On July 28th, after my visit to the War Remnants Museum, I headed over to the Reunification Palace (formerly known as the Independence Palace). This was the home to the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This was also the location that marked the end of the Vietnam War, when Communist tanks crashed into the gates of the palace, and a soldier ran into the building, up the stairs, and hung a Viet Cong flag from the 4th floor balcony on April 30, 1975.
The palace is built with modern architecture which makes it stand out in the city. The inside of the building has been preserved almost exactly as it was that day in April 1975 with very spacious chambers which are all nicely decorated.
The basement of the palace is a series of tunnels and telecommunications rooms that were used for military activities and as a bomb shelter.
On display outside the front of the palace are the first tanks to attack the palace on April 30, 1975:
After visiting the Palace I walked over to the Notre Dame Cathedral, built between 1877 and 1883 with materials imported from France. In front of the cathedral is a statue of the Virgin Mary. Unfortunately the Cathedral was closed, so I was unable to visit inside.
Next to the Cathedral is the Saigon Central Post Office, the largest post office in Vietnam, built between 1886 and 1891 by the French architect Gustave Eiffel (who also built the Eiffel Tower). Inside the building reminds me of European railway stations.
I continued on my walk, and went past the Opera House, built in 1897 by the French architect Eugene Ferret.
City Hall was my next stop: the office of the Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee. The building was built in 1908 by the French. In front of the building is a statue of Ho Chi Minh.
I really enjoyed touring around the city, but I couldn’t help notice the significant gap between the rich and the poor here. Most of the population is poor here, the prices for food, products and services are very cheap because the average household income is about $32 US per month. Some of the houses along the river are in such poor condition:
Yet, although so much of the population is poor, I still found a collection of very expensive stores and restaurants that seem so out of place in a city like this. See the photos below for the Louis Vuitton and Versace stores.
I suppose in every city there are the very rich and the very poor, I have just grown to really like the Vietnamese people an culture, and find it so sad to see such a gap in wealth between the people.
Ho Chi Minh City has been great so far! I’m really happy I’ve finally been able to see the major sights in the city, and experience the city not only as a tourist, but with Mads as an expat living in the city.
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