Saigon

We arrived in Saigon at 5:30 this morning. We decided to take some risk and not book a hotel before arriving! We had some tea and juice in the railway station and picked up a map. From there we grabbed a cab to Pham Ngu Lao, a street that is supposedly known for budget hotels. We were dropped in front of a nice enough looking hotel. It was raining, but there was an overhang so I stayed with the bags while Nadim ran in to check the room and rates.

They wanted us to stay in their largest room for $60 a night, but Nadim said it was out of our budget and could they perhaps recommend another hotel (hee, hee, hee)... They quickly found us another room, slightly smaller, but still plenty enough room, clean and comfortable, but for the price of $30 a night! Gotta love Nadim and his bargaining!

We settled in and cleaned up and then headed off to see the Reunification Palace or Independence Palace. This is the palace where the north Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates in 1975 to force the surrender of the south and end the war. We had a great tour guide and learned fair bit about the Vietnamese history, particularly the Vietnam War, or as they call it the American War.

The orignal palace was built during French occupation, but it was partially bombed and they rebuilt the palace in the 1960's and you can really tell! Gold carpet, orange curtains, lime green chairs! It was kind of odd to step back in time and see where the president would have conducted affairs. I got a kick out of the command center with its paper maps, old mobile radios, and rotary telephones. We've come a long way!

It was steaming hot here, so given our lack of sleep we decided to spend a quiet afternoon at the hotel. My stomach has been a bit uneasy again, so it was good to just relax.

CM