Cordite? (the smell of spent ammunition, not dissimilar to the smell of fireworks). Anyway, back to the trip...
So after the Cu Chi tunnels, we returned in the heat of the day, in the comfort of the minibus, to Ho Chi Minh City to have lunch and then visit the Palace of Reunification, also known as: Independence_Palace which is where the Vietnam War officially ended, in April 1975 (when I was 9 years old).
Our guide Hoi was very knowledgeable on points of political and wartime history and also the architecture of the building, and explained that the sun screens at the front of the building were meant to resemble bamboo canes.
As well as resembling bamboo canes, the bamboo has a symbolic meaning in Vietnam as it grows tall and straight. This was thought to have been a good omen, in that it would influence those powerful men inside to behave in a gentlemanly way, and be upright and upstanding in their behaviour and actions.
The palace has been unoccupied since the Reunified Vietnamese government consolidated itself in the north - in Hanoi, the seat of government for the country.
We were taken round the building which had hosted many international delegations to South Vietnam in its brief tenure of government and had the requisite opulence you'd expect in a building of this stature.
When we got to the roof however, we found a helicopter, and the following writing:
April 1975 was when it was all kicking off big style in old Saigon. This was one of the actions that preceeded the Fall of Saigon on 30th April that year. So it was interesting to be there in April this year, on or around the 40th anniversary of modern Vietnam's creation.
After the visit to the tunnels in the morning, followed by the Palace in the afternoon, everyone was bushed, so we returned to our hotel, freshened up and went out to find something to eat. R. was much happier to be eating off menu rather than with the standard set menus included in the tour. I'm not sure our children were that impressed by the steamed fish (which had been brought to the table in a plastic bag for inspection prior to cooking - it had been fished out of one of the fish tanks we'd looked at on the way into the restaurant...) On the way back to the hotel I took this video clip.... which gives a good sense of the traffic at night in Ho Chi Minh City.
Better get to bed, another busy day to blog about tomorrow - when we visited the Mekong Delta (which was fantastic) in the morning, and then cram in the Post Office, Notre Dame and the War Remnants Museum back in Ho Chi Minh...and if I remember correctly, we finished the day off in a Pizzeria!
Night y'all! Kat.
So after the Cu Chi tunnels, we returned in the heat of the day, in the comfort of the minibus, to Ho Chi Minh City to have lunch and then visit the Palace of Reunification, also known as: Independence_Palace which is where the Vietnam War officially ended, in April 1975 (when I was 9 years old).
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| Palace of Reunification, Ho Chi Minh City, constructed 1962-1966 |
As well as resembling bamboo canes, the bamboo has a symbolic meaning in Vietnam as it grows tall and straight. This was thought to have been a good omen, in that it would influence those powerful men inside to behave in a gentlemanly way, and be upright and upstanding in their behaviour and actions.
The palace has been unoccupied since the Reunified Vietnamese government consolidated itself in the north - in Hanoi, the seat of government for the country.
We were taken round the building which had hosted many international delegations to South Vietnam in its brief tenure of government and had the requisite opulence you'd expect in a building of this stature.
When we got to the roof however, we found a helicopter, and the following writing:
April 1975 was when it was all kicking off big style in old Saigon. This was one of the actions that preceeded the Fall of Saigon on 30th April that year. So it was interesting to be there in April this year, on or around the 40th anniversary of modern Vietnam's creation.
After the visit to the tunnels in the morning, followed by the Palace in the afternoon, everyone was bushed, so we returned to our hotel, freshened up and went out to find something to eat. R. was much happier to be eating off menu rather than with the standard set menus included in the tour. I'm not sure our children were that impressed by the steamed fish (which had been brought to the table in a plastic bag for inspection prior to cooking - it had been fished out of one of the fish tanks we'd looked at on the way into the restaurant...) On the way back to the hotel I took this video clip.... which gives a good sense of the traffic at night in Ho Chi Minh City.
Better get to bed, another busy day to blog about tomorrow - when we visited the Mekong Delta (which was fantastic) in the morning, and then cram in the Post Office, Notre Dame and the War Remnants Museum back in Ho Chi Minh...and if I remember correctly, we finished the day off in a Pizzeria!
Night y'all! Kat.
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