Children stand proudly in front of the tanks that crashed through the palace gates to signal the end to the American War. The tanks are now immortalised in the palace grounds.
‘The Chinese were here for 1000 years, the French 100 years, the Americans 10 years…now all gone’ is the proud catch-cry of our tour guide in reference to the many invaders of Vietnam. He talks of Ho Chi Minh as his president. Why not. To my mind Ho Chi Minh was one of the great leaders of modern times. He was responsible for defeating the French and the Americans.
I did a half-day tour of the city this afternoon. It took in the Notre Dame Cathedral built by the French of course, in about 1880. They even brought their own rock to build this formidable church. Christianity had arrived to IndoChina. Across from it is the French built central post office. Also very impressive, it is a functioning post office but also a major tourist attraction here. Customers gave to fight with a throng of tourists to do their business. The tour also took in the Reunification Palace, which I saw yesterday.
Also on this tour are an interesting mix of people from other Asian countries (including locals), France and Australia. An elderly Australian couple …well …older than me…are visiting Vietnam to follow where Australian forces were involved in The War. Joyce’s brother fought here. He is damaged from the experience and is too unwell to come here himself. Joyce will trace his footsteps with her husband. They are a typical Australian type, the type you are proud of being part of. By the end of the tour they had invited the entire mixed tour group back for a beer. Few will of course but they are appreciative of this very Aussie gesture.
I end the day with a beer at the Garden Bar atop the beautiful old Rex Hotel. The hotel is French designed and is just classically stunning. The French certainly know about timeless architecture. It’s dusk and the lights are coming on. The cityscape view from this location could be anywhere in the modern world – such is the economic advancement of Vietnam.
The Rex Hotel is way too upmarket for dinner so a find something way more affordable at street level. I’m on my own tonight so its a case of choosing food by the pictures. Caution is out the window and curiosity is king for now so I choose this drink. The surprised look on the waitress’s face suggested a possible mistake on my part! I still don’t know what it is made of but it’s tasty as well as colorful.
angusmccoll 