Ho Chi Minh City tour

Saturday 21st November

Rather than go out to the Cui Chi tunnels, which is the more common tourist day trip, I decided to do a city tour.

This started with the War Remnants Museum, which documents the war crimes of the Americans and South Vietnamese: the use of napalm, white phosphorus, Agent Orange, etc. My Lai and other massacres, "the tiger cages" used by the South Vietnamese, etc. It also had several exhibitions of photographs, including one with photos of war photographers. And there's some more traditional weaponry, with an assortment of planes and tanks in the courtyard outside the building.

Next we headed for the Chinese district of Cholon, where we visited a market and a Chinese Temple.

Reunification Palace was where the presidents of South Vietnam lived and where a North Vietnamese tank famously crashed through the gates at the end of the Vietnam War. The tour takes you around the state rooms and command headquarters and bunkers.

After the tour I looked at some of the old buildings in central Saigon, including the Notre Dame cathedral and the post office.

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