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March 3, 2007
Reunification Building -Saigon
While in Saigon we visited the Reunification Building. This was the home of the South Vietnamese President and his government. In 1975 when Ho Chi Min made Vietnam one country, there were famous pictures of tanks ramming through the gates and a soilder flying a flag (North Vietnamese) from the balcony. Since this time the building seems just to have been left, exactly how it was. And apart from the tourists and the occasional dinner, it is unused.
It is a huge building, built in the 1960's. There was a similar building there before, home to the South Vietnamese President but he was so hated that it was bombed by his own troops, in an attempt to kill him. He escaped but when the palace was rebuilt he ensured it had a bomb shelter underneath. By the time this building was finished he had been killed, by his own army so never got to live in his new palace.
The place has an strange feeling to it. The network of tunnels and bomb shelters underneath are quite scary. As Joe said when we were in them, it would be the pertect setting for a horror film. Upstairs there are lots of reception rooms and then furthur up there are dance halls, a casino and a cinema. There's even a helipad on one of the balconies with the shell of a helicopter on it.
Posted by admins at March 3, 2007 2:53 AM