Saigon, Vietnam

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After having a quick breakfast at the hotel it was off to visit The Independence Palace, home of the former President of Vietnam. I was surprised when we pulled up to the gates as it ready does not look anything like a palace but more like an office building. Once inside we found out that the original palace was bombed by a rogue pilot trying to assassinate the President back in the early 60's. The President hired a well known architect at the time to design the new palace and he wanted it to have a modern feel. He also built the new palace with a very strong bunker in case it was ever bombed again.

After the tour of the palace we got a brief tour of the city and then returned to the hotel to relax for a bit. We met our group around 5pm for a rickshaw ride around the city. Since no one on our tour signed up for the Puppet Show Excursion, our guide Vince arranged for us all to ride a rickshaw through the city and go to a local bar and have some drinks before dinner and taking the rickshaws back to the hotel.

Everyone had a lot of fun with the rickshaw ride as it is a unique experience and they do not allow rickshaws in the city unless you have a permit. It was a fun and scary ride as we zipped in and out of traffic with scooters and cars honking away. Everyone in Saigon honks their horns constantly. They don't consider it rude as they view it as letting the other drivers know they are approaching.

At the local bar we all had some Saigon Beer and our guide ordered some duck tongues for everyone to try. They were actually pretty god. There wasn't much meat, but it had a great type of sauce.

We then took our evening rickshaw ride back to the hotel. Margo, Drury and I found a little Italian restaurant around the corner and had a great dinner before heading off to bed.

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Photos

Gate of the Independence Palace
This is where the President of Vietnam lived before the war. It's their White House

The Independence Palace
It really didn't look anything like a palace, more like an office building from the 60's

Formal Office
This office was used for photos and diplomatic meetings

Gifts from countries
Those are real elephant feet