Ho Chi Minh City

Tuesday December 5th
Another full on but fascinating day in HCM . First an early start out to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong hid out. We went underground on the first level and crawled 15-20m at a time to see some of the rooms carved out; meeting rooms/ hospital etc. For us these were accessible via steps but in the war only via hidden trapdoors. Only one of our group was small or flexible enough to go down … and it wasn’t Robin or I!
Then back to HCM for lunch before hot the Independence Palace , modelled on a French colonial building destroyed in the war. Nowadays it’s preserved as a time capsule of the 60s70s since the president moved to Hanoi .
Our next destination was more sobering : the war remnants museum detailing the legacy of the war from both sides, and trying to keep the story alive. Vietnam is a young country.
Finally we saw the Saigon Post Office ( still operating ) the opera house and various colonial buildings now used as party offices including this one the People’s Committee Building, known in 1908 as the Hotel de Ville.