Ho Chi Minh- City of History?

Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh City it became instantly apparent that this area was very different to its northern counterpart, Hanoi. We had braced ourselves for the chaos of the city, following numerous warnings from travellers who were heading south to north. Ho Chi Minh is more populated than Hanoi however it doesn't quite feel it. In the ever crowded Hanoi, pedestrians join motorists as everyone battles their way through the heaving traffic. In Ho Chi Minh there are pavements, pavements you can actually walk on! The roads are certainly busy but there are traffic lights... and road markings... and there seems to be some kind of system in operation! That said,crossing those roads is equally as life threatening as Hanoi!  

The roads we walked along were teeming with clothes shops. This was the first part of Vietnam where I felt fashion was a concern for the locals. Every where I looked there were girls with kookie looking hats, guys wearing braces , and sunglasses, fabulous sunglasses! 

While the clothing had an Asian vibe to, the appearance desired by people is more western. There were countless adds for products promising to lighten the skin, from laser therapy to lightening moisturisers and face wash. Pale was in! And there I had been in a bikini in HoiAn  hoping for some colour! It really made me question appearance. So many Irish girls hide their skin with heavy fake tan, many Asian women are bleaching their natural skin coulor. Why do women reject our natural beauty? After having my photo taken by countless Asian tourists who complimented my skin, I'm beginning to embrace my pale skin! 

The western influence is particularly evident in the amount of American restaurants there are. We decided to avoid KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut in favour of something a little more local. We were staying in a room we found on Air BNB which was a lot further out of the city than we had expected. Luckily this meant that there were lots of Vietnamese restaurants nearby. We chose one that had deliciously enticing smells wafting out and was particularly busy. As we walked towards a table every pair of eyes in the restaurant stared at us. We glanced at the menu while words like 'chicken carcass' and 'river eel' jumped out at us. After all the eyes staring it was too late to leave and sure, it's all part of the adventure! In good spirits, but with a little trepidation we ordered grilled goat and broiled beef with ginger. 

A plate of grey meat arrived to the table. Beef or goat? I didn't know... But it tasted... fine. Next a large plate of fat arrived, well that's what it seemed like. When the waitress saw us trying to sever the flecks of meat from the fat she brought over a scissors and spilt our food into two neat piles- a large pile of fat and about a spoonful of meat. We did our best but it certainly wasn't like the beautiful street food in the north! 

Our time in Ho Chi Minh was largely spent getting to understand the history ofVietnam more deeply. I had a passing knowledge of the Vietnam war but was interested to find out more. We visited the war remnants museum and the cu chi tunnels (a guided tour of the tunnels used by the Vietnamese to hide in/travel system during the war.) 

I was glad I visited both and would definitly encourage other tourists to visit, but I still feel a little lost in terms of why the war began initially and the Vietnamese connection with the Americans. 

The reason I was left confused despite what should have been two very educational trips was because of the propagandist approach presented to us. The Cu Chi tunnels in particular showed a video before the tour began that was actually laughable. It spoke about (and I directly quote!) "a cute, little peasant girl, who's father was horribly murdered by the bad American soldiers and must now avenge his death" and then they show an image of a girl with a MASSIVE machine gun, looking far from cute! It's frightening to think that the history available to Vietnamese people is so one sided. The war in Vietnam began when the North decided to try to conquer/liberate the south and the Americans later stepped in. I don't mean to trivialise the war. It was a horrific period in time with countless lives lost on all sides. The victims of agent orange who have been disfigured for life have my deepest sympathy. 

My time at the museums in Ho Chi Minh makes me question the world around me more. There are despicable acts of violence happening all around the world and very often, a blind eye is turned. It made me want to become more involved in preventing such terrible atrocities. It also makes me doubt governments in power. It made me realise that I need to question the world I live in, in order to make sure that it is a fair and safe place for all.