Musings From My Trip to Vietnam

I just got back from Vietnam a few days ago, and I really love Vietnam for multiple reasons. Not to disparage Cambodia whatsoever, but I prefer Vietnam. Although Cambodian people are kinder, gentler, and less aggressive than their Vietnamese counterparts, Vietnam as a country is more modern, advanced, organized, and habitable than Cambodia (or Kampuchea as it is know in this part of the world). Additionally, Vietnam is overall cheaper, its landscape is diverse and beautiful, and it is easier to get around. Aaaaaaaa one of the few Communist places that outshines its neighbor.

So I went from Saigon to the amazing island of Phu Quoc (WOW!) and back to Phnom Penh.

First stop was Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City as it has been called since 1976. Saigon is a bustling city that has all the modern conveniences. I have not seen the entire city, so I cannot speak of its overall character, but South Vietnamese are a bit more lad back than their Northern compatriots, and its shows in Saigon. Little more geared towards fun, drinking, eating, and overall enjoyment than Hanoi. The city has a bit of its French architecture still around here and there, but the city is fairly rebuilt and new. So, it is a bit less aesthetically pleasing as Hanoi for example. I spent 2 days in Saigon, and one of the days I took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. For those not old enough to know or those who are otherwise unaware, the Cu Chi tunnels were an extremely large and elaborate system of tunnels that the Viet Cong (who I was told were not North Vietnamese, but South Vietnamese who sympathized with their Northern communist) built around Saigon to help them fight a guerrilla style war against the American forces. These tunnels were one of the main reasons that American forces left Vietnam altogether. Hospitals, kitchens, movie theatres, and small factories were just some of the things built underground to evade the superior American army. From these tunnels, they were able to infiltrate behind enemy lines (even inside American bases) to conduct surprise attacks, create booby traps to escape pursuit, and retreat to safer areas (even as far as Cambodia, which is tens of miles and miles away!). American tried to force them out by shooting water down these tunnels, sending soldiers in to kill Viet Cong, bombing the area with napalm and B-52s, and even training dogs to root them out. The Vietnamese were extremely resilient, and they used very creative method to combat American tactics, such as wearing friendly American clothes to fool the dogs, using faux tunnels to throw off their location, or creating additional tunnels to divert water. The site of the Cu Chi tunnels was, unfortunately, a bit kitchy, touristy, and not well setup (however, I really don't think this was avoidable, but just a reality), but the story behind them was extremely interesting, and a good trip, kitchiness and all

After this day long trip, I went to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. Most of this museum is, predictably, about actions committed by American and Allied forces against the Vietnamese civilian population. Most of this was portrayed through extremely graphic and extensive photographic displays that covered everything from French military involvement in the 1940s-50s to the last days of America's time in Vietnam in the 1970s. There was a small, but impressive collection of American war machines on display that were captured by Vietnamese forces, and a section of the Museum recreating South Vietnamese-American prisons called "Tiger Cages" that housed North Vietnamese prisoners. (sadly, these Tiger Cages were eerily similar to the Khmer Rouge's S-21 in many ways). But, for the most part, there was picture after picture after picture of the war. These pictures covered the undertaking and results of seek and destroy missions, napalm attacks, Agent Orange bombs, Herbicide misuse, B-52 bombings, and other things of this nature.

Ok, let me give my two cents politically, if you will. I do not claim to be a Vietnam war expert having not lived through it. Yet, I think I know more than the average person about this war and geopolitical matters in effect at that time. My take on the war is mixed overall. After going through this Museum, my first reaction was (and still is) embarrassment that my country did these inexplicable and inexcusable things to the Vietnamese people (and Cambodian and Laotian people as well). I think my country has so much to be proud of, and so much to offer the world, so it pains me all the more to see this on our track record. While the exact extent of American misconduct is up for debate and I certainly do not know the truth, it is beyond contention that somethings done by American servicemen and their superiors amounted to international crimes. On the other hand, aside from one sizable section of the Museum which showed color drawings by Vietnamese and American children about the present day and future positive friendship between Vietnam and America, this Museum put the worst foot forward on America's actions in Vietnam and did not discuss at all the equally reprehensible actions of the North Vietnamese during the war. The museum did not differentiate between the travesties of war (which are not criminal, but just what happens in war) versus the deliberate targeting of civilians (which is criminal). They kind of lumped it all together, which is disingenuous. Also, I kept thinking about what was going on in the mind of a typical American solider during the Vietnam war (putting aside the few soldiers who were absolute murders to the core). The enemy is fighting a guerrilla war against your army. The enemy deliberately melds into the civilian population, making it so hard to distinguish friend from foe...putting you on edge that someone is going to pop out and kill you at any moment. Now, when some innocent civilian, adult or child, pops up and surprises you, and you shoot out of reaction, what happens in your mind? You cannot believe what just happened, that it happened accidentally or not what you intended....causing you to snap! You either (more or less) disengage mentally and go into a cocoon, or you lose it and start killing indiscriminately. I partially fault the American government for not preparing soldiers for this reality, and finding ways to prevent it (at least in part). Lastly, portions of South Vietnam really did not want to be Communist or under Communist rule, and America had a right and a choice to defend people that wanted our support, financially and militarily, to escape Communism.

Yet, I also thought about self-determination, especially in the context of the Cu Chi Tunnels. If Vietnamese people were willing to live underground for months at time, in the jungle,and fight a superior American army that threw almost every type of weapon of war imaginable at them and mercilessly, the Vietnamese earned the right to live as they see fit. All in all, I see why the USA entered Vietnam: to stem the tide of totalitarian communism (arguable if this perception was real or not) and many are supported by the fact that Communism did not establish roots in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, Americans committed crimes in so doing, the American public was misled and/or lied to by their government on the extent of the war, and the entire scope and duration of the war was unacceptable in many ways. Whether cliche or not, no side was blameless in this war. It was an unfortunate time (to put it very very lightly) in American and Vietnamese history.

Now to something way more uplifting: Phu Quoc. This island is actually very close to the Cambodian coast (large island right off the southern coast, used to be a part of Cambodia, and is settled in the Eastern portion of the Gulf of Thailand). I arrived by plane from Saigon, as this was the easiest and most direct route there from Cambodia or Vietnam for that matter. Without reservation, this island had some of the best beaches I have ever seen or heard about. The sunsets were amazing, the accommodations around the island were extremely quaint and charming, and the food was downright terrific. There is no town worth visiting, but the rest of the island made up for it. The island is slowly being developed, but the lack of crowds and the multiple areas that are untouched show that Phu Quoc is years away from turning into just another Thai beach island (not to mention a Communist government not known for marketing itself well).

My entire Phu Quoc experience had an undertone of sadness, because it was certainly a place for couples and a place that Tami would love to visit. This made me think of her and us constantly, which I already do, but more intensely :( Anyway, first half day was spent on the main beach aptly called Long Beach. Had a great squid lunch, and a good pasta dinner. The next day, for 15$, I was able to go on a day long tour of Phu Quoc's many beaches and smaller islands off of Phu Quoc, snorkel and swim at uninhabited beaches with great corral, and get a terrific lunch cooked on the boat with freshly caught squid and fish! At this point, I would like to mention that I have been on two boat tours in Vietnam in my life: this one and one a year and a half ago in Halong Bay. On both tours, I shared the boat tour with individuals not only from Denver, but lived amazingly close to me. The first was a young woman who lived about a mile from me in downtown Denver, and this Phu Quoc tour had an older woman who was also working in Phnom Penh presently, grew up in Capitol Hill mere minutes from my childhood home, went to Kent Denver as well, and also lived on Ios, Greece (where Tami and I lived right after college)! Ok, that is weird, really weird. Anyway, after the tour, the small group from the boat tour met up for dinner, and we had a great night talking and drinking at a little French bistro right off the beach (wow, my French is better when I am drunk).

Well now, I am back to the grind, although not really a grind, because I love working at the tribunal in almost everything I do there. Again, I encourage people to follow the trial on http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/ and http://www.eccc.gov.kh/. There is some very interesting stuff happening in Duch trial, and even more interesting issues coming up in the case against the five other defendants. If there is anything that I post about or do in Cambodia that followers of this blog would like to explain, or things you want me to discuss, please do not hesitate to leave a comment. Best, Kip!