Reunification Palace

One of our first stops in Ho Chi Minh was the Reunification Palace, the center of the reporting universe on April 30, 1975, when the North Vietnamese military drove a tank down the central boulevard of the city and crashed through the wrought-iron gates of the Presidential Palace, after which a soldier ran up the steps and into the palace and unfurled the flag of the Viet Cong from the fourth floor balcony, essentially ending the Vietnamese War (or American War as they call it in Vietnam). I watched it all on television and after years of watching death taken away on stretchers or laid out in the long grass beside flapping helicopters hovering like vultures, the war was finally over.

My father had a passion for news and he passed that on to me, which is why we watched the fall of Saigon together. His reaction (jumping up and down and swearing), and the event itself made such an impact on me that forever after I wanted to visit Vietnam. Sometimes I watched the news with my father just to be with him and share a giggle and a tickle; but my best memories are of him rousing me early on Saturday mornings so we could watch together what he swore was his favorite television show - Mighty Mouse.




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This is the tank that crashed through the gates (pictured above) at the Reunification Palace, although the original tank that actually DID plow through the gates is in Hanoi, which you can see in my pictures on that blog.


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I enjoyed strolling through the long halls of the old Presidential Palace with its hundreds of windows. Everything is just as it was the day they all ran off by the seat of their pants to catch the last helicopter out, and it's much larger inside than it appears from the outside. The wind whistled through the halls from front to back and provided a natural air-conditioning, but it was over one hundred degrees the day I visited. Beautiful gardens surrounded the building.


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Inside the Reunification Palace.
Radio controls; overlooking the front gates; landing pad on the roof; elephant feet; fifties furniture

Off to Saigon!

Here we are taking off to Saigon. It was a blistering hot day and we stocked up on goodies at the train station for the long journey. The wonderful thing about Vietnam is that there is always food to buy at every turn, unlike some countries where you could be hard-pressed to find anything other than a ball of dough. Vietnamese food vendors are everywhere, and as an added bonus, the food is really inexpensive.

Nikki is one of my all-time favorite people in the world, the easiest person to be with, and always upbeat. Me? You'll have to ask her, but we got through it all with a lot of laughs. Traveling together, which means being together night and day, isn't easy, and it helps if both are willing to take the initiative and make plans, or perhaps go off and do something on their own once in a while.




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I had to include some pics of the floor after lunch because it was an interesting mess of food scraps, paper plates and spilled drinks. Finished with your lunch plate? Toss it over you shoulder to the floor. Finished your Mars bar? Just toss the wrapper on the floor chocolate side up. Done with the sticky rice? Scatter it to the four corners of the car and take a nap because the train's cleaners will come along soon enough to sweep it all away. I don't know why they didn't have any garbage bins on the train. It's against my nature to toss garbage because if I even threw an organic raisin on the ground when I was a kid, my mother would knock my block. "What do you think this is?" she'd say. I quickly got over my hang-up though and joined in the garbage throwing. I found it to be a very therapeutic activity and highly enjoyable. Now if you could only do that with some people - pick-up service included.




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He who would travel happily must travel light. - Antoine St. Exuperey

Dreamy Dalat Vietnam

The road from Nra Trang to DaLat.




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Off to the waterfall!





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Children flew kites down by the shore and they were amazing!


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Nikki and I were just putzing around on a scooter and found this horse-riding
farm. It was Nikki's first time on a horse. Women travellers will have a great time in Vietnam.



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We also had to check out the local golf course - not bad, but it was just another
reason to have..............




- ANOTHER COFFEE!


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The dramatic sky over Dalat inspired me, and I've come to realize that I'm more of a mountain person than a beach person. I used to enjoy the beaches - margaritas, sun-tanning, and checking out the muscles out on the surf. However, I feel more grounded when I'm in the mountains. Dalat was that type of place for me - a place of energy and power, meditation and peace.




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“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.”
Dagobert D. Runes

Crazy House - Dalat, Vietnam

One of the main attractions in Dalat is the Crazy House. It has to be seen to be believed. It's crazy! The official name is Hang Nga Guesthouse, after the woman architect (whose father happened to be the ex-President of Vietnam) who designed it, but all the locals refer to it as the "crazy house." The base of the building is a tree, which can be seen from the outside.





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