Asiana speaks...

Okay, okay....I still am adding my two cents. So, here we are in Saigon, we have a full day tomorrow and then a night bus up the coast of this amazing country that is Vietnam.
But, first, I want to back up and recall a little about the genocide museum in Phenom Phenh, Cambodia. I have a tendency to resist putting myself in situations that may cause distress or pain, but I felt it to be important to experience as closely as available to me, what happened here during the Khmer Rouge reign. As I looked into the faces in the pictures of the victims of the Rouge, I sensed a deep feeling of absolute confusion and disbelief in what was happening. I feel the Cambodians to be such amiable people, full of love and ease and trust with themselves and for each other, that the essence of deep and utter dismay as to what was happening to them enveloped every photo I set eyes on, through their eyes. It was devastating and deeply moving. And, when I checked in with how the place felt, the torture chambers where much of the killing happened, it somehow felt clear now...forgiven....not forgotten...but forgiven. Don't get me wrong, there is still much happening to bring those Khmer leaders that are still living to justice today..many court hearings much deliberation..and there is a underlying current of forgiveness, of moving forward from right now. Which is really all we can do. I feel there is great resolve in this, and it shines through. I read the downloads from the people that were part of the Kmer Rouge, the ones that were a part of inflicting the torture and killings....they all spoke of acting at that time out of complete fear, and all of them spoke about creating a existence where something like that will never happen again.

And now, here we are in Vietnam. I have not yet experienced any bit of this place that downloads sensations of the war, and I know that this will come. But, for now, I remain intrigued with the food being sold in street carts of duck embryos and dried squid. The cirque de soleilesqe performance by the young kids sharing their skills in martial arts and gymnastics while dancing stories of Vietnamese mythology, past to the present, in elaborate costumes. I get to witness the expats, drinking and lingering with the local prostitutes and the underground activities, actively not so under ground. This is what happens in the Backpackers district in Saigon. I do enjoy, and I look forward to getting out of this city!