Magnificent Reunification Palace

Reunification Palace

There is so much to do and see in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

I have been attending the very successful ITE HCMC 2014 this week. To take a break from the meeting the various travel and holiday exhibitors at the Saigon International Convention Centre I joined a small group of people in a min-bus and went on a half-day tour of HCMC.

First stop on the tour was the magnificent Reunification Palace. Construction started in 1962 it was completed in 1966.

Waking from the Main Entrance Gate to the palace we passed a couple of historic tanks and a plane. The two tanks were the ones that crashed through the main gates of the Palace in the last days of the Vietnam War. The A-1 Skyraider plane on display is similar to the one that dropped bombs on the Palace in 1962.

Ambassadors Room

The Palace has interesting 50’s and 60’s architecture. It features open corridors and rooms with plenty of windows to let in air and light. The various rooms in the palace are interesting to view for the furniture, artworks and carpets found in them.

The First floor housed four main rooms – Conference hall, Cabinet meeting room, Banquet room and the Traditional Concert room.

The Second Floor housed the Map room, the President’s Office, President’s Reception Room, Vice-President’s Reception Room, Bed Room and Dining Room.

The Third Floor Housed the Library, First Lady’s Banquet room, Movie Theatre, Gambling Room and the Heliport.

The Fourth Floor housed the Dance Floor and Heliport.

Time did not permit us to enter the Basement, which housed the Commanding room, Radio Station, the President Bedroom and the President’s war room. We did not explore the Ground Floor, which housed the Kitchen, Shooting Gallery, and the French, Chinese, Vietnamese and English video rooms.

Makesure you see the various gifts that were givn to the Pressient on display, including the elephants feet.

Gifts

It was then time to move onto the War Remnants Museum and the historic Post Office. Watch out for posts about these in the future.

Reunification Palace
Location 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam