There's no place like home. Wisely spoken words from Dorothy of Kansas! As much as I have enjoyed the rich cultural experience we've had here in Vietnam I feel completely ready to leave, and the thought of home (well our temporary home anyway), work (yes, work!), family, friends and Vogels toast has never been far from my mind. Our last three days have been spent in the city of Ho Chi Minh, which has a population of more than 9 million people! Funnily enough, one of the joys here has been the size of the footpaths and that they actually have them! Our time here has been mostly spent shopping and eating, my two favourite things. Of course, we visited the War Remnants Museum which was eye-opening but not to be missed.
The shopping...
We visited the Ben Thanh Markets as I'm sure all tourists do and I was relieved to have acquired the knowledge prior that the perimeter of these markets is lined with fixed price stalls. If you've been keeping up with this blog then you'll know of my aversion to bartering. I was both relieved and disappointed with our visit to these famous markets; relieved because I thought the hassling would be much, much worse and disappointed because I actually thought I would get a bargain here. On the whole, if it's cheap, then it's cheaply made (go figure) and if it's expensive then it can be pretty hard to part with the money - never knowing how soon it will fall apart! So, with trepidation I made a few purchases and I'll just have to deal with whatever disappointment follows.
On the flip-side, there are quite a few malls to choose from here and the air-conditioning was bliss! Most places didn't have Large in anything and even if they did it never fit my broad Westerner shoulders - totally depressing. Despite this fact I managed to buy some tops and even a bikini, which I didn't get much choice on because it was the only extra-large on the shelf - hahaha!
For lunch we were directed to an open, stylish cafe which brought together all the Vietnamese street-foods under one roof. Nha Hang Ngon had very yummy 'homemade' lemonade with lime wedges (which is bountiful and cheap, one thing I will sorely miss back in NZ) and delicious fresh food. Two highlights were the rice flour pancakes and pork spring rolls (a staple for us these three weeks).
The best cocktail goes to Zanzibar (a passionfruit caprioska) as does one of our best dinners. Zanzibar had cool music, efficient service and western food that wasn't a burger and fries, well they did actually have burger and fries on the menu but we resisted and instead were very happy with our beef carpaccio, chicken, bacon and honey mustard salad, NZ beef tenderloin and braised pork belly.
Temple club was another highly rated restaurant. I loved the quaint 1930's decor with a fine-dining twist, the food was well-executed and traditional but didn't rate as highly as Madame Hien (our fav restaurant in Hanoi). Lemongrass, although brightly lit was also very tasty and I had grilled pork with rice noodles and fish sauce which has also become a staple for me.
The War Remnants Museum...
Was devastating. Full Stop. The very graphic images of the effects of chemical warfare and the ongoing damage of Agent Orange brought tears to our eyes. The story of the Vietnam War is told through the eyes of the Vietnamese in photographs and artefacts. The information about the many protests held around the world on the bottom floor was a slightly encouraging lift after the harrowing images of death and combat on the first and second floors. I was more than surprised that some people took their children to such a place and I found it hard to smile for about an hour after leaving. I wondered how the Vietnamese people feel towards Westerners and I formed in my own mind that it must be bitter-sweet, they need the income from tourism but the reminders of war are many and it was not so long ago. A photo of a person killed by a landmine as recent as 2003 was a shocking reminder of how recent this war was. I was holding back tears for most of the time in the museum but the most moving exhibit was a letter to President Obama from a 23 year old second-generation Agent Orange victim. She has no legs and only one arm and she was not even alive when the war was happening! She wrote of how she had read a letter that Obama had written to his daughters about his hopes for their lives and that many Vietnamese people born with defects due to Agent Orange are devoid of the same hope. I could go on for much longer but for one, my fingers can't type as fast as my mind is running and secondly, we have to pack, check out and head for home later on tonight. So I'll have to cut this one short.
We'll be home soon NZ - we've missed you!
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