Good Morning, Vietnam!
Our trip to Saigon, Vietnam was a dream come true for me. To be honest, my knowledge of the country was very limited. I heard about it a lot back in the seventies while I was growing up in Manila. I remember the chilling scene of the Vietcongs triumphantly entering the Presidential Palace in Saigon after the US decided not to continue with the war anymore and left Vietnam altogether. How I saw it played sadly over and over again on the TV news back then. Fast forward to 2006, I too would be stepping foot on the grounds of the same Presidential Palace, but as a tourist.
Here I am in Saigon! My father had visited Saigon many times as a member of the Philippine Military and part of a diplomatic delegation. I'm glad to see it for myself this time.
Marc and I arrived in Saigon from Singapore. We took a morning flight out of the lion city and arrived there shortly before 12 noon. We saw a SASCO booth which arranged for our cab ride to the New World Hotel where we were to stay for the next five days.
Marc in front of the statue of Ho Chi Minh in the plaza right in front of City Hall.
The monument of Ho Chi Minh and the Saigon City Hall in the background
A close up view of the monument of Ho Chi Minh in front of the Saigon City Hall
Here's an even closer view of the monument of Ho Chi Minh
A view of the middle tower of the Saigon City Hall
Right on the mall in front of City Hall was the REX Hotel, THE hotel in Saigon back in the 50's all the way up the md'70's. To date many new international luxury hotel chains have sprouted all over the city. Many of the old names like the Continental and Majestic still operate and cater to tourists.
Saigon reminded so much of Manila. I can't explain it exactly. I just felt it. The atmosphere, the market, the haggling with the vendors while I went shopping, the kindness and warmth of its people, it felt like home.
Street cleaners
While on a guided tour of the city on our second day, we were told by our guide that the name Saigon was still used in Vietnam but only to refer to the city center. Otherwise, the locals used the name Ho Chi Minh to call the country's capital.
The Opera House
The Continental Hotel, one of the oldest and most historic hotels in Saigon and South Vietnam
An apartment building in the city center
The famous Post Office
The facade
The sign right above the main entrance
Telephone booths from where to place international calls from Saigon
The beautiful ceiling of the Post Office
Marc inside the Post Office
Inside the Post Office
It was here in Saigon, right in its Post Office, where I purchased my very first set of stamps for my short lived hobby of stamp collecting.
I saw many locals come to the post office to mail letters and packages. "What a place!" I thought. How I wished our post offices in San Francisco were as pretty.
Business as usual in the post office despite the continuous stream of tourists gawking at the place
How quaint!
These were some statues we saw right outside the post office. These were to the left of the facing the entrance
These, on the other hand, were the statues on the right facing the same entrance
In front of the post office after touring its premises