I woke up at 5:00am once again, but we had a super slow morning. We made a few coffees, which was difficult as the Airbnb did not have any mugs to drink coffee in, only metal cups that became volcanic when you pour hot liquid in them. So I put the metal cups in bowls so we could hold them.. A bit tricky to drink but functional. We cooked up some simple breakfast on the hot pad. This was also a bit tricky, as there weren’t a lot of tools for cooking. Good thing we are semi competent with chopsticks… we fried toast and some eggs up. 

We then set out on our day’s adventure pretty late, around 9:30am. First we walked to a park nearby, which was meant to be a little short cut… Well, every boy scout and girl guide in Saigon was in that very park doing activities, playing games and celebrating Halloween. It was a Sunday morning, maybe that factored in too? We walked through the park, dodging scouts and made our way to the War Remnants Museum. 

On the way to the museum one of those guys with the traditional pole and baskets on his shoulder tried to trick Jives into holding his baskets so that he could demand some money. 

The museum cost 40,000 dong, which is about $2 USD. We paid and entered the grounds. The grounds of the museum were full of war planes, helicopters and tanks. We then walked up the stairs to the three level museum. 

The first floor had an exhibit about how the world showed support to the North Vietnamese army. The resistance in the USA, France and other allies etc. The second floor was the most difficult of all. This floor had two exhibits titled “War Crimes” and “Agent Orange”. The war crimes section focused on the US military officials’ barbarism. It also showed images from the war crimes tribunal in Sweden following the war. I was surprised to see that some (very few) US officials were found guilty. The images in this exhibit, I don’t need to describe. You just have to imagine the worst atrocities and acts of massacre and torture imaginable and that’s what was depicted…. Or you might even be under cutting it. 

The Agent Orange room was not quite as upsetting (a sentence I wouldn’t have imagined myself saying), but we are comparing war crimes here. There were lots of images of the barbaric effects of this terrible (arguably worst) chemical weapon to ever have been used on humans, and the lasting generational effects it has to this day. 

The third floor held exhibits based on numbers ie. amounts of weapons used, innocent killed, things measured in numbers. I was shocked to realize the war had lasted seventeen years., beginning in the mid 50’s and going until the late 70’s. 

After walking through the indoor exhibits we went to the ones outdoors by the air crafts. There were recreations of holding cells and cages used by the Americans and the French on the Vietnamese. After this we sat down and rested a bit, digesting what we had seen, before walking to a nearby pond called Turtle Lake. 

On a side note: I don’t understand genuinely what the US was doing in Vietnam. I don’t see the justification one bit, and could not disagree more. Were they “stopping the spread of communism”? I don’t get this at all…and I see so many parallels between the Vietnam war and the current Israeli conflict.

We walked around turtle lake and tried to get some rap takes, but Jives’ phone and ear piece wouldn’t pair up. 

Next we walked towards the “Jade Emperor Pagoda”. On the way we tried to get lunch at a Japanese restaurant, but we couldn’t get anyone to take our order after being seated and waiting twenty minutes (really weird). 

The Jade Emperor Pagoda was well worth the long walk and the highlight of an otherwise sombre day. We entered the pagoda and walked along the left side of the temple, following the arrows. The pathway weaved among bushes and orchids and statues of lions. We then entered the courtyard directly in front of the pagoda where people were placing offerings of incense and lighting red and gold candles. There was a pond in the centre filled with giant catfish!

Everything was surrounded by plant life. I love temples like this! We then removed our shoes and entered the main pagoda, wearing our masks as instructed. We followed along the right of the temple, where there were a few smaller shrines and people lighting incense. At the back of the pagoda was what I would describe as the main shrine and altar. Temple attendants were pouring oil on a lamp like metal object and handing our food…I am assuming these were offerings? Behind the altar there were 20- 20 larger than human sized carved figures made of dark wood. Each figure was very different and intricate and beautiful. The surrounding altar frame was covered in small detailed carvings, all in dark lacquered wood. We stood there and soaked it up as much as we could without being in the way. 

There were two rooms along the left side of the main shrine, but they were so packed full of people, I thought we better leave that area for people that were using the temple for worship, and not as tourists. I noticed people leaving these rooms with bumpy green fruits in hand. Very interesting. So many questions. 

We then wove our way back out of the temple, grabbing our shoes along the way. 

We next walked towards the Notre Dame Cathedral, stopping at “Le Van Tam Park” for Jives to film a rap take. 

We then continued on our way to Notre Dame Cathedral, but the weather had other plans. The skies opened up and it rained the heavy kind of South East Asia rain that has the ability to drench you to the bone in two seconds flat. We darted into a street food market called “Khu Ben Nghe Street Food Market” just as our umbrellas were threatening to fold under the weight of the torrential rain. 

This place looked a lot like a hawker centre with rows of food shops and long wooden tables to sit at. We decided to order Banh Mi at a booth. I ordered an egg Banh Mi and Jives got a fish one. Banh Mi are crusty roll sandwiches. They usually contain pork I believe, but we both don’t eat pork. There are usually veggies on it; carrot, cucumber and sauce as well. So good! We also ordered two beers and sat along one of the long wooden tables to eat, waiting out the rain. The rain was so heavy on the metal roof, we could barely speak to one another. Many people seemed to be seeking shelter in the market as well. We finished our meal and then moved down to the other end of the market to have another beverage, as the rain was still coming down hard. 

After about an hour, the rain let up enough for us to venture out. We walked a few blocks to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was under construction. Not much to see here, but we stopped into the book street and saw the old colonial post office. 

We then walked back to our room to regroup. 

We set out again to find some dinner later in the evening. We walked to the night street “Bui Vien”. This street was crazy! There were clubs, bars, restaurants all blaring loud music, flashing lights and general chaos. Also, as it was October 29th everything had a spooky Halloween theme. There was a cute kid selling candy with his mom, but dressed in a scream mask. We walked by the crazies looking bars and chose to eat at a calmer restaurant covered in lanterns like in Hoi An. We sat along the roadside. I ordered a Pho and Jives got a broken rice dish. Both were very local and traditional foods. My Pho was incredible! I added a soy like sauce, lime, chili sauce, licorice herb and chilies. The peppers were insanely hot, I had three and almost melted! We both ordered Saigon beers. Jives dish wasn’t as good, but it was a really lovely setting. The total came to 200,000 dong we paid and walked back down the chaotic street. Jives filmed a rap take.

We then sat on our balcony, watching scooters go by and sharing snacks.