Miss Saigon

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Thursday 21st September 2006

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh at a very early 5.30am. We slept at our guesthouse for a couple of hours before heading out to explore the city. We walked from our hotel and stopped for a browse around the Ben Thanh market and after a couple of small purchases we headed zigzagged through streets to the Reunification Palace. This is where in April 1975, with tanks crashing through the gates, and with the VC’s victory that this event brought, the South Vietnamese government finally lost its cause and the Republic of Vietnam ceased to exist. Its interesting to be able to stand on the balcony where the VC flag was raised and look down to where the tanks came through and the masses gathered.

Unfortunately it started to rain, so we made a quick dash over to the War Remnants Museum. It made for unpleasant viewing, especially the exhibited photos showing the effects of the war on civilians from the effects of napalm and bombs.

With the rain still falling, we headed back to the Pham Ngu Lao area near our hotel for a wander around the shops and an early dinner
.

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