Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My Saigon Vacation, Episode IV: My Only Friend The End

I didn't have much time the last day in Saigon, but it was enough to do a self-guided tour of things the books say you should see. I started off the day at Cafe 333, which served the best cup of Ca Phe I had during my stay. It was also a good place to finish off people watching.

The first stop was Reunification Palace, the home and office of the president of South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. It was also the site of the end of the Vietnam war during the fall of Saigon when a North Vietnamese tank stormed through its gates.
Vietnam is celebrating 35 years since reunification. There were nice propaganda posters around to remind you.
From the palace we made our way to the Vietnamese Notre Dame. It looks just like the one in Paris, just smaller and minus a hunchback (I can't prove the hunchback thing- given that Victor Hugo is a Cao Dai saint, they might have one).

Across the street from Notre Dame was the old Post office.
The Post office building had some good people's statues on display out front.

I'm not sure what Vietnam had to do with the launch of Sputnik. I couldn't read the statue's description to find out.

There were a number of government posters throughout the city. Vietnamese propaganda beats Filipino political glamour shots any day of the week.
This place was considerably nicer than my hostel (but probably more than 16 bucks a night):

After walking around for three hours, it was time to head to the airport for my flight back to Manila. I had a blast in Vietnam- great food,

drink,
and sights.
I can't tell if I like the places I've traveled in Asia because of everything I experience there or if it's because almost every place else Asia seems to work better than Manila (I'm going to assume Manila works better than Burma. Note to self-look into Rangoon next trip?)

The only thing that would have made this trip better is if I would have had this along for the ride:
Hurry home ladies; I miss you.

2 comments:

Terry said...

What a lovely ending to an incredible entry. Thanks JT.
XOXO

Sapphire said...

Hi! I've greatly enjoyed reading your blog recommended by your wife's aunt, Leslie D. My husband and I are moving to Saigon in two months. You're a great writer, and now I'm even more excited for our Ho Chi Minh adventure!!