Teacher Trekker

Like most major and capital cities around the world there are a plethora of museums that people can visit throughout Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). According to most travel guides and walking tour itineraries available on the internet, writers suggest visitors spend an average of one to two hours at any given museum. Specifically, many sources suggest that you can view the exhibits at the War Remnants Museum or Reunification/Independence Palace in approximately an hour or so. Countless travel agencies offering private city tours typically only spend an average of an hour up to two hours in some instances at any given museum. For the average tourist I would agree with this time frame. However, for any history aficionado, I would recommend you adjust your time tables and allow for a greater amount of time in each of the major museums.

For example, I spent an entire afternoon at the Reunification Palace. I also took a half a day to complete most of the War Remnants Museum, but did not complete two exhibits on the second floor that required me to go back another day to spend an additional hour. If you plan on reading a great deal of the information provided in each of the exhibits and watching the films, that will add time to your visit. This accounts for the amount of time I spent in each location. I also spent around 2 hours at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum where I initially planned on being in and out of rather quickly, but that was easier said than done once I was inside. I read too much and that eats up time I could have spent at another museum, but I would rather absorb the information from one location than quickly breeze through a few. Considering this, I would recommend travelers plan their time according to their interests.

Ho Chi Minh City Museum

A few days later after going to the post office for the second time, I went to a two museums. My first stop was to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. It was actually not my desired location. After sending my package back home I wanted to cross the river to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. However, due to a miscommunication with my cab driver, I was dropped off at the incorrect location. I was standing in front of it, and it was so close to my next planned destination, I decided to stay. I paid 15,000 dong for my ticket to enter the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. The building is also known as Gia Long Palace and was completed in 1890. It was originally built to house a commercial museum, but it as used for a variety of purposes under shifting governments throughout Vietnam’s history. During the Vietnam War, it was briefly used as the last residence of Ngô Đình Diệm, the President of the Republic of Vietnam following the bombing of the Norodom Palace.

I first began by walking around the exterior of the museum. There was a couple taking photos near a flower garden. In addition to a number of different military vehicles and equipment, there were also a number of historically relevant cars and a few cannons from the Nguyen Dynasty. Once inside, I made my way through the two floor building and a number of exhibits, most of which were organized by type of industry or historical time period. The first floor was full of exhibits about subjects, including nature, archaeology, commercial ports, handicrafts, industry, geography, ethnic groups, wedding ceremonies and the history of the surrounding area. The second floor included exhibits connected to the revolutionary struggle between 1930 and 1954 and the revolutionary struggle from 1954 to 1975. I found these to be the most interesting as they were connected to the Vietnam War. At the same time, most of the information and relics would be seen at almost every other Vietnam War related site I would visit during my time in the country. Overall, unless you are interested in the local history, culture and economics of Saigon/HCMC and the surrounding local area, it may be more beneficial to spend your time elsewhere. I was there for around two hours and probably could have spent even more time there if I was more interested in the subject matter.

War Remnants Museum

It was just around lunchtime, so I went to grab a bite to eat waiting for my next museum to reopen for the afternoon. At around 2 p.m., I paid another 15,000 dong to enter the War Remnants Museum. The exterior of the museum was filled with more military vehicles than probably any other location I visited in Vietnam. The concrete yard was cluttered with fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, artillery, boats and more unexploded ordinance than I could count. Also outside is a building of an exhibit about Con Dao Prison that was once used by the French and then the South Vietnamese as a jail where they used tiger cages to house detainees. There were countless stories of atrocities that made the little hairs rise on your neck and gave you a chill down your spine. What I did find interesting was that there was no mention of the atrocities committed on the other side of the fight, as if the North was completely innocent in these types of things. After walking through the exhibit I proceeded inside.

There was a special exhibit about the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu. I found it quite interesting. It traced the nature of the conflict with the French all the way from the end of World War II to the final days of the battle where the Vietnamese claimed victory. I was familiar with a great deal of the information, but was eager to see many new historical photographs from previously unseen archives. Poor lighting and reflections resulted in substandard images. When I came back there in August, it was taken down and a new exhibit about the effects of Agent Orange was in the process of being displayed.

Unexploded Ordinance Outside the War Remnants Museum

There were many permanent collections throughout the museum pertaining to what is referred to as the American War. The text was available in Vietnamese, English and Japanese. On the ground floor there was an exhibit about the global movement in support of the Vietnamese resistance during the war. Much of the support was from communist countries that have long fallen, but I was surprised at the number of countries who put out a friendly hand. Other collections included photos from war journalists who stood side by side soldiers on both sides of the conflict. There was a great deal of information and images pertaining to the effects of Agent Orange, the dangerous herbicidal chemical agent that ravaged the countrysides of Vietnam with long lasting cancerous effects on those exposed to the lingering residue that still manages to permeate soil and ground water. Another section was dedicated to war crimes such as the My Lai Massacre. There were portions of the museum dedicated to statistics relevant to the conflict. Weapons, uniforms and other military equipment collected after the American exit was on display throughout the museum. There was also a section on the recovery of Vietnam that showed comparative photos of once destroyed places next to their recently transformed counterparts with examples of flourishing nature and economics. It demonstrates a sense of strength amongst the Vietnamese people and their nature to persevere and endure to rebuild another day. Interestingly, many of these locations were places I was going to eventually visit.

American Weapons

Finally, I want to give a critique of the museum. I have seen many websites that contain comments by visitors, as well as directly spoke with visitors that stated that the museum’s depiction of the war is over the top. Many of the photographs are very graphic in nature, and you need to be forewarned that you will see countless shocking yet genuine depictions of war. Some of it does feel exaggerated, but in many ways justified. Much of what they are showing is horrible, but at times it feels as if it is displayed in the worst way possible and without genuine care for the humanity of the people the pictures are portraying, both American and Vietnamese. Some of the images feel exploitative of their own people and the conditions they endured. Additionally, the display of American military equipment in some ways felt historical, but in others it felt as if it was a glorification of war booty. Many people often criticize some of the exhibits, but you can’t deny that horrible things happened during the war. I did find the portrayal of the war to be one sided, but I knew that was the case going in.

One of Many Agent Orange Victims

At one point I saw a visitor begin to cry and start to visibly shake right next to me as he read a story. I was so moved by this experience, that I felt it was necessary to console him and help him get a seat so he could recover. Visitors need to be prepared for the graphic depictions as well as the point of view, particularly Americans or other Westerners who may have been personally affected by the war and/or others may have a misguided viewpoint of the war based on the many ways Hollywood depicts the conflict, which also has its own flaws that one can critique. Despite that, the museum is packed with a great deal of information that is informative for visitors despite the grammatical errors made during the translation process. I have never seen many of these photographs before, so I welcomed the opportunity to be exposed to new stories and fascinatingly raw footage.

War Destruction & Post War Reconstruction

The museum was packed with so many photographs and so much reading material that I was unable to finish touring the museum before it closed at 5 p.m. and the staff asked all the visitors to leave. Upon my return in August, I came back to the museum to spend another hour and a half finishing up the exhibits I was unable to complete during my July visit. In total I spent four and a half hours slowly working my way through the collections inside and outside the museum. The museum is a must-see for anyone interested in the American War. To put it simply, if you are in a time crunch on your trip and trying to determine what to see and what to skip, I would recommend that you visit this location. I spent a great deal of time throughout Vietnam exploring many American War related sites and the War Remnants Museum does a good job of covering all the bases regarding the history of the war. Therefore, if you were only really looking to do one Vietnam War related museum experience in Vietnam, I would say that this should be your go to destination. That is if you are not willing to crawl in the Cu Chi Tunnel Complex. If you are in the north, I would recommend the Hao Lo Prison Musuem, which was once referred to as the Hanoi Hilton by American P.O.W.s during the conflict, but for more on that refer to my Hanoi posting.

Despite spending an average of a half a day at museums every day I was in Ho Chi Minh City, I felt like I only scratched the surface of the amount of history and culture I could have been exposed to at the capital’s many museums. As previously mentioned, partially due to poor planning on my part during my visit in July and a miscommunication with my cab driver I visited the Ho Chi Minh City Museum when I really wanted to go to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. As a result, I was unable to visit the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The museum is closed on Mondays and when I came back to HCMC in August my only free day was a Monday. I also skipped the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in HCMC thinking I would go to the one in Hanoi that many claim is a better museum on the same subject. Unfortunately, due to timing I ended up also skipping the Women’s Museum in Hanoi in favor of other sites. I also skipped the Museum of Vietnamese History in addition to many other smaller museums around HCMC. You have to pick and choose your battles and make individual decisions regarding what locations you feel are the most important to visit. I would have liked to see more, but it was time to venture out of the city and explore the rest of the country.