Saigon Day 2

We were up and out in a taxi at 8:30am to take in the morning 'city tour'. First stop was the War Remnants Museum. This museum describes the results of many years of war and suppression that the Vietnamese suffered under rule firstly by the colonial French and then later by the American's (The Vietnam War is known here as the American War) The country was divided in half with the North being controlled by the Communist's and ruled from Hanoi whilst the South was ruled from Saigon and the Americans came in after the 2nd World War the initially support the French however most of the fighting was done in the South) The museum has a large collection of photos depicting the war and it atrocities from both local, Japanese and American war reporters as well as collections of the types of armaments and machinery used in the war, some of which was rather brutal. The use of Agent Orange (defoliant chemicals used destroy crops and jungle areas of all plant life was extensive in the central areas of the country and has caused many generations to suffer both mentally and physically) The most moving part of the museum was the reconstruction of one of the prisons in use in both the French and American era's of the conflicts. The detention methods and torture used in the prison were horrifically brutal and left me deeply moved and sadden.
From the Museum we walked down to the Reunification Palace which is where the Vietnamese people finally re-took control of their own country. The building had been built in the French Colonial times as the seat of their rule but was renamed the Reunification Palace following the war's. From here we walked on towards the General Post Office stopping at the Notre Dame Cathedral which had been built in the French period to reflect the associations with Paris, in fact all the masonry for the church had been shipped out from France. Next door was the very ornate Post office, outside the frontage was built in classical French style with the names of classical modern European scholars in-laden into the relief work around the building. Inside was just as grand with a large hall surrounded on thee walls with a long counter and wooden telephone booths (some of which had been converted to ATM booths). Huge chandeliers hung from the ceilings above large circular leather covered seating areas. Our 'city tour' ended here and we were free to roam until we met up later to go out for an evening meal so I went back to the electronics department store I had found the other day and bought a web cam for my laptop. I tried to get it working but don't have the drivers for my little laptop so gave up after 2 hours of trying and walked down to the river and then back up through another market area before joining up for tea with the rest of the group for a fantastic meal in the street restaurants near the market