The War Remnants Museum, and what it asks of you
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The War Remnants Museum is the hardest two hours a visitor spends in Vietnam, and nearly everybody who goes says it was the right two hours. It is also two dollars and a ten-minute walk from the centre of Saigon.
What is inside?
The War Remnants Museum holds a courtyard of captured American aircraft, tanks and artillery, and three upper floors of photography, ordnance, documents and objects. It opened in 1975 under a blunter name and took its present one in 1995.
The upper floors carry the weight. Rooms cover the historical record of the war, the international protest movement, the effects of Agent Orange, and the Requiem collection of work by photographers killed in the conflict.
A reconstruction of the prison cages used at Con Dao stands in a side building, which most people walk through quickly.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1975, renamed in 1995 |
| Ticket | About 40,000 dong |
| Time needed | 90 minutes to 2 hours |
| Courtyard | Aircraft, armour and artillery |
| Hardest rooms | Agent Orange, and the photography floors |
What does it cost, and when is it open?
Entry is around 40,000 dong, under two dollars at about 26,000 dong to the US dollar. It opens early, runs through the day and closes in the late afternoon, without the long lunch break some Vietnamese museums keep.
Arrive at opening or after three. Coaches fill the stairwells between ten and one, and this is not a building where you want to read over somebody's shoulder.
An hour is not enough and three is more than most people can take. Plan on two.
Who should think twice?
Parents of young children should see the courtyard and stop there. The photography of napalm injuries and of the children of parents exposed to Agent Orange is explicit, displayed at eye level and unavoidable once you are on those floors.
Anybody who is pregnant, recently bereaved or simply not in the mood for it should go another day. Nothing about the museum rewards pushing through.
The museum is not gratuitous. It is a museum with a case to make, and it makes it with photographs.
Is it a balanced account?
The museum presents the war from the Vietnamese state's position and does not pretend otherwise. Room titles name American crimes, and the war's southern Vietnamese army appears mostly as an adjunct.
Much of the photography is documentary work by foreign press agencies, which is why the exhibits carry weight independent of the captions around them. The Requiem collection, assembled by Tim Page and Horst Faas from the work of 134 photographers killed on all sides, is the clearest example.
Read it alongside the other sites rather than instead of them. The war sites guide covers the Cu Chi tunnels, the DMZ and Hoa Lo prison, and no two of them tell the story the same way.
How does it fit into a Saigon day?
Two hours here fits before lunch, and nothing much fits after it. Most people are quiet for an hour afterwards, which is worth planning for rather than scheduling a market straight after.
The museum sits in District 3, ten minutes' walk from the Independence Palace and fifteen from the cathedral and the post office. The Saigon three days route puts them in one morning.
Pair it with the palace rather than with Cu Chi. Doing the museum and the tunnels on the same day is a great deal of war for one day.
What do people take away from it?
The photographs, usually one in particular. Ask three people who have been and each names a different image, which is a fair description of what the building does.
Visitors from the United States describe it as uncomfortable and worth it, and most say the discomfort is the point. Vietnamese visitors, who make up a large share of the entries, read it as national history rather than as an argument.
The Ho Chi Minh City page puts it first among the city's museums for that reason, not because it is the most pleasant.
FAQ
What is the War Remnants Museum?
A museum in Ho Chi Minh City covering the American war and its aftermath, opened in 1975 and renamed to its present title in 1995. It holds captured aircraft and armour in the courtyard and several floors of photography, ordnance and documents inside.
How much does the War Remnants Museum cost?
Around 40,000 dong, which at roughly 26,000 dong to the US dollar is under two dollars. It is open through the day from early morning to late afternoon, and a visit takes ninety minutes to two hours.
Is the War Remnants Museum too graphic for children?
For most children, yes. The photography of the effects of napalm and of Agent Orange is explicit and displayed at eye level, and the exhibits do not soften anything. Families with young children usually see the courtyard and leave the upper floors.
How long do you need at the War Remnants Museum?
Ninety minutes to two hours. The courtyard with the aircraft takes twenty minutes, the photography floors take the rest, and most people find they cannot sustain more than that. It is a short visit that lands heavily.
Is the museum one-sided?
It presents the war from the Vietnamese state's perspective and says so in the naming of its own rooms. The photography is documentary and much of it was taken by foreign press agencies. Read it as one account, alongside the Cu Chi tunnels and the sites at the DMZ, rather than as a neutral summary.
What is the Requiem exhibition?
A permanent display of photographs taken by 134 war photographers who were killed covering the conflict, from all sides, collected by Tim Page and Horst Faas. It is the section most visitors remember, and the quietest room in the building.