Reunification Palace (Hoi Truong Thong Nhat) Ho Chi Minh City

Our first weekend in Saigon (HCMC) was spent much like a backpackers weekend. We visited many of the so called "tourist" spots, all of which were really cool. The highlight of these was definitely the War Remnants Museum, where we learned about the Vietnam War and viewed many photographs from the war along with weaponry, aircraft, and tanks. "Fun" …

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam.

Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochin-china and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam from 1955–75. South Vietnam, as an anti-communist republic, fought against the communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong during …

After sleeping a little longer and a nice breakfast (baguette, omelette, banana and tea) I ventured out to explore HCMC in more detail. I decided to walk to get to know the city and know my way around which is simply impossible if you get taken around by any wehicle. Oh btw, they don't have the usual tuc tuc's in Saigon, they only have cyclos (well …

Well we had the nicest few days in Saigon. Full of culture (about time), we visited so many sites. A trip to a city would not be complete without the obligatory 'getting lost', which from now on will be referred to as 'exploring'. First we went to the War Remnants Museum. It was so upsetting, it was full of photos of the American/ Vietnamese war …

My first hangover in Vietnam, well sort of. Matt was surprisingly sprightly for somebody who had literally revisited his dinner all over the streets of Ho Chi Minh the previous night, needless to say he was itching to have breakfast. What better way to start off the day than a big bowl of pho. We head down to the pho place on the corner of Pham Ngu …

Vietnam is a stunning, vibrant and fun loving county, but it also has a fascinating and devastating history

We turned up in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) pretty late in the day, and so performed the classic 'check in, get out, get food' ritual, then went in search of a few friends who had made it to the city the previous day. After all, it was …

The sleeper bus ride was really tiresome. We decided to try the sleeper bus since it was so much cheaper and a lot of backpackers said it was ok. We’d come from Hue to Hoi An in a 4 hours sleeper bus and it was fine, however all night inside it on those bumpy roads was a complete nightmare! We asked for the back seats of the bus because there …

Having settled into Saigon, we were going to go exploring and see all the sights today, but first up was breakfast. Where the bus had dropped us off the night before, I had noticed that there was a bakery that seemed rather nice, and as a bonus, it was even in the right direction for the War Museum.

Once we got to the bakery, it was a …

Sunday, July 10
Chris and I booked a city tour of Ho Chi Minh City through our hotel for $9 each. The tour bus/van was supposed to pick us up in front of our hotel at 8:30. At 9:00 a guy working for the tour company shows up and tells us to follow him. We walk several blocks in the heat, then he pays a driver on a motorcycle to take Chris and …

This was the last sleeper bus we had booked before leaving Vietnam & we managed to get the back seats of the coach so it was like a double bed to ourselves, we did get thrown around a bit though! This was another long journey but we arrived in Siagon about 8pm. We got dropped off right on the main street which was good & our hostel was not …

... sightseeing stop of the day was fifteen minutes down the road, a monstrosity of 60's architecture known as the Reunification Palace, former headquarters of the South Vietnamese government. Wandering through its basement floor, a single hallway with ...

... . A short flight brought us from the ultra-sedate and orderly Singapore to the vibrant chaos of Saigon (now officially known as "Ho Chi Minh City". Forget any preconceptions you may have, a lot has changed since the "American War" ended back in 1975. ...

Ho Chi Minh City was almost a letdown given the warnings- we were expecting Hanoi on steroids and not in a good way. The population of Saigon is nearing 8 million and there are apparently close to 4 million motorbikes and scooters (and none of the 8 ...

... tours but with a plan in mind, we take to the streets of Saigon. After a lay in we're a little refreshed and visit the Reunification Palace. The building is grand, however reminds me a little of a civic centre on the inside. As tourists we are able to ...

... cars DO NOT stop for any living thing.   We walked all around the main center stopping at the "Reunification Palace". Built in 1966 to serve as South Vietnam's Presidential Palace, it has been left just as it looked on that day in April 30, 1975 ...

... our mission ended in failure. There are no nice shops in Saigon. Mission three would take us to The Reunification Palace, Saigonís foremost building of historical significance. Sixties styling externally and throughout gave it an out of place feel in ...

... three weeks ago. The city, though, certainly has a grasp of its history. After arriving in what is officially now called Ho Chi Minh City at 5 am, I found a hotel, relaxed for a little and headed to the War Remnants Museum. There was certainly a bias to ...

... so we simply met them upstairs. We took to the streets on foot with a bucket list of sites to see.  First stop, Reunification Palace... closed for lunch.  On a tip from a roaming coconut salesman who told us the War Remnants Museum was open, ...

... in! When we did finally surface, we headed over to the park to have some lunch and then went over to the Independance (Reunification) Palace. This was quite interesting as this Palace is still used today but still has the decor from the 1970's! You are ...

... background noise of million motorbikes cranked up to full.....goodbye tuk-tuks!  Our itinerary for Saigon was the Reunification Palace and the Remnants Museum. Our first stop, the Palace, was where the communist tank crashed the gate on ...