My last stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, with just one full day here. It seemed as though the hostel managed to make a cock up my reservation, meaning that I get a double bed in a dorm for US$17 for two nights. I can’t complain.
I set out to go to the War Museum today, it’s three floors and an outdoor area explaining the impact of the Americans due to the Vietnam War and the impact that it has had, which is still going on today — children are still being born with deformities and disabilities as a result of how the US fought. It didn’t paint the USA in the best light, though I feel as though it was unbiased, just like the Peace Museum in Hiroshima. On the way there, I had to walk into oncoming traffic as the pavement was blocked – it’s not that uncommon, and it’s usually a restaurant with tables taking up the entire pavement, or parked motorbikes. This time, it was because someone decided to set up and chill in a hammock in the middle of the pavement.
After a few hours in the museum I just chilled – grabbed some food and drank a copious amount of Vietnamese Iced Coffee (seems to be ice with coffee). There’s a couple of other things I could’ve done, including touring the Cu Chi caves, though for me, it’d probably hurt my back. It’s one of the tours where you can just fire an AK47 with no prior training or safety brief, because why not.
It’s quite interesting in the area I’m staying as it’s gentrified to foreigners, and it seems that the only way these businesses seem to think they can get people in is to advertise that it’s happy hour. I know that I’ve been abroad and had many drunken nights, but it’s a shame to see drinking culture advertised so heavily here, where there’s many great things about Vietnamese culture that outshine getting pissed.
Tomorrow, I’m off to Cambodia. I have my own private room for the next few nights as I am ever so slightly completely 100% over being woken/kept up in hostel dorms almost, if not, every day for almost three months.
In some aspects I can see why people love Vietnam; the food is great, it’s cheap and the people are incredibly friendly, wanting you to enjoy the country. For me, I wouldn’t say I’m a massive fan; I like to travel without being attached to Google Maps to navigate, I really enjoy being able to cross the road without fearing for my life, and I guess I’ve stayed in hostels and shared accommodation for too long – I’m sitting at six months straight without my own room.