For our sixth day in Vietnam we found ourselves in the bustling Ho Chi Minh City. It was a super hot, very humid day for wandering around. The buzz of scooter traffic and constant honking of horns does. not. stop.
Luckily, walking around to see the sites in Ho Chi Minh City is easily done (if you’re able to get over the fear of crossing the busy streets!). There are several historic buildings close proximity of each other. I wasn’t able to find our tourist map, but this one will do nicely for you. I’m sure the hotel that provided it on the internets is lovely.
We visited the Reunification Palace to try to escape the heat for a bit, but that plan didn’t work. FYI: None of the buildings had air conditioning, so it was just as hot inside as out! Reunification Palace, though not as cooling as we’d hoped, was worth the visit.
As headquarters for the South Vietnamese during the war, there were a lot of maps, and historical memorabilia on display. *(The elephant leg trash cans were uber-creepy!) April 1975, the civilians and employees at the building were part of Operation Frequent Wind, with an escape taking place minutes before the building was overrun. On April 30th, 1975, a tank from the North Vietnamese army rammed through the front gate, and ended the Vietnam War, and reunified Vietnam into a communist state.
Reunification Palace, HCMC
A few of the other sites we managed to see were the Saigon Notre Dame or Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Rex Hotel and the Saigon Post Office. The basilica is beautiful inside, but I may be biased–if you know me, you know I LOVE visiting churches…yes, still after seeing hundreds!
The Rex Hotel was nothing to marvel at, but was significant to the Vietnam War. The first guests of the hotel, before it was even opened in 1961, were 400 soldiers from the US. During the war, the roof top bar was the place to be for correspondents and military alike. And, the Saigon Post Office, with its impressive arched ceiling, was where you might have received some of your post cards from if you were lucky enough to receive one.
