Once back in Ho Chi Minh we left our luggage at our old hostel, Long Hostel (highly recommended). The staff were very welcoming and even let us use their showers even though we weren’t staying the night. We rushed to visit the Independence Palace and the Notre Dame Cathedral.
The Independence Palace isn’t a must visit for the average traveler. My brother mocked it for being a letdown, but I actually really liked the historical significance of it. It was originally the home of the French governor general while Vietnam belonged to French Indochina. The palace was later the seat of the Republic of Vietnam’s government and home to President Diem. In 1962, a Vietcong soldier was able to infiltrate the ARVN’s air force and with one of their own planes bombed the palace. His goal was to assassinate President Ngo Dinh Diem. He failed, but Diem was successfully killed in 1963 by his predecessor’s (Minh) henchmen. Diem was a staunch catholic and had established many anti-Buddhist and anti-communist policies. This led to many protests and great anger over his nine years of rule and eventually to his death at the hands of his own countrymen. His replacement President Van Thieu lived in the palace until he was forced to flee by helicopter in 1975 when North Vietnamese troops stormed the palace and took over Saigon. The famous photo of a North Vietnamese tank busting down a gate was taken here.
The interior has an eerie 60’s/70’s feel to it and has been left relatively untouched. On the roof there are two large red circles painted next to the helicopter landing pad to show where the bombs were dropped in 1962. The bunker in the basement has all the dated radio transmitters and original furniture from that time period. Also of disturbing note are the preserved elephant feet in the president’s private quarters.
That evening we boarded our overnight train to Nha Trang. We had purchased our tickets in advance having been warned that transit would be difficult the week before and of the Tet holiday (Lunar New Year is the most significant holiday of the year in Vietnam). We got some of the last beds on the train. So two tickets were for two beds in the same cabin of four and the other two were in individual cabins. I opened the door to my cabin to find two mean male faces glaring at me. My first thought was, “Hell no. I am not sleeping with these guys by myself.” Luckily, a friendly man was willing to trade with me. Tim and Maya were greeted by a family of five crammed into the two lower bunks in their cabin. Once everyone was in the car the conductor locked the external door with a padlock, which I found a bit disconcerting.
The bed was comfortable enough for me. I highly recommend overnight trains over the overnight buses. At least with the trains you control when you go to the bathroom and whatnot. Tim struggled to fit in the bunk due to his height and spent the night attempting to not fall out. I really can’t complain, but the man below me did end up blaring Vietnamese music for the ENTIRE night. Very strange, but that is why you always travel with ear plugs. We did enjoy interacting with several of the families on the train. There were two sisters, 15 and 8. The 15 year old kept telling the 8 year old things to say in English. At one point she told me, “You are the color of my belly.” Yes, yes I am.
We rolled into Nha Trang around 10:00 am and spent the day sitting at the beach admiring the plethora of Russian mankinis strutting down the sand.
Stay tuned to hear about Nha Trang and the overnight bus from hell!
The Independence Palace isn’t a must visit for the average traveler. My brother mocked it for being a letdown, but I actually really liked the historical significance of it. It was originally the home of the French governor general while Vietnam belonged to French Indochina. The palace was later the seat of the Republic of Vietnam’s government and home to President Diem. In 1962, a Vietcong soldier was able to infiltrate the ARVN’s air force and with one of their own planes bombed the palace. His goal was to assassinate President Ngo Dinh Diem. He failed, but Diem was successfully killed in 1963 by his predecessor’s (Minh) henchmen. Diem was a staunch catholic and had established many anti-Buddhist and anti-communist policies. This led to many protests and great anger over his nine years of rule and eventually to his death at the hands of his own countrymen. His replacement President Van Thieu lived in the palace until he was forced to flee by helicopter in 1975 when North Vietnamese troops stormed the palace and took over Saigon. The famous photo of a North Vietnamese tank busting down a gate was taken here.
The interior has an eerie 60’s/70’s feel to it and has been left relatively untouched. On the roof there are two large red circles painted next to the helicopter landing pad to show where the bombs were dropped in 1962. The bunker in the basement has all the dated radio transmitters and original furniture from that time period. Also of disturbing note are the preserved elephant feet in the president’s private quarters.
That evening we boarded our overnight train to Nha Trang. We had purchased our tickets in advance having been warned that transit would be difficult the week before and of the Tet holiday (Lunar New Year is the most significant holiday of the year in Vietnam). We got some of the last beds on the train. So two tickets were for two beds in the same cabin of four and the other two were in individual cabins. I opened the door to my cabin to find two mean male faces glaring at me. My first thought was, “Hell no. I am not sleeping with these guys by myself.” Luckily, a friendly man was willing to trade with me. Tim and Maya were greeted by a family of five crammed into the two lower bunks in their cabin. Once everyone was in the car the conductor locked the external door with a padlock, which I found a bit disconcerting.
The bed was comfortable enough for me. I highly recommend overnight trains over the overnight buses. At least with the trains you control when you go to the bathroom and whatnot. Tim struggled to fit in the bunk due to his height and spent the night attempting to not fall out. I really can’t complain, but the man below me did end up blaring Vietnamese music for the ENTIRE night. Very strange, but that is why you always travel with ear plugs. We did enjoy interacting with several of the families on the train. There were two sisters, 15 and 8. The 15 year old kept telling the 8 year old things to say in English. At one point she told me, “You are the color of my belly.” Yes, yes I am.
We rolled into Nha Trang around 10:00 am and spent the day sitting at the beach admiring the plethora of Russian mankinis strutting down the sand.
Stay tuned to hear about Nha Trang and the overnight bus from hell!
