Sun Damaged Chicken

We ended up spending quite a while in Saigon, a large city in Northern Vietnam. Two weeks actually because we ran into a snag with our visas when Dan got sick. But as a result we had a lot of great experiences that we wouldn't have had otherwise. One of the most visited museums in Saigon is the American War Museum (what we refer to as the Vietnam War, they understandingly refer to as the American War). I knew it would be graphic before we went, but I didn't realize how the museum would affect me. It is one large open room and you work your way around the walls. They are filled with photos and accounts of atrocities committed by American soldiers. I quickly stopped reading the captions as an entire family laying on the ground with bullet holes in their heads is explanation enough. While I found it difficult to see such gruesome acts perpetrated by Americans, I was glad I visited and saw the evidence because it gave me a much better understanding of their perspective.

A few days later Dan and I visited the Cu Chi Tunnels an hour and a half outside of the city. The tunnels were constructed by the Vietnamese soldiers over the course of twenty years and spread almost 250km. The Vietnamese used the series of tunnels to stealthily enter and exit through various concealed entrances and fight the Americans. I found it interesting that a good portion of the tunnels were dug deep enough that if the Americans dropped a bomb the tunnel would remain intact. I had the opportunity to crawl through the small tunnels and on my first attempt there were people squished behind and in front of me and I retreated to the surface after going only a couple of metres in. I waited until the crowd had dispersed and Dan went down with me for a second try and without the crowds I was able to make it the first 20m then I took the first exit out. It is unimaginable to me how people lived down there for months and even years. As we passed through the jungle we saw the gruesome traps laid for the Americans and their extreme disadvantage in fighting a hidden enemy. There is a tourist shooting range nearby and the sounds of guns and uzi's erupted every 15 seconds. I felt like I could imagine in a small way the fear the soldiers must have felt knowing that at every step they could fall into a hidden pit filled with spears or be gunned down by an enemy they never saw. I've heard people talk about how the Vietnam War left so many soldiers changed mentally because of the style of warfare and after seeing it firsthand I can begin to understand why.

After visiting the museums and the Cu Chi Tunnel we were planning on heading out to Cambodia to spend Christmas in Siem Reap, but our plans changed when Dan became really sick and ended up the in hospital. They gave him antibiotics through an IV and released him later that night. It took him a few days to recover so we had to get visas extensions. The extensions ended up taking over a week and Dan was better before they were ready. So we decided to get of Saigon and head to a popular Vietnamese beach town called Vung Tao. On the minibus ride there we met a Vietnamese Woman named Hang who invited us to come to her house on our way back to Saigon. Hang is an english teacher and had recently been to the US. She told us people there were so kind to her that she wanted to return the favor and have us come to her home and talk with her students. After a few quiet days on the beach in Vung Tao we called Hang and asked her if we could take her up on her offer. She met us at the bus stop and I got on the back of her motorbike and Dan, lucky him, was given both our packs to balance precariously on the back of the other motorbike. When we entered her house Hang showed us right to the spare bedroom that was made up for us, and we realized that this wasn't an afternoon visit as we'd thought but we were expected to spend the night. So we went with the flow and unpacked and then had lunch with Hang.

My favorite part about my visit with Hang were the cultural differences. She was forever pinching me telling me to eat more then pinching Dan telling him he eats a lot. When she saw me outside in a short sleeve shirt she pointed to my arms and said gravely, "Oooh, you have spots from sun damage. Too bad. You should be wearing long sleeves. Ooooh, too much sun." I tried unsuccessfully to explain that my spots were freckles and I've always had them. But yes I conceded, they did come out more with sun, and yes I'd been getting a lot more then usual, but it isn't damaged I insisted, now with a trace of uncertainty in my voice. She gave me a placating pitying look and thats when I just started to laugh. Later when we were drinking tea on her porch she asked me at what times I usually wake up and go to bed. I told her since I've been in Asia I get up around 8 and go to bed around 10. "Just like a chicken!" she exclaimed, "You're just like a chicken! Up early, to bed early!" Dan from then on enjoyed referring to me as the sun damaged chicken.

That evening her students came and we all went out to a coffee shop, a favorite in Vietnam since they don't really have bars. Unfortunately I had a headache and an upset stomach and by the time we got home I had to excuse myself and go to bed. The next day Hang didn't seem to understand that my stomach was not up to par and all three meals were filled with fish and lots of spice. Canned, fried, salted, pickled, and grilled fish all made their way onto the menu. My stomach turned but I tried my best to be a good guest and eat as much as I could keep down. When we went to the local market that afternoon we stopped by, what else, the fish section. There were all sorts of live fish squiggling around in pans filled with a few centimeters of water. Hang selected a couple and the woman took her machete and started hacking away. Apparently you don't actually kill the fish until the last step of hacking, so the poor thing just slithered around till it was finally put out of its misery. The hacking of the fish and the mixture of dead animal smells was enough for me to slip away and find a seat outside the market in the fresh air. After Hang taught her evening English Class she took us out for a walk into the town to visit her son's bubble tea shop. My new love after banana pancakes is now bubble tea! I love it! It's flavored jelly balls in a sweet flavored tea. I haven't seen it very much in the states and maybe opening a bubble tea/banana pancake shop is in my future. We said goodbye to Hang the next day and headed back to Saigon. After a few more days there we got our visas and we were happy to be on our way to Cambodia.


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