The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind to say the least! I took the night bus from Nha Trang two days ago, arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) at about 5:30am. I only had one day in town and I wanted to make the best of it before the long journey to Australia.

I was thrilled to catch up with my Dutch friends from the dive team in Koh Tao and have some roommates and touring partners for the day. They had been out the night before so I grabbed some coffee and chilled out for a few hours before waking them up.

After rallying the troops we set out to tour the city. The first thing we noticed was that the traffic here is next level. If I said it was crazy somewhere else, then here it is chaos - but we survived. Our hotel was very central so we started with a visit to the Ben Thanh Market where we grabbed some food and did some souvenir shopping. Next we moved along to Ho Chi Minh Square, and finally to the war museum.

The museum was definitely the most serious and enlightening thing that I did on this trip. It was very interesting to hear the story from this perspective, rather than the Hollywood version that I have mostly seen in North America. Here, the war is referred to as the "American Aggression War" and this museum makes a strong case for why.

The museum contained mostly photos and passages from documents as well as some current stories about the lasting effects of the war in the country. I was quite surprised at my lack of awareness of the causes and actions of war in Vietnam. The flagrant abuse of human rights was sickening and I felt pretty awful about my lack of awareness of the genocide committed against the Vietnamese people.

It was particularly disturbing to see the multigenerational impacts of the chemical warfare, purportedly used to demolish rainforests, that continues to affect people today. Perhaps the worst part is that this story isn't told and we don't seem to be aware of the huge injustice done too people here. AWhile governments and companies that produced the chemicals (knowing that they would affect people this way) have paid out and supported westerners affected by the chemicals (mostly American and Australians), there has been no recognition of the huge number of Vietnamese who were, and continue to be affected, but aren't acknowledged.

Ok, end thoughtful rant. After the museum we grabbed a snack and headed back to the room for a rest and chill time. Which was greatly appreciated after the heaviness of the experience.

The evening turned out to be quite the adventure. We started the night at a roof top bar where a hostel was having kareoke night. I got to meet some other Canadians who had also befriended my Dutch friends. They told me that we were all similar were crazy party boys. Low and behold, the guys were from Muskoka! I also ran into another guy from Alberta who dove with us in Nha Trang the day before. So much Canada, and so much fun!

With our Dutch/Canadian posse we bar hopped for a while and ended up at a late night bar. What seemed like only a few beers took us to the wee hours of the morning. Due to my early arrival the day before, I actually got to live a full 24 hours in Saigon and make the most of my quick visit (sans sleep).

Unfortunately this morning I had to say goodbye to my Dutchies once again. Although it was only a quick visit, it was great to see them. My stop in this city was full of extremes: extremely sobering and extremely fun all in one day, and a great way to finish off the Asia leg of this adventure.

Now time for the long haul journey: through Bangkok to get my suitcase then a layover in Kuala Lumpur. I'll make the last flight over night and get in to Sydney about 24 hours later.

Once I'm there I'll be visiting my supervisor on sabbatical and making friends at the University of Technology at Sydney. I might have to figure out how to be a normal human being again...or maybe not.

Keep it real and stay weird! ;)