Category: vietnam

as is well known, vietnam has a complex and tragic recent history. the two not-to-miss historical things to see in ho chi minh city/saigon, particularly for americans, are the war remnants museum and the reunification palace.

the war remnants museum is a thorough look back at the american occupation of south vietnam. the area around the museum contains aircraft, tanks and munitions. inside, there are many details of the vietnam war. it is fascinating to see and read about one’s own country from the perspective of people for whom the united states was an occupying force. particularly poignant are many pictures and descriptions of the effects of agent orange, which was sadly systematically sprayed over much of the country.

the other can’t miss sight is the reunification palace, which was the official residence of the president of south vietnam during the war. the foyer was bombed by attempted assassins in the 60s, and american presidents came to visit multiple times. it was designed for a siege, with bunkers in the basement, situation-rooms with maps on the walls, a cinema, and a rooftop with an open-air piano bar and dance floor with a helicopter available if urgent evacuation became necessary. when the vietnam war ended, a tank crashed through the front gate, and the palace has essentially remained frozen in time since. i found it really fascinating to explore.

ann and i spend a few days in ho chi minh city, also known as saigon, in vietnam! it is a massive, fast-growing city with tons of cool stuff to see. the historic center was built by the french, who colonized south vietnam, and the city is now named named for the father of modern vietnam, ho chi minh.

my first stop was to go to the top of the iconic bitexco tower, from which there is a great view of the city!

then, walked around the historic area of the city, seeing the historic post office (the interior of which is overlooked by a large likeness of ho chi minh), multiple large malls, and the expansive ben thanh market. urban vietnam is famous for tiny establishments with obscure themes – one could walk the streets for days and never get bored. we went to a little flower themed tea shop, where there were flowers in and on everything.

i also went to southeast asia’s brand new tallest building, landmark 81, which is about 45 minutes away from the historic center. at it base is an impressive shopping mall.

our first adventure in saigon was being totally scammed with regard to the “luxury hotel” we had booked on the normally very reputable hotel booking site hotels.com. it had multiple great – in retrospect scammed – reviews. we showed up in the middle of the night, and after much confusion began to realize that it really wasn’t a hotel as advertised; rather a random private apartment in a huge apartment complex, operated by who-knows-who, but definitely someone who was difficult to get in touch with and did not speak english. after being turned away by the lobby staff we ultimately did find the key to the apartment in an abandoned mailbox after obtaining help to translate some text messages from vietnamese. the promised “buffet breakfast” ended up being cold take-out pho left outside the apartment door. it would have been fine if it were advertised as an airbnb and were half the price, but kind of disappointing when one is anticipating a nice hotel for a vacation. apparently these scams are really common. as soon as the booking site shuts down the account for fraud there are new “hotels” popping up with the same pictures.  so beware!