Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (also called HCMC and still called Saigon)

Meh.

Several people Rachael knows from teaching English in China met up with her in HCMC and I stuck around as well. So, while in Vietnam, what was originally me travelling alone, became a group of two or three on and off, and was suddenly a group of seven. A group this big changes the dynamics of travelling. It is difficult to explain (decisions are made differently, people have pre-existing relationships, people have different wants about where to go, when to eat, how much to spend, etc). Also, while Rachael and I got to know each other decently over the previous 3ish weeks, she had known three of three of these people for the entire year she had spent in China and the other two for the last six months. They all knew each other better than I knew any of them and they all spoke varying levels of Chinese (from native speaker to slightly above my level of none). The group dynamics were weird and I often felt out of place. That said, I still had a wonderful time with them and was happy to meet them. I spent the rest of my time in Vietnam, except for the last destination, with this group.

In Vietnam, HCMC is highly regarded for its food, both quality and variety. I am not much of a foodie so this was almost completely lost on me. To me the food was no better or worse than any other place I went in Vietnam and though it is more varied that is expected from a huge city.

The War Remnants Museum is terrifying. While slightly anti-American, it is mostly pretty fair and keeps natural prejudices in check. Some of the photographs on display and exhibits will haunt my dreams. I rushed through it so that it would end sooner. The most horrifying thing was actually not something from the war era, it was pictures made recently by Vietnamese kids aged 8-13 (or something). I am not going to say much but I will say this: if those kids were in America and drew those pictures there is no doubt they would be sent to a psychologist and their parents questioned by Child Protective Services.

Reunification Palace was actually pretty good. Nothing outstanding but worth a visit if you are there. Plenty of statues of Ho Chi Minh, or as he is often called "Uncle Ho." (That makes me laugh.) The city is huge and very spread out. I really only explored what is called District 1, which is the "main" district, especially for tourists. I sure I missed some stuff but I do not think I missed much.

Yeah, that is pretty much it. As I said, meh.