Ok, so I guess you can’t be a tourist in Vietnam without broaching the subject which is the Vietnam war. While I’ve been in Ho Chi Minh City I visited two war-related tourist attractions – the Cu Chi tunnels complex (which shows all about the tunnels the Viet Cong used to hide from the South Vietnamese / American forces), and the War Remnants Museum (which displays photos and artefacts mainly about America’s role in the war). I also saw tours advertised to the de-militarised zone (which somewhat ironically was one of the most militarised zones, where most fighting took place) – war tourism is clearly big business in Vietnam!
One thing I have become aware of, however, is the slightly odd relationship the Vietnamese have with the story to around the Vietnam war. ALL of the information is very one-sided, with the Communist Party under Ho Chi Minh painted as the glorious victors, and the South Vietnamese / Americans very much painted as the villains. This seems especially odd in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) where historically there was strong support amongst locals for the South Vietnamese / American armies, but this isn’t mentioned at all in any of the official information – I guess that’s what you get for having a one party (communist party) government.
This odd dichotomy was really brought home to me through meeting and talking to the tour guide who took us to seethe Cu Chi tunnels. At first, his manner struck me as a little weird, (though he was certainly passionate about his subject,) but when I when I heard his story I began to mentally allow him some leeway for not adhering completely to social expectations. Vinh is 69, was born and raised in Saigon, and is fiercely passionate about his home town, which is, he insists, “Saigon! not Ho Chi Minh City! That communist name! I from Saigon!” During the war he was an officer for the South Vietnam and fought alongside the Americans, and after the war he was sent for 5 years on what he calls “my holiday, but not good holiday” – to a “re-education camp” (supposedly re-educating people to make them see the communist way of thinking) which were basically forced labour camps in which physical abuse, torture, lack of food and poor sanitary conditons were common, and hundreds died. At the start of the tour he proclaimed “I not a good tour guide, but I good man! I not tell you the same as the other tour guides, but I got to tell my story before I die!” In truth, it’s clear from the exhibits in the war remnants museum (lots of which were pretty hard to look at,) that there were also plenty of attrocities committed by the side that Vinh was on (the South Vietnam / American side,) but it does seem odd the other side of the story isn’t mentioned at all in the official information.
On a lighter note, I have, as well as looking around war museums, now successfully picked up my bike and panniers, and am all ready to go and explore Phnom Penh in Cambodia for a few days before I set off cycling. As I sit here writing this on the bus out of Vietnam, I’m thinking a lot about the exhibits that I saw and stories I heard about the war, and generally thanking my lucky stars to be born in a war-free country and have the freedom to go off and travel and enjoy myself. I fully intend to make the most of it! Now, to Cambodia!
Dancing in the Dawn 