Another full day of walking....

Ho Chi Minh City, Day 47

Our plan for today is to visit Independence Palace, get something to eat and then walk around and see where we end up.

Independence Palace

The first stop is Independence Palace is also publicly known as the Reunification Convention Hall. This was the home and workplace of the president of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It was also the site of the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, which ended the Vietnam War, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

After the reunification of Vietnam, the building continued to serve as a government and presidential office until 1976 when the capital of South Vietnam was officially moved to Hanoi, and the government’s functions were relocated. The palace is now preserved as a museum, open to the public, and is a popular tourist attraction.

Construction of the current Independence Palace was ordered by President Ngô Đình Diệm in 1962 to replace the old palace, which was badly damaged due to being bombed by two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots. The construction of the palace started on 1 July 1962. Meanwhile, Diệm and his ruling family moved to Gia Long Palace (today the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City). However, Diệm did not see the completed hall as he and his brother and chief adviser Ngô Đình Nhu, were assassinated after a coup d'état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963.

The completed hall was inaugurated on 31 October 1966 by the chairman of the National Leadership Committee, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, who was then the head of a military junta. The Independence Hall served as Thiệu's home and office from October 1967 to 21 April 1975, when he fled the country as communist North Vietnamese forces swept southwards in the decisive Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

On 8 April 1975, Nguyễn Thanh Trung, a pilot of the South Vietnamese air force and an undetected communist spy, flew an F-5E aircraft from Biên Hòa Air Base to bomb the palace but caused no significant damage. In April 1975, a tank of the North Vietnamese army bulldozed through the main gate, effectively ending the Vietnam War.

In November 1975, after the negotiation convention between the communist North Vietnam and their colleagues in South Vietnam was completed, the Provisional Revolutionary Government renamed the palace the Reunification Hall. The palace is depicted on the 200-đồng note of South Vietnam.

The Palace and its grounds are quite large and I'm not sure of there is some sort of event coming up or a Vietnamese tradition but the place was absolutely mobbed with Vietnamese people (of all ages) all dressed up and getting lots of photos taken. I've just checked online and it does seem to be some sort of phenomenon. I'm sure they must have been looking at R and I rather strangely with us just taking photos on our phones!

I absolutely loved looking at all the 1960s and 1970s furniture, textiles and designs. Some of the wood carved banisters and the ceiling lights were just amazing.

It was also really interesting to picture all the important visitors and people that had their important meetings in these rooms during the times when it was lived in by the Presidents and their families.

There was a lot of war related items as you would expect and although there was a helicopter on the top of the building for whenever the President wanted to use it, there was also a very impressive labyrinth of rooms and old technology in the basement and bunker area of the complex.

After we visit the Palace, we head to the Diamond Plaza food court to get something to eat. I had a chicken and prawn peanut dish, and R had a beef and noodle broth soup. Both came with various vegetables and were really good.

After being fed, watered and rested we headed out to find the Opera House and walk towards the river. We noted a number of French style buildings including the Ho Chi Minh City Hall, officially called the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council and People's Committee Head Office.

Ho Chi Minh City Hall

The building houses the office of the city's Chairman of the People's Committee, Ho Chi Minh City People's Council and various city government departments, including Transportation, Natural Resources & Environment, Industry & Trade and Home Affairs within the block. The building served as an administrative house for past governments during the French colonial period and the Vietnam War. Ho Chi Minh City Hall is now Vietnam's National Heritage Site and is open to the public at the last weekend of the month.

There is also a statue of Ho Chi Minh in the little park / square area in front of the City Hall.

All the area around here is very nice and upmarket-looking. We did pop into the Union Square shopping mall, but didn't stay there very long as it was a VERY upmarket (& empty!) mall and we were obviously very out of place there!

Saigon Opera House

Saigon Opera House, is officially named Ho Chi Minh City Ballet, Symphony, Orchestra and Opera. Unlike other French-built opera houses during French colonial period, including Hanoi Opera House and Haiphong Opera House, it is an example of French Colonial architecture in Vietnam.

Designed by French architects as the Opéra de Saïgon, the building was completed in 1900. The 500-seat building served as the house of the unicameral National Assembly from 1956 until 1967 and subsequently as the seat of bicameral chambers: the Lower House and the Senate or Upper House of the National Assembly of South Vietnam. It housed the People's Congress of Deputies of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. It was not until 1976 that it was again used as a theatre. The façade was restored in 1998.

The building looks very beautiful, but as we weren't sure if it was open to public viewing (and we didn't want to risk life and limb to get across the road!), we just admired it from a distance before moving on towards the river.

We came across the statue of Tran Hung Dao, who was a legendary 13th-century military leader, at a very busy roundabout area, and we managed to make our way across on the left hand side of the road to be able to walk along the riverfront (but on the other side of the road). I did think that there would have to be at least one or two safe crossing areas for pedestrians (stupid me!). There were a few points, but our risk assessments both said 'no', so we continued on and eventually found an entrance way into one of the metro stations, which allowed us to get to the other side of the road. We also got a good view of the bridge, river and some of the high-rise developments in this area.

We then started our walk back along the way we had come, but this time on the riverside. We could see that there were some ferry port/pier areas, and there was also a nice park area, but were there any safe crossing points? No! I mean, we have managed to get across some roads here in HCMC, but this was like 8 lane traffic in both directions with no breaks in the relentless traffic movement. At this point, R suggested we would need to go all the way back to the metro station to get across the road - sorry, that was not going to happen. We managed to find a local who was crossing with a couple of tourists, and we basically tagged along with him as he stopped the traffic. I'm not going to lie that it was a bit scary, but we got across and saved our wee legs some additional steps!

After getting back over to the right side of the road, we then headed back to the apartment via a slightly different route.

All in all, we were pretty exhausted by the time we got home, and we just wanted to shower and chill. The lovely concierge, however, spied us coming in and ambushed us with a flyer for a free football event the hotel was putting on that evening for the guests, as there was a big game on between Thailand and Vietnam. We had seen the flyers in the lift but R and I are not football fans and although it was a really lovely gesture, we just wanted to chill, so we said we would perhaps attend, knowing full well we wouldn't and although we didn't attend the function itself, we did watch the game from our bed and we were happy for Vietnamese when they won this championship match. We weren't disturbed at all, but I believe the Vietnamese were partying into the wee hours on the streets to celebrate their teams' success.

That concludes another interesting and eventful day for us....oh, and we broke our step records with just under 10 miles of walking (in 30oC temperatures!).

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

5 January 2025