Saigon

Ok, I keep saying how much I love every city, but I really LOVE Ho Chi Minh City. Or as it is more often referred to by locals, Saigon.

After falling into a spicy, porky coma in Chiang Mai, Vietnamese food is exactly what we needed. The food is so much about balance, bright and fresh, herbaceous and spicy, sweet and sour. There’s a complexity in flavor and preparation of dishes that seem simple. We can eat (and eat and eat) forever because ever dish is so light and refreshing, but also hearty and comforting. 

We had the opportunity to hang with locals on the back of their motorbikes. It was a huge step for me to get past a bit of my fear and hop onto the back of a motorbike, zipping around the chaotic Saigon traffic. It definitely resulted in some of the best experiences, the best local hang out spots, and seriously the most delicious food.

I don’t think we took enough food photos. We were so excited to devour every dish that I often couldn’t be bothered to take a picture first. So now I’m just left with memories of foods I will probably never have again. Or will have some bastardized version of. Until eventually I forget what the original taste was that I loved so much.

That’s the funny thing about memory. It’s not reliable. It’s often inaccurate. As it’s told and retold it changes over time and becomes something totally different. 

If there is any one thing I remember from high school history class it’s that most of our taught history is inaccurate. We weren’t alive for the Vietnam War—or as its called in Vietnam The American Aggressive War, but what we were taught in school was 100% different than what we learned while traveling Vietnam. 

We visited the War Remnants Museum to gain another perspective. It was sobering and upsetting. We were so heavily effected by the weight of war and the years of destruction that continue to ravish a nation following its ‘end.’ 

This senseless, nationalistic violence isn’t something that happened once upon a time. It’s still happening every single day, in many forms and many places. If you’re not upset and shocked—you’re not being told the truth. 

We’ve found that our perception of nearly every country we visited, especially Asian countries, was so warped and wrong. We weren’t sure where our assumptions came from. But they were both so strong and so wrong.