Agent Orange

80 million litres of toxic chemicals
366 kg of dioxin
15 million tones of bombs dropped on Vietnam
35 million unexploded land mines continue to contaminate 20% of Vietnam’s land mass
To this day, 1,000 fatalities and 1,300 permanent injuries occur every year due to unexploded ordnances.

Visiting the War Remnants Museum was a sobering examination of the brutality of war, the atrocities humans are capable of, and the generational impact it leaves. It was extraordinarily hot, sticky and humid today and for some inexplicable reason the three floors of the museum are not air conditioned so it was a steam bath. Perhaps by design? To amplify our discomfort to a level of sympathetic suffering for what the Vietnamese have endured at the hands of the USA? The dioramas, visual depictions and graphic descriptions were sufficient to make our hearts hurt. A entire exhibition room displays the scarring, deformations and debilitating developmental conditions that Agent Orange has, and continues to wreak, on human bodies. War—nobody wins.

Since arriving in Vietnam we have connected with a number of two-wheeled or two-footed others who are roaming the country. We have come to know names-in-a-group-chat, exchanged tips & advice and shared small stories. Last night we had an informal meetup with those who also find themselves in Saigon.  Minus Dane, who is in Saigon but feeling under the weather, so we missed him. Assemble a group of like-minded tourists, the conversation feels like that of old friends.  It doesn’t take long for our uniquely shared issues to surface—food (Pho), laundry, underwear, odd menu translations, even stranger foods, trứng vịt lộn (Balut—a fertilized developing egg embryo that is boiled or steamed and eaten from the shell), riding “stinky”, and the joys of a peanut butter sandwich at just the right time.

It’s utterly, stinkin, sickeningly warm & humid here. We have checked out of our hotel and are in a holding pattern until our flight leaves at 0200h. There are logistics now—retrieving our boxed-up bikes from the shop, transporting all of our gear without the benefit of bikes anymore—and avoiding the planet surface outside with its crushing heat. We found an underground air-conditioned shopping centre with a food court and some cozy chairs where we will begin to anticipate the 36-hour transit home to Canada

Ben, Randy, Anita, Reign, Lukas, Miriam