Presidential Palace

We caught a cab early this morning to the Tao Dan Park to see the morning exercise frenzy and try to beat the heat of the day.  Unfortunately, our version of early doesn't cut it and only the occasional person was left exercising by the time we arrived.  Not to worry.  The park is very beautiful, photogenic and cooler than the surrounding urban mass.  So it was quite pleasant to hang about for an hour or so, even as the heat and humidity built.  Harper played on some kids equipment for a while and then we wandered about taking snaps and exploring some of the quirky features of the park.  Like the faux Cham towers and topiary elephants!

But our main target today was the nearby Presidential Palace where the final act of the American-Vietnam War played out with the tanks crashing through the palace gates and President Minh surrendering to the Vietcong forces.  They actually call this the Reunification Palace although it was originally built by the French in the mid 19th century and called the Norodom Palace, before being renamed the Independence Palace in the 1950's when the South Vietnamese were trying to proclaim their democratic and nationalist claims against the communist north. The current palace building was only constructed in the arly 60s after the old wooden one was bombed (by a turncoat Vietnamese airforce pilot).

We had a great time exploring this place, especially the basement area which is still preserved as a command post-come bomb shelter from the war era.   The 'Security' room with nothing in it...a place for torture and interrogation, no doubt.  The radio comms rooms, map rooms, crypto rooms, firing range, etc. All the signs said 'don't touch the objects', which was the ignored by many a foreigner.  In one room, a Chinese tourist lay sprawled across an operator's desk between the multiple telephones.  Who remembers that, by the way?  When you had two or more phones on the same desk - a sign of great status!

After this excitement, we headed back past Notre Dame and on to the Diamond Store complex for a spot of retail therapy and some ten-pin bowling.  One other enduring mark of the American presence!  Harper and I also spent some time in a games parlour but soon discovered its not much fun when you can't interpret the games.

Most of the rest of the day was spent swimming and resting. We ate in after Lisa declared herself not feeling well and got ourselves geared up for a big tomorrow.