Day 2 and I wanted to try and do something instead of just walking. A trip an experience...anything. But if you're from the UK or a western country like me and you arrive here alone it's quite scary to do anything!

Even just walking with your phone out as people on their bikes can easily pull up, yank it out your hand and speed off.

There was a trip to the Viet Kong Delta advertised at the hostel but it was written in Vietnamese and there wasn't alot of info. Just a price and a few pictures of some small boats. I still didn't have the courage to do it. Pathetic I know.

So, instead I spotted a museum on the map and headed that way. Not very exciting but I had to do something!

This museum was no ordinary museum however. It was a war museum, specifically the Vietnam War! Something which I thought I wouldn't see much trace of until I left the modern city. I was wrong.

So, after another ham and egg baguette with watermelon and tea, off I went.

When I arrived, I could already see a bunch of tanks, planes and helicopters all crammed next to each other in a small backyard. It already looked pretty interesting.

Like most touristy things, I knew they put all the good stuff outside to draw people in but was surprised just how much was inside the museum too.

The weapons

Being a guy that's seen quite a few war films and played a few shooters based on real weapons I knew I was going to maybe see a couple of weapons in here. But once again I underestimated the place and despite only being 4 or 5 rooms there was alot to see.

Here's a few M16 assualt riffles. The bottom one has a bipod AND a grenade launcher attachment! How does that even make sense?

The two older longer looking guns at the top are M14's which were used towards the end of the second world war as well as Vietnam.

Then there were the "commando" varients that the special forces used, the M18's. Appart feom being shorter I'm not quite sure what the difference here is.

That sqaure thing at the bottom? Oh that's just a four barrel rocket launcher on a tripod. Nothing fancy....

Yep that's the one. From the film "Commando". Image Source

This was already more than I expected but wait there's more...alot more!

Some BAR's (browning automatic rifle). Another world war 2 weapon and M73 heavy machine guns.

M2 Browning 50 Calibre machinine guns. Another WW2 weapon. Back then, these things were mounted ontop of sherman tanks just to give you a idea. 50 cal weapons have bigger bullets than normal small arms which basicslly means they can destroy tougher targets like vehicles.

In case your wondering, yes that is a minigun just casually standing upright at the bottom. You'll see another one later don't worry.

More machine guns...30 Cal M60's this time. These were used by US ground troops but also mounted on all sorts of vehicles. You can see the picture of one mounted on the side of a helicopter. Bottom left the BESA. I believe that's a Vietnamese weapon.

It was at this point I thought to myself I'd seen alot of US weaponry but not the Viet Kong. Was all this stuff just left behind by the US forces? Probably.

It didn't stop there. Here's a bunch if M1 Gerands, M1 Carbines, Spring Carbines and a whole load of pistols that were all used presumably by both sides as they're old WW2 and WW1 weapons.

There's even an UZI here (top left, last picture) I thought these were only in action films and drive by's? If you watch any war film about Vietnam I guarantee you you won't see one of these, yet here it is!

M1 Machine guns and a Bazooka for taking out tanks. Another WW2 weapon.

More Bazooka's..

I nearly forgot the grenade launchers...Yes as if grenades weren't deadly enough, the Americans figured out a way to fire them at rhe enemy rather than throw them.

I realise modern weapons are far more effective, accurate etc but this collection just looked downright scary! They look like weapons of war.

I thought I'd seen them all.

TOW launchers, guided missiles that were used to destroy...well any vehicle or tank.

A 60mm mortar, never thought I'd see one of these. Mortars are kind of like being bombed except there's no need for a plane. Simply lob the bomb over a building or in this case treeline and boom! Devestating to anyone within the landing zone. Mortar shells often made a whistling sound when they dropped so basically that could be the last sound you hear before you die! Terrifying.

What's worse than a 60mm mortar? How about an 81mm!?

A bigger version carrying bigger shells, meaning bigger explosions. I'm pretty sure they fired further too. I thiught these things were only used by the Russians during world war 2. I didn't know they were used in Vietnam let alone me actually see one.

Mines. Anti tank and anti personal mines.

Imagine walking through the thick jungle getting your legs caught all the time on vines and branches then all of a sudden...click.

The one at the back left is a "bouncing betty" Basically when you trigger the tripwire it launches up to eye level, then explodes...right in your face. Nasty.

As I walked around the level of destruction the weapons caused seemed to get bigger and bigger. Just look at this room!

It's littered with artillery shells, rockets, missiles and bombs. The ones on the right are all taller than me. I'm 6 ft. That massive thing on the left? That's not a water container, that's a bomb too! Christ!

If you ever get someone from the USA tell you they "won the war" just show them this.

As you can see, the US numbers dwindled towards the end whereas the South Vietnamese kept growing.

This board was interseting. It's a comparison of 3 wars which the united states participated in. Just look at the table and see for yourself.

14 million, 300 thousand tons of bombs were used over 17 years! I never realised the war went on for that long!

Agent Orange

Then I entered a room with orange wallpaper.

In this room I learnt a dark and horrible truth.

Before I explain, I can't remember if photos were allowed in this room but I didn't take any anyway out of respect.

Agent Orange was a chemical used by the americans during the Vietnam war. It was deployed by aircraft overhead and the effects of it were, there's no other word for it. Disgusting.

The idea was it was a Herbicide to origionally kill off the crops and starve the Viet Kong into surrender. But it had deadly side effects.

3 million people suffered illness due to the effects of agent orange. Many had Luekemia because of it, others Hodgkins Lymphoma. Large boils build up on the skin around the neck arms and groin.

As a result of the infected, their children suffered the most while being born with birth defects. Missing limbs, smaller limbs, extra limbs, blindness...honestly the pictures speak for themselves.

If yor a little screamish, look away now.

The actual pictures at the museum were worse than this. Don't believe me? Go there and see for yourself.

Worst of all though, it was evident that the people of Vietnam are still suffering from this. As I walked slowly and respectfully around. Some people had, burnt skin, deformed limbs and some missing limbs.

I continued to see these people throughout the rest of the museum. There was no escaping it and once I left this room I felt almost sick.

Luckily then next part of the museum was outside.

Finally I'd got to the part that I wanted to see from the start! All of the big vehicles and displays.

Immediately on my right were a couple of fighter planes.

To my left a speedboat with a machine gun mounted on the front.

Next to that a heavy machine gun or Anti Aircraft gun (AA).

Is that a friggin turret and cannon from a navy destroyer in the back? How the hell did they get that there!?

A self propelled artillery with a massive cannon on top.

Also another 81mm mortar because why not.

More artillery, this time stationary.

Some sort of APC (armoured personel carrier) and a bulldozer? I guess for clearing paths for the tanks.

And yes that's a Chinook in the background. They managed to cram one of those in too.

M41 light tank, also known as the bulldog.

M48 A3 medium tank.

I'm not sure why the Americans bought along tanks....They were fighting the "enemy" in the jungle. Tanks can't get through this kind of terrain and even if they could they're easy targets to ambush. I don't know, perhaps I'm missing something.

This is some sort of US bomber, probably used to drop napalm.

Finally the Huey hellicopter. Very famous for transporting troops during this time. Some were transports, some were used as medic stations whilst others worked with the boats down below with their mounted weaponry.

In this case it's a mini gun. I knew the gun wasn't loaded and probably not functional but knowing a weapon capable of so much destruction was pointing at the back of my head, I couldn't help feel a little nervous. I can tell you no one there stood directly in the line of fire of this thing.

As I left the museum I felt a bit weird. On one side it was better than I could of hoped but on the other, that agent orange just stuck in my mind. From then on, every time I saw someone who looked disfigured or odd, I knew it was probably Agent Orange that caused it.

Heading back, I grabbed a quick bite of probably the most famous soup dish in Vietnam, pho.

Pho is basically soup and noodles, but you can have different types of meat and other fillings. On another day I had an entire lamb chop in one piece just dumped on the noodles. It was nice but tricky to eat.

Since I was still new to the country and area, the sheer amount of bikes was still overwhelming.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KGu2TMbSeHMuKBt6A

This took a while to get used to.

Later that day, I found something I don't see alot of back home thanks to the goverment cracking down on "unhealthy foods", a massive food market.

It was underground below the main square.

Once inside, I realised just how big this place was. It just kept going and had plenty to choose from. I wasn't that hungry as I'd had the noodles not long ago so I decided to just get something sweet.

As I headed back I saw this sign which gave me that final push to booking another experince that night for the next day.

It was the Viet Kong Delta, I'd finally plucked up the courage to book it and boy was I in for a shock!