LittleSandyBeach

We started off our final week in HCMC by going to the War Remnants Museum. The building used to be the US military’s intelligence headquarters during the Vietnam war and now holds documented photos from the war and original tanks and planes from the US army.

Just down the road is the Turtle lake which is surrounded by a roundabout. The original water tower built by the French was replaced by a small manmade lake and monument in 1921.

We then went to checkout the famous Saigon Central Post Office. The original building was designed by Gustave Eiffel and completed in 1863 and then replaced with the current building in 1891. The building is very impressive and you can buy and send postcards inside. There is also a couple of souvenir shops.

Next stop was the famous Cafe Apartments which is a whole apartment block that is full with independent coffee shops, bars and boutiques. It also has a great book store on the ground floor!

Before we leave Vietnam we wanted to go to the cinema as there’s always one nearby. We went to see The Conjuring: Last Rites. Tasha loves a horror movie and for 84,000 VND a ticket (£2.37) it was a cheap price to get scared!

The next day, we explored Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens. Entry was 60,000 VND each (£1.69) and luckily it wasn’t very busy. It was opened to the public in 1869 making it one of the world’s oldest continuously operating zoos.

It holds 125 different species of animals and 260 different species of trees and plants some of which are over 100 years old. Their reptiles section didn’t disappoint as they held around eight King Cobras which we quickly walked past!

In the same park just outside the entrance to the zoo is Ho Chi Minh History Museum. It was a fairly small place but walked you through all the different conflicts and rulers of the area. It even had a real persevered mummy from the 19th century.

Our next stop was the Independence Palace. It was completed in 1966 and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam. It’s most famous for being the site of the Fall of Saigon on 30th April 1975 that ended the Vietnam war.

After looking around all the different rooms including the presidential suite we made our way down into the bunker which is three metres below ground with one metre thick walls reinforced with iron to be able to withstand a 500 kg bomb.

Outside near the main gate they have a replica of the Chinese made T-59 that crashed through the gate on the Fall of Saigon.