Ho Chi Minh City

It was a 35 minute flight from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City.  I don't think I've ever been on a flight quite that short before - or at least not when it was a jet we were flying in.

Today has been a rather "quiet" day - or least compared to some others I've had recently.  That was of my own doing though and I totally don't mind.

For as much as Phnom Penh was a big city and the capital of Cambodia, after having now spent the day in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Phnom Penh feels quite small.

HCMC has a population of over 7 000 000, and although it's not the capital it is Vietnam's biggest city and it is a buzz, that's for sure!

I spent the day just exploring a little bit the area around the hotel, and I also went to the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace.

The War Remnants Museum is, not surprisingly, a bit hard to take but I would say also a necessary stop when in Vietnam.  There are lots of retired artillery pieces on display, a model of the tiger cages used to house VC prisoners, and an array of heartbreaking photographs of victims of war.
Yes the exhibits are a bit propagandist, but they are still very powerful in tone.

The Reunification Palace was built in 1966 to serve as South Vietnam's Presidential Palace.  The first communist tanks in Saigon crashed through the gates of this building on the morning of 30 April 1975 when Saigon surrendered to the north.  The building is a bit of a time-warp, having been left just as it looked that day.
I thought the basement was particularly interesting!  It was the telecom centre, the war room, and a network of tunnels.

One of the rooms in the Reunification Palace - and yes, in the doorway between the two rooms is a statue with real elephant tusks.

At both locations there were some good examples of planes and helicopters that were used during war times.

A few building also were quite noticeable when I was walking around. First was Notre Dame Cathedral, built in 1877 - totally from materials imported from France.  It's quite a regal looking building but looks a bit out of place, with its twin 40 m high towers.

And across the road from the Cathedral is the General Post Office, built in 1880.

And as luck would have it, I happened to stumble across a children's art work exhibit.  It was a contest open to school children here in HCMC and one of the categories was: "an inspiration for peace and friendship between nations in the world".  There are just a few of the pictures I saw:

And a little bit of people watching too:

I'm not sure what the instrument is that he's playing - I'll have to try and find out.  It was made out of bamboo (I think) and sounded a bit like a xylophone ... but a bit different too of course.

And I just happened to see this tree while I was walking - I love the root system.

I met up tonight with the group that I'm going to be travelling with here in Vietnam and again they seem like a nice group of people.  Not quite as internationally varied as my last group, but on initial meeting at least everyone seems quite nice.
And one of the people on this tour is actually one of the people who was with me in Cambodia - Stephanie is her name and she the other Canadian in the Cambodian group.

I'm not sure how I'll fare with access to internet here in Vietnam.  Obviously this hotel has it, and I think some/most of the hotels I'm at will.  But I'm not always at a hotel, as this tour includes a homestay in the Mekong Delta, an overnight train trip, and an overnight on a junk in Halong Bay.  So I'll do my best with keeping the blog up to date but if there are some days in between posts you'll know why.