper with all manner of greens- mint, basil, lettuce, etc. and a peanut dipping sauce; Grilled oyster with Quail Egg topped with crispy shallots and three different sauces; Banh Khot, which is a crispy, savory Pancake (rice flour, egg, coconut milk and turmeric – shaped like little bowls) with three different toppings of Calamari, Shrimp, or Quail egg; and then Snails, the snail meat had been taken out and mixed with lemongrass, herbs and pork(?- not sure all the ingredients), cooked, and returned into the shell with a lemon grass blade to aid in extracting the meat- once extracted dip in a chilli sauce; and lastly… a Flan cake served in a coconut milk/coffee ice bath.

Wowza!!! Finished we say goodbyes to Chuck and Charlie and are driven back to our apartment hotel. We roll into our room! That was so great but I am full!! I blogged and Jeff read.

At 1730 we ordered a taxi and went to Saigon River. We had a 1800 reservation for a boat tour of the main part of HCMC. We had traffic issues, our boat tour company even talked with us, to make sure we were still coming. We arrived at 1755 – Jeff gave our taxi guy a big tip. We all, 15 of us loaded on a cute boat. We sat and they rolled back the retractable roof. Awesome! The lights of the city and buildings started coming on and we cruised down and back up the Saigon River for one hour with a little commentary of the various skyscraper buildings, the largest lit up screen in Vietnam and SE Asia(?3,000sqm- which is 32,300sqft); and the districts we were passing through. When we finished we walked back going by the Opera House and the Post Office – both cool buildings!

Arrived back at our place… the city has changed for me, it is now Saigon! Fantastic day!!!