Reunification And War

Not Reunification Palace

I start by trying to find the Reunification Palace, which is supposed to be in pretty much the same state as it was in 1975 when it ceased to be used operationally following Saigon's surrender to the north. Initially I thought these derelict buildings on D Nam Ky Khoi Nghia were said palace and was snapping away when a street seller with his water and coconuts said “Palace?” to me and I nodded, looking at the buildings I was photographing.

He shook his head and nodded up the road towards, erm, a huge official government looking building. Ah – when the guidebook said that the building was in pretty much the same state as it was when the tanks crashed through the gates in 1975, I did rather imagine something derelict. That, plus the fact the guidebook said the Palace was built in 1885 was it any wonder I was looking at the wrong building?

Real Reunification Palace

OK, so now I was at the real palace (though the other buildings were actually interesting too, but they were the old police headquarters and were dilapidated). It was like stepping back into the 1960s – fixtures and fittings unchanged from that era, it gave a great picture of what the place was like. Unfortunately I was only able to see the ground floor rooms  and the grounds, as the second / third floors were closed for lunch and would reopen about 2 hours later. I didn’t have the time to hang about so after quickly looking at the tanks in the grounds, I made my way out of the palace to make my way to the War Museum. 

I am not really much for war museums, and I nearly gave it a miss, but I am glad I didn’t. Naturally the only war memorabilia, photos, exhibitions etc were from the war with America, which is understandable as this is the one that had the most devastating effect in the region. I didn’t really know too much about the reasons behind the conflict, and I guess I still don’t really, but I did learn a lot about what went on, mainly from a Vietnamese perspective (understandably) during the of the attacks on villages and camps with napalm, torching, toxic chemical attacks and the longer term devastation of Agent Orange. I felt very sad at some of the harrowing accounts of what went on and gave some money to the institute that looks after families of victims of these chemical attacks, as the effects are still being seen generations later...

I moved (soberly) on back into the noise and headed towards Notre Dame for a coffee and a sit to watch the world go by for few moments, mostly to reflect on the war stuff I'd just learned about, but also because my feet were killing me! I navigated my way back along the streets and just as I got to Cong Vien Van Hoa Park the heavens opened and I was pleased that I’d bought myself an umbrella earlier. I sat under the Coffee and Tea Leaf parasols and had a coffee watching everyone either scurry out of the rain or put on the all in one rain-suits and carry one with their business. It doesn’t last long and I head back to the Church and to the central Post Office, built by the French and looking pretty ooh la la.

Post Office

Notre Dame