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Published: April 16th 2013
"Look at how excited he is. It's adorable."
"Well we HAVE to go to war now. I couldn't bear to see the look on his face if we don't."The VC were a very impressive force. To defeat an army that, on paper, should've steamrolled them in a matter of weeks is insane. We saw tunnels (heavily modified for western fatties like ourselves) and traps and guns and chaps allowing the firing of said guns, again, very modified firing, on rails and supports, but it was worth firing the three whole bullets I fired. I must've shot about a million bullets in games (maybe not an exaggeration) but outside of air rifles, never an actual gun. Before this day I knew nearly nothing of the Vietnam War apart from the wicked soundtrack and the fact that all wars are shit for most most people involved. And now, now I can proudly say that I know next to nothing but at least I learnt a little today.
The guide was good. It was his last tour (for a while perhaps). He recited old jokes at the correct points of the trek but was all the better after asking about his life and making jokes with him. I saw him forearming and hand chopping trees and guessed correctly and luckily that it was wing chun he was studying.
After the tunnels, we went to the memorial via lunch. The memorial was laden with photographs and text. Some interesting paragraphs and figures and too much horror in parts- I couldn't keep reading or looking. Sometimes I could probably bathe in gore (well probably not... grimy soap may be my threshold) and not be affected but this was too much when the mind flowed into it. I was feeling uneasy as it was and this made my discomfort so much worse.
Reunification Palace was ok. I was over everything by then though. Basically, it was super trim and flash in the sixties and seventies but nothing really modernised since then. Which, apart from the historical importance, is part of the appeal. After nice dinner I went "home" and did maintenance tasks including writing this whilst consuming only a moderate amount of beer. Met girls from before and had a little catchup. Nice idea to try- they told me of a wonderful experience where through a website they arranged to stay with a local who completely looked after them in what i suspect is a universal truth of the large generosity instilled within the Vietnamese people.
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