Religion, War, and Friends

March 24^th, 2006

So, I just had one of the best experiences of my life. I know, I say that a lot, but I’m actually just really fortunate that my life is so full of surprises. I’m not sure if you can tell from my post about Vietnam, but I was a little nervous about traveling there alone. Vietnam is, after all, famous for an incredibly destructive war in which many people died. I wasn’t sure how I would be received as an American and I decided I would pretend to be Canadian if necessary. No one picks on the Canuks (not sure how to spell that). I know, it’s not the most patriotic thing I could do, but I prioritize safety over patriotism any day of the week. I

’m thrilled to tell you that any apprehension that I held about going rapidly dissipated on my arrival in Vietnam.

First, as soon as I walked through customs, a hotel representative met me to cart me to the hotel. I stayed in a five star hotel (for safety purposes, of course). I think if I landed in Vietnam without experiencing Bangkok first, I may have f

elt a bit overwhelmed. The two places are very similar in that the people drive like maniacs and most of the drivers are really moped-ers. I think I just created that word, but I like it.

I slept in a bit late the next morning since I got in so late and because I needed to recuperate from my Tuesday night escapades. I wandered around the city a bit and rode on a cyclo, which is a bicycle driven by an older man. I felt bad for making him drive me around, so I paid a little extra and only made him go a short distance.

My attempt at our self portrait failed miserably. Next, things get really interesting. As it turns out, I can’t just take a cab. Since I am a tourist, a tour guide must accompany me when I’m in a car. Well, sign me up! For $35 USD, I enjoyed a private tour with my own driver. We checked out all of the fun stuff in the city – a market (sick of these), a pagoda (temple), Reunification Palace (where the North officially claimed Victory), the War History Museum, and a lacquer factory. All were very cool to see, but I must tell you about the War History museum. I’m going to take a diversion here to talk about the tragedy of the Vietnam war, so you may want to skip ahead if that’s not your cup of tea.

I am pretty ignorant about the Vietnam war, or most wars for that matter. I should probably find history more intriguing but quite honestly it bores me to tears. My Dad would be so ashamed. However, walking the streets of a city whose past obviously affects every aspect of its present day existence, made me quite curious. The pictures that I saw during my hour in the museum dramatically affected me. The photos were more graphic than anything I’ve ever witnessed (fortunately). The pictures depicted scenes a thousand times worse than anything that came to light in the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal. I debated about whether to post one of the pictures. I decided to post it, but if you don't want to see it, don't look too closely.

The picture that sticks with me is an American Soldier carrying half of a Vietnamese soldier while looking at him and smiling. I’m not making a political statement here because I’ve never fought in a war and I am absolutely supportive of the people who risk their lives to keep my pansy-ass safe and free. All I will say is that I was moved by the picture and it made me realize how tragic war is – both for the person doing the killing who is reduced to celebrating another human’s death as well as for the person who died fighting for something he may or may not support. Either way, it’s sad and I pray that my brother (who is in the Army) never faces a situation like the one in the photo. Ok, that is enough of that discussion. Back to the fun.

I went to dinner at Cool Restaurant. I promise that is the name. The food was delicious, but much more expensive ($15) that the 50 cents that I paid for my Pho lunch. I then returned to my king sized bed to rest up for my trip to the Mekong Delta.