Vietnam day 31 – Ho Chi Minh City

Today the weather is hot and humid.  We have the use of Andy’s chauffeur, Tung, and car again today and our first port of call is the the travel agents to book our trip to the Mekong Delta.  We are taking a three-day trip which will take us a far as Phnom Penh in Cambodia.  We decide to pay in dollars to take advantage of the favourable exchange rate we got back in April – $2 to the £ – which means we are saving about 25% on the cost of the trip.  The assistant doesn’t like our $100 bill though, because it has writing on it;  if it isn’t accepted by the bank we may have to swap it for another one when we return on Thursday!  Ironic really given the tattered state of some of the Dong notes that are in circulation here.  In the afternoon Tung takes us to the War Remnants Museum.  This was formerly known the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes, but now is mainly concerned with the atrocities that took place during the Franco and American wars.  There is an open air display of American aircraft and tanks as well as several bombs, artillery pieces and infantry weapons.  The indoor spaces are are divided into eight rooms which cover various aspects of the wars and include many photographs documenting the US atrocities, as well as a model of the Tiger cages used to house Viet Cong prisoners on Con Son Island, and the guillotine used by the French on the Viet Minh.  A powerful and harrowing indictment of the crassness and cruelty of American foreign policy.