Day 2

Today we went to the Independence Palace. I don't know if that's what Americans call it; I'll have to look it up when we get home and see. Its where the Americans were airlifted out of Saigon when the palace was attacked. Holly was very good and walked the entire time instead of insisting on being carried (thank goodness!) This was a fascinating place & my favorite of the day. In case you don't know, the helicopter that got the Americans out landed on the top center part of the palace right behind where the red flag in the ctop enter of the building is.
Here we are in front of a replica of the tanks that were used to attack the palace.

This is a great view looking out from the 3rd floor of the palace.

This is the bedroom where the Vietnamese President slept during the attack on Saigon by the North Vietnamese. It was so plain & bare, but it was in the basement right next to where the war planning room was.

This is a replica of the helicopter that the Vietnamese President used to check out different parts of the city & country before 1975. It sits on the helipad on the roof of the Palace.

Holly, Van, and Hai having a drink and resting. The helicopter landed on the roof of this part of the building.

While this is a horrible photograph, it is very funny. Hai had Holly climb up into the chair behind the desk with the sign that says "Don't touch the objects." The pictures of her in the chair are so blurry that I couldn't post them, but we were all giggling.

Here is the palace from the back. You can see the corner of the roof where the helicopter landed in the center between all the trees.

Outside, they were putting a new roof on a building. It was so interesting to watch them weaving the palm fronds or whatever they were and putting them into place.

The entire Independence Palace was just amazing. There are rooms that are still used by government officials when they meet dignitaries from overseas. There is a shooting range in one room of the basement. It was so, so small! I can't even imagine that it would have been safe to shoot there. There were a group of Russians touring the palace at the same time as us, so we followed them around a little so that we could hear some of what the tour group leader was saying about the palace (which was then translated into Russian by a lady who understood English).

Then we went to the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum. It had everything from technological advances & industries, to tribal history, to archeological & military histories. Here is Hai holding Holly up to pet a stuffed tiger. She also got down on her hands & knees to talk to a stuffed alligator up close and personal.

This is a boat made out of a tree. Don't know what kind of tree. Don't know how old, but very old!

There were handcarved animals of the zodiac made from wood. All 12 animals were represented, but this is the pig (since Holly was born in the Year of the Pig, I took a picture of this one). These were carved by some of the native tribes that lived in the area before the city was built.

Van and Holly beating on an elephant skin drum. I kept trying to keep Holly from touching things and Van or Hai would say "There's no sign saying not to touch it." I would think it was implied, but I guess things are different here in Vietnam!

Holly particularly liked these lions and instructed me to take a picture of them. She was more than willing to go stand by them and "say cheese!"

After these two museums, we went to eat lunch. I had a beef fried rice dish and Holly ate most of Hai's french fries and KFC chicken. Enough that they had to go get more so he would have something to eat!

After lunch, we came back to the hotel for Holly to take a nap. Hai came to pick us up about 5:00 and we went to their house to meet Van's cousin. She measured me for the shirts she will make from the fabric I got yesterday and I picked out a couple of shirt designs in a magazine she had. I also got some fabric for a dress for Holly. Van said I didn't get enough for Holly and her cousin was going to pick out another fabric and make a second dress. She told me this later, so its not even like I could protest and say that was unnecessary for her to do. She is already being so generous by making the shirts for me in the first place. I'm sure they will turn out great!

We went to a Russian beer place for dinner. We had all kinds of food, some of which Van & her family picked out for me to try, and some that they wanted me to choose. It was very good! Van's other cousins came to meet us & Holly got to meet Van's youngest cousin, who is 3 years old. I wanted to take a picture of them together, but Holly was getting tired (cranky). We will see them again, so hopefully I can get pictures of them together then.

I did get pictures of Van's house, which I love, but I'll have to post those in the morning or something. I'm tired now. Tomorrow if it is not raining we will go to the zoo and then get ready to leave for Hanoi on Thursday morning.