(The child in the picture is just what it looks like, he is just representing a child )
The morning started at 8.00 with a bus ride, Today's trip went to the Cu Chi tunnels, which I honestly thought .. that's a bit like the Chinese wall or Taj Mahal, it's something you have to see when you're still in that place.
My relationship with the Vietnam war is.. was pretty vague, I remember the neighbors at home when I was Young who had a big FNL flag on the wall and that there were always a lot of people at their home with them, I remember I thought they were a bit chill and pretty cool, but I was not really aware of what was going on in that part of our earth, what I also remember is seeing that picture a little girl who is running with Burning napalm on her back.
We started by seeing a black and white documentary film about how the people here in Vietnam was building bombs of old bombs that were released over them (those who were never blown away) and how they built primitive weapons to protect themselves, how they made sandals of old car tires, how they also made reversible / backwords sandals so that the enemies did not see the way they fled.
How they had built their own shelters underground in the past and now building a tunnel system that were 250 meters only in the HCMC, it was in several levels and there were everything like hospitals, kitchens, workshops and a completely underground world with narrow bamboo pipes for breathing stacked out of the ground, camouflaged as a termitenests or something that melted into nature.
There were advanced smoke channels that led away smoke from cooking; some parts of the tunnel system were so tight that you got to crawl on your knees.
But all the solutions were incredibly thoughtful, smart and created with almost nothing else but an incredible imagination and recycling thinking. The tunnels also had some outflows in the river that served as escape routes and served as runoff, for example, when the enemy poured water into the tunnels to drench or chase out the inhabitants of the tunnels.
After returning to Ho Chi Minh City after many hours, we asked to be released in District 3, where the war museum lies in order to ”tie the bag together”.
But first, we thought we had to have some food. As this was the last day of the Chinese year, most places were closed and people were free and in party mood. We ended up at a "street party" where a bunch of guys sat and sang karaoke, they ate and drank beer and We were immediately invited in to their party and before we knew it we had a beer and a mic in our hand and a swedish schlager in the speaker ... I even did a duet with one of the guys to Abbas happy new year🤩.
Unfortunately, the food was almost finished at their table and we were offered fruit, but after a while we soon felt that the hunger started overshadowing the partyfeeling for us and we had a museum to visit.😊
The museum was a strong documentary of Vietnam's people with amazing and scary images of the war's horror and cruelty in the civilian population, children and the olds, being shocked by people's cruelty, and I also feel disgusted and dismayed by the apparently unfair and cowardly situation, bombs, poisons and chemical weapons against wooden sticks, homemade traps, homebuilding bombs and mines of recycled military equipment.
I understand that war is bad for both parts and both sides lost people and suffered in their own way. And that I right now just is seeing it from one perception, and some of you might think that I am unfair but right now I am here, and I Will always have the pictures in my head so awfull that I cant even share them in my blog. My intention is not to make a political post, its just to share an emotional experience.
The awfulness did not stopped With the war, it is still continueing. When you can see how it still harvesting victims because of the poisens side effects, with all these children born and still being born with the most abominable malformations, you feel that you can hardly breathe and the cry sticks into your throat.
We were both taken and grateful when we finally arrived to our temporary place that we call ”home”, grateful that we live in a country far away with three healthy children far, far away from the agent orange.
Moore than ever ☮️❤️🌺everybody