January 14, 2006 - page 2

Next, we went to the War Remnants Museum, which was formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes. The museum was extremely bothersome in its bias against the U.S. The exhibits spoke extensively about the Americans' use of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange and also of the My Lai massacre. While there was some truth to the message of the museum, it very obviously wasn't the whole truth. I even picked up on what I felt to be inaccuracies and contradictions. One photo showed an American soldier carrying a dead body and the caption said that the soldier was laughing. To me, it did not look like he was laughing at all. I thought he was straining under the weight of the body. Another picture depicted a woman said to be the only survivor of a siege on her village. The next photo depicted a second woman and that caption said that she witnessed the siege. Contradiction? The only palatable part of the museum was the Requiem photo exhibit, which was largely sponsored by Kentucky citizens and corporations. The photos were not only incredible and moving, but they helped provide the rest of the truth that the other museum exhibits omitted.

We did a quick drive through Cholon, Saigon's Chinatown, stopping at a beautiful temple. The architecture and decor

were amazing and it was very interesting to see how Vietnamese Buddhists worshipped.

Before going to the airport, we stopped back by the Rex to pick up our bags and grab a quick lunch. My roommate and I had eaten a big breakfast, so we opted for ice cream and headed back to the hotel to catch the bus.

Our flight to Siem Reap only took 45 minutes, but we had to spend over an hour in the Siem Reap airport getting our visas. We were then greeted by our guides and transported to our hotel, the Angkor Century, where we were greeted with scarves, hot towels, and juice. We were provided an incredible buffet and ate like we hadn't seen food since we left Los Angeles.

I'm calling it an early night, but some went downtown to explore with Dr. Wyatt. Our time in Cambodia had gotten off to an amazing start and I'm really looking forward to the rest of our visit here.