This morning we go down for breakfast and once again we are so spoilt for choice including fresh juices and specialty coffees like Vietnamese iced coffee made with condensed milk Yum!
We meet our guide Chung at 8.30 for a guided city tour. Today is a national holiday as the Vietnamese celebrate 70 years of independence so there is not too much traffic. Our first stop is the former palace of Saigon. For those old enough to remember it is the site where the tank crashed through the front gates and the VC stormed the palace which signified the fall of Saigon. The palace is no longer the residence but is now called the Reunification Palace.
After this we visited a lacquer workshop and then the War Museum. The displays here are very anti American with photos depicting the atrocities the Vietnamese suffered at the hands of the Americans. One particular section I enjoyed was the photos by the press, some who died in the crossfire. The photos were amazing, mostly black and white.
We then go to the Saigon post office which Is a great exhibit of French Architecture and a lovely old building. Directly across the road from the PO is The Notre Dame Cathedral, another French designed building.
We have a group lunch today in a Vietnamese Restaurant. It's a set menu and all is delicious.
The afternoon is free to spend as we wish so we go back to the hotel and go to the swimming pool. While there we have just one shower of rain but it's very short lived. As this is our last afternoon in Saigon we go for a walk to the river and around some of the streets. It's a nice city and we have enjoyed our stay here. Tonight we go back to the Saigon, Saigon Roof top bar and have cocktails and watch the sunset with John and Marianne and Trevor and Lynne. It's so nice up there and the views is beautiful as the city lights up.
We leave to go to dinner at Lemon Grass, a Vietnamese Restaurant not far from the hotel. We climb to the 3rd floor as the building is tall but very narrow so the rooms are small. For a short time we have the room to ourselves. Dinner is nice but the bottle of wine is not so good.
We leave the restaurant in time to see the fireworks on the river celebrating the Vietnam National Day. The bikes and cars in the street pretty much stopped for those 15 minutes but as soon as it was done the madness returned.
We pack tonight in readiness for our 9.15am departure tomorrow.
Off to Siem Reap to spend time with Sam.