Greetings from Saigon
Been away from Danish December weather and xmas for a long time! 30degrees here in wild Saigon where everyone seems to have a motorbike or to ride on one with the girl- or boyfriend. A lot of energy, but where is it going, Ho Chi Minh, would you like to know, you the official role model of a country that experiences an enormous economic growth right now including consumerism, tourism (yes, we benefit) and total Western life style, at least here in the center, where we feel at home at Hotel Continental – Graham Greenes place, you know, where “The Quiet American” is said to have been written. The book that is sold just around the corner in a cheap photocopied version by one of the street sellers!
I had the idea to write a bit about hotel room zapping for documentaries but has actually nothing to report, other than the Vietnamese official channels seem to broadcast documentary films from the war time every single evening – I can see the pictures but dont understand what is being said. The rest is CNN small reality clips, Discovery and Nat Geo and all that s…
What is much more easy to understand is the War Crime Museum that we visited. A documentation in photos mostly, magnificent photos taken by courageous photographers who risked and for many lost their lives in giving a documentation about what was going on when the Americans were here. It is unbelievable what is to be seen from My Lai, from victims of Agent Orange, from consequences of bombing Hanoi and Haiphong in xmas 1972… a bit more than 30 years ago. Nothing new but good to be reminded about what happened politically when you were young.
Today its Iraq.
