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Vietnam & Cambodia

Day 11 - to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

2nd December 2019

Emblem of Vietnam
  

Okay, you can mention the war

 
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Travel day, this time a flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Shrine in reception at the Hoi An hotel...
 
Hoi An



 
After a short flight, we boarded a minibus for a tour of Saigon - Impressive wall decoration...

Saigon



The first port of call was The War Remnants Museum, full of military hardware, much of it American that had either been captured or collected on the ground and a harrowing gallery of the terrors of the war and its continuing aftermath.

F-5 fighter...
 
War Remnants Museum 1



CH-47 Chinook...

 
 War Remnants Museum 2


M48 Tank and Chinook...
War Remnants Museum 3




Bell 'Huey' helicopter - hard not to start hearing the Flight of the Valkyries in your head...

War Remnants Museum 4




Ordinance...

War Remnants Museum 5






Reunification (Independence) Palace

It had been a pretty long day by the time we got to the Palace and in the heat and humidity straight after lunch, this 60's civic building probably didn't get the best of my attention...

Reunification Palace 1



Frog on a lily pad...

Reunification Palace 2



Fountain and the gates that were famously breached by tanks in 1975 at the end of the war...
 
Reunification Palace 3



Tank exhibits in the grounds...

Reunification Palace 4


 
Rooftop helicopter exhibit...
 
  Reunification Palace 5


 
Although much of the interior was modern and unremarkable, this wooden display was very impressive...
 
Reunification Palace 6




Notre Dame Cathedral...

Notre Dame



French colonial Central Post Office building...

Post Office 1



In panorama...
 
Post Office 2


 
Saigon Opera House, where we saw a show based on traditional Vietnamese life involving lots of acrobatics and bamboo...
 
Opera House 1




Christmas tree outside the Opera House...

Opera House 2



Looking across towards the Hotel Continental a key location in Graham Greene's 'The Quiet American'...

Opera House 3




Catinat Street while we were there...

Opera House 4



Same view 117 years ago...

Opera House and Hotel Continental
 


Lanterns adorning that evening's restaurant staircase...

Lanterns
 


Next - Day 12 - Cu Chi Tunnels

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Days 1 & 2 - London to Saigon Day 3 - Arrival Hanoi - Explore - Hoan Kiem Day 4 - Hanoi - Explore - Long Walk
Day 5 - Hanoi - T. of Literature, H. Hilton, etc. Day 6 - to Halong Bay Day 7 - Halong Bay to Hanoi
Day 8 - to Hoi An Day 9 - Hoi An - Cycle Day 10 - Hoi An - Cookery Class
Day 11 - to Saigon Day 12 - Cu Chi Tunnels Day 13 - to Mekong
Day 14 - Mekong to Saigon Day 15 - to Siem Reap - Temples 1 - Ta Prohm Day 16 - Temples 2 - Angkor Wat
Day 17 - Tonle Sap Day 18 - Temples 3 - Angkor Wat - Preah Kahn Day 19 - Siem Reap Town
Day 20 - to Home