Saigon Central Post Office
November 10th, 2024
Slept well but with the time change, woke up around 4:00AM. I did some work and then got ready. The breakfast buffet had everything – Pho, Banh Beo, Banh Mi, bacon quiche, breads, pastries, waffles, and more. I decided not to dedicate an entire entry on breakfast but wanted to state how good it was.
22 Gia Long Street
We started out walking through Ho Chi Minh square towards the Saigon Central Post office. On the way, we passed 22 Gia Long St. Our guide pointed to the top of the apartment building and I immediately recognized it. He pulled out copies of the original picture but if you search “evacuation of Saigon”, you will definitely see the iconic photo of a helicopter on the roof with hundreds of people lined up as they fled Saigon prior to it falling to the north. At the time, the picture was reported as Americans crowding to the roof of the US embassy but it wasn’t the US Embassy but rather an apartment building that housed Americans.
I couldn’t help but think of famous scene in Miss Saigon where they recreated what had actually happened on top of that building in 1975. In Vietnam, they call it the American War and after we stopped at the post office to admire its unique architecture, we would be headed to the Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum, which both center on the conflict with the US.
Jade Emperor Pagoda
But first, we would stop at the Jade Emperor Pagoda. A pagoda that was built by a Chinese Merchant over a century ago. It is filled with various rooms containing figurines that depict different themes and stories. It is a pagoda that couples wishing to have a child will come to worship. The tour guide pointed out that Obama stopped by this temple when he visited Vietnam in 2016.
As we drove over to the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, he explained the history of the it, and when it was built. During the war, it was the equivalent to the White House here in the USA where the president lives and works. On April 30th, 1975, a Northern Vietnamese Army tank crashed through the gates as soldiers stormed the building, officially ending the war.
The building was turned into a historic monument, a time capsule so to speak. You cannot help but feel that you are taking a step back in time, no computers, no flat screen TVs, the phones are rotary phones and the lavish decor is definitely from the 60s. There is even a helicopter on the roof!
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the War Remnants Museum, housed in what used to be the US Information Agency building. It it Vietnam’s struggle to become an independent struggled told from the Vietnamese people’s perspective and it highlights the war crimes and atrocities committed by the French and Americans stationed in Vietnam during the war. Although the atrocities of those wars are well known, hearing how it impacted them for generations to come was very moving.
As one would expect, a lot of the displays and content was horrific and very disturbing. I chose not to take pictures due the nature of the content and because I wanted to completely focus and immerse myself in what I was seeing. I was surprised at the amount of children and the amount of people taking selfies as if they were at the Louvre.
Recent Comments