I have no doubt that acts in times of war are valiant, brave and heart crushingly sad, but the unveiled brutality of the Vietnamese War within the upper floor of the War Remnants Museum showed the ghastly blackness and fracturing of humanity that war induces. The photography section brought to the present the grief and desperation of both sides of war and the horrors inflicted upon those that have no say in such matters of control and conscience.

The museum has been deemed (and I also suspect) biased towards the cause of Vietnam, though I did not take a side with either initially as I was only faced with the violence that the war brought. America, undoubtably sought to exploit Vietnam by siding with France, and later took over the entire conflict campaign themselves shortly after their entrance to the war! Therefore, although both sides undoubtably committed atrocities that are best unthought of, America did instigate and prolong the entire ordeal.

I was astounded to learn that the Vietnamese War doubled the cost of the Second World War, accumulating a staggering 676 billion dollars. Such a colossal bankroll highlights America's determination to have control of Vietnam.

There was an Agent Orange Aftermath exhibit in the museum which I'm ashamed to say I left after ten minutes, the affliction imposed upon the innocent children after their mothers and fathers came into contact with horrific poisons was gut wrenching and I couldn't bring myself to keep going as it was just too horrible and the pictures too arresting.

Feeling extremely melancholic we left the museum and made our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels which offered further insight into Vietnam's war torn past.

Our guide for the Cu Chi Tunnels was a hero and sounded exactly like Mr Chow from the Hangover Films. The Tunnels themselves were very interesting and cunningly built. The labyrinth of tunnels spanned an inspiring 200km, and its intricate layout and boobytraps thwarted the Americans that were seeking to kill the Vietnamese.

We had the opportunity to crawl through some tunnels at the end of the tour which were a lot bigger than the tunnels that the Vietnamese would have used. Despite this, it was incredibly claustrophobic and long - I wasn't surprised that the Chinese couple behind me didn't laugh when I jokingly asked if they could back up as I'd dropped my wallet.

To round off the tour we were given some taro root to try along with some crushed and salted peanuts. The taro was incredibly starchy and we were told that these two basic dishes were what the Vietnamese Guerrillas survived on throughout the War. The thought of crawling around in those tiny tunnels and living on two foods for twenty five years is in no way appealing and conjures up great respect for the Vietnamese soldiers.

A History of Vietnam (as I vaguely understand it):

French military activity in Vietnam began in 1847 and lasted for a near century. It would appear that the only thing of worthy contribute from their reign was the Saigon - Hanoi railway, although this cost 12,000 of the 45,000 workers lives that built the railway through disease and famine.

World War Two eventually brought an end to France's reign over Vietnam as they came under nazi control. However, Franco - Viet Minh War was re-established in 1946 following a French bombing in Haiphong where they were trying to regain their control over Vietnam. Eight years of fighting ensued and the French, after catastrophic defeats, surrendered in 1954.

Following Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided into a North and South population. The South being fiercely anti communist and catholic. The North being a democratic republic immediately set out to eliminate elements of the population that would challenge their power.

The Americans who had given $2 billion dollars of aid to France in the Franco - Vietnam Minh wars then 'claimed' to have been the recipients of an unprovoked attacks in 1964 by North Vietnamese forces and passed a very waffley 'Tonkin Gulf Resolution' act which gave President Johnson the power to 'repel any armed attack' against the United States. A twenty five year war ensued as the United States entered Vietnam and fought with the South Vietnamese against the North.

Eventually, after a quarter of a century, all US personnel left in 1973 after Nixon came to power in the USA and pulled troops out of Vietnam claiming that 'Vietnamisation' was needed - basically stating that the Vietnamese would now have to fight without the US troops. I think this is utterly despicable and a classic portrayal of America gaining what they can and then leaving it's used comrades in ditches, squalor and misery.