Day 33: 11/7/13
I woke around 5:30 this morning with stomach cramps and some diarrhoea. I was in and out of the bathroom for at least two hours. I felt like I needed to get sick but nothing would come up even though there shoul have been plenty of food and drink in there! I had drank a good few beers but I've never woken up to get sick with drink. At 8am it was time to take my malaria tablet which can give you pains in your stomach, which means you have to eat. I ha cereal bar kind of cookies so I ate them and took the tablet expecting to get sick, but I was fine. The cramps and everything vanished. So I don't know what was wrong! Later on I found out others had had some diarrhoea aswell, those of us that went to the second pub- so their glasses or ice or something mustn't have been too clean- even though it was a western style pub.
Ann-Marie and a few more got up to go to the markets around half ten but I stayed put and tried to sleep a bit. I had to wash some clothes aswell as I'm running out of stuff and it will be a few more days before I can do a proper laundry!
When they came back from the markets we went to the war museum. I was afraid I'd get sick again outside in the heat, but I was fine all day. I've heard of a 24 hour bug but never a 2 hour bug!! I won't complain though!!!
The war museum was another sad place, like the killing fields but interesting because I know very little about the Vietnam war. From what I can figure out the Vietnamese got independence from the French and then was split into two states, north and South, in 1954 because of the communist, capitalist difference. The war sort of started there but properly started in maybe 1959 and right through the 60's. It ended in 1975 with the Communists winning- just as the Khmer Rouge took over in Cambodia. The Americans were fighting against the communist armies and Viet Cong. I didn't realise that Australians and New Zealanders fought for the Americans too. There were Koreans and Chinese all involved too and it spread into Cambodia and Laos.
The museum had some tanks, helicopters and bombs outside. In one section outside it had a model of a prisoner camp, where the Americans kept the Vietnamese prisoners and it listed all sorts of tortures that they used- tiger cages, burning parts of their bodies, suffocating them in water, rolling them on iron grids, using a guillotine- you would wonder what was wrong with the people that came up with these punishments. I presume similar things happened to the Americans when they were captured but that wasn't mentioned.
Inside the museum there were three levels. On the bottom level, they had some artefacts belonging to some people in the war- like weapons, letters, etc. Then they had a whole section of pictures and articles showing demonstrations from around the world, asking the US to stop their involvement. I didn't find any from Ireland- were there demonstrations?
The second level showed pictures from the war. It showed the aftermath of some specific days or nights where particular villages were raided and everyone was killed. In lots of them it was women and children that were killed- one was only 5 months old- you'd wonder what they could possibly do out of the way. One attack which killed lots of children and some pregnant women was ordered and led by one American soldier who is now a US Senator.
The Americans dropped loads of chemicals during the war too, the worst being Agent Orange. Some people were in areas that were directly hit, others worked on land that was hit and the side effects have been passed on through the generations. A lot of the affected land, especially areas where it was stored, have never been cleaned up. The pictures of people that were affected were horrific- people born wit no arms or legs, no eyes, massive tumours or growths on their body, problems with their bones so they are bent or they have to walk on all fours. Some of the photos were taken in the sixties and seventies but most were taken recently. One of the victims was only born in 2008, so it's still a huge problem- one I never knew anything about.
In the third level of the museum they had some more about Agent Orange, including a letter written by a university student in Vietnam who was a victim- she has no legs and only one arm. She wrote a letter to Obama in 2009 as he had said in a speech that he had great hopes and dreams for his daughters and that his dream was that all children could achieve their dreams. She said how victims like her would never achieve their dreams. Also, she asked for their case for compensation which had failed, to be brought to justice. It was a terribly sad letter. Some Americans had worked with the Agent Orange and were affected, as well as some that it was dropped on in combat and they have gotten compensation- but nothing has been given to the Vietnamese.
In the top section aswell there were photos taken by photographers that had died during the war- there were photographers from all sides so you could see all aspects of the war better. It seemed horrific really. I don't understand why other countries need to get involved in these things- if they want to have a communist country let them have it- it's their country! It showed how much money the Ameicans spent on the war and I was double what they spent in World War 2. Also, there were way more casualties in this war. It didn't say how many Vietnamese died. I'm guessing it was way more than the Americans, even though the Vietnamese won. As bad and all as the photos and information were, of course I had to buy a book of some real life stories to find out more about it.
By the time we got back it was almost time to meet our new group. We have a new guide. His name his kuoa- not sure of the spelling but it sounds like kwo or quoi in French. He's tiny aswell. Channa was way smaller than me and this guy seems even smaller again!! He seems nice but it will take us a few days to get used to us accent. He gave us an overview of the whole trip and then we had to fill out insurance forms and things. Afterwards we went to dinner.
Our eight new people seem nice- Sarah & Heather (from England and Scotland), Amar (from England), Bryan (from the US), Jackie & Andy (originally from England but living in Perth), Joanne (from England) and Denise (from Australia who we met the next day as her flight was delayed or something). So more Brittish people than Australian this time!
Steff and Hannah call us the potatoes because we're Irish. They had a great laugh when I ordered mashed potatoes!! I tried to get plain food just incase I'd be up all night again!! Of course the mashed potatoes had cheese in it and the fish was covered in. Green sauce! But it was fine- I survived and I wasn't up all night!!
The guide was talking a lot during the dinner so we couldn't really chat much to each other. But he seemed to be talking about Vietnam in general, or places further on in the trip, so I still amn't quite clear about what we are doing tomorrow! I know we leave at 8 and we just bring an overnight bag so apart from that we'll see tomorrow!!