We stopped off at the War Remnants Museum, which was accurately described by other travelers as "a bit junior high". The museum did do a good job highlighting the effects of US military use of Agent Orange (Dioxin) and carpet bombing techniques (including the use of herbicide to destroy entire swaths of forest) on Vietnam during the war. They even threw in a few aborted fetuses which were directly attributed to Agent Orange use. We'll spare you the gory photos.
In addition to the War Remnants Museum, we stopped off at the most depressing zoo ever, the Saigon Zoo. These poor animals... it's bad enough to be locked in the tiniest of cages without water or room to walk/roam (keep in mind, little effort was made to mimic their natural habitat)... but those of you who know us well know that we are truly animal lovers. It was hard watching the way the locals treated their zoo animals! See below...
This sea otter kept walking to the edge looking for water. None there. *frown*
This sad looking brown bear has water, but it's dirty and he doesn't look very happy about it.
This lioness looks mighty upset...
... maybe it's because the jackass in the blue/white shirt poked her in the eye with a branch, and then proceeded to "hock a loogie" on her head! Web had smoke coming out of his head after that one!
Awww... how cute... playing tug of war with the monkey (liability?)...
... until they ruin it by throwing their garbage at him! Awful!
Needless to say, we did not stay long at the Saigon Zoo. Isn't there some organization responsible for addressing animal cruelty?
The past few days have been pretty relaxing, as we've really enjoyed our 5-star stay at the Sheraton. Working out, eating, more eating and getting ourselves ready for Cambodia. We leave tomorrow for Phnom Penh followed by a week in Angkor Wat. We'll be visiting the Khmer Rouge killing fields, and then cleansing our inner selves with a few days at the temples.
2 comments:
Hey guys...Im happy the trip is going well. Good work keeping this travel journal updated. Im sure you already have this on your schedule (I havent read your complete itinerary yet), but when you go to Siem Reap in Cambodia...make sure not to miss "Ta Prohm". It was my favorite temple there. It is the temple which they found in the jungle, and they only partially excavated it to preserve it the way they found it. Its the place where huge tree roots are wrapping around and growing in and out of the rubbled temple structures. Its also where they filmed a scene from the first Lara Croft movie. Theres this stone chimney type structure there which you can go into, stand against the side, and then you say prayer...thump your chest with your hand...and it makes this cool reverberation within the chamber. Enjoy your trip!
wow. your zoo trip was much worse than mine. spitting on an animal? who does that?
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