Day Eleven,

it was a sad day,

as we looked out from the restaurant for the last time, we had cruised down the Tien River, one of the 9 arms of the Mekong and arrived at My Tho where our journey finished,

breakfast was served,

we looked along the port,

then it was time to disembark and say our final farewells,

as our buses started the journey to Saigon, for the next part of our Vietnam adventure,

I took a few pictures as we were going, I have seen bamboo used for many things, but this is the first time I have seen a baby cage made out of it, just been told it is called a crib,

as we speed along past lush green rice paddies,

I kept seeing markers in the fields,

it was hard to tell what they were,

until some appeared closer to the road,

they were grave stones in the paddy fields,

we were soon into Saigon itself,

we could tell, it was the way the amount of traffic increased,

lots of flowers,

I guess to bless a new business venture,

we arrived at our hotel,

the Liberty Central Riverside,

although we were early,

our room was ready,

before I could collect my wits I took these pictures of the view from our room,

this was the nearest and only time I am going to get to where floor to ceiling glass windows are concerned,

but it was a nice view and as we found out especially at night,

our room,

was so nice, 

I liked the floor to ceiling glass wall that you could only see through from one way that separated the bathroom from the bedroom, it made the already big room look larger,

it was only after I went into the bedroom,

to find a giggling Diana that I realised it was not one way glass, you pull a blind down that is hidden in the ceiling when you are in the bathroom, D'Oh!

our new home for the next 5 days,

we decided on a tour around town,

a street seller and her wares,

we hired a car and guide for the day,

first stop, 

the former Presidential Palace, now called the Independence Palace,

the government has now moved to Hanoi, but this was once the cabinet room,

and formal government meeting room,

the grand hall,

with Ho Chi Minh at the far end,

we made our way up to the first floor,

to the war room,

that had communications to all departments,

the briefing room,

opposite it a doorway leading to an underground bunker,

formal,

and informal rooms,

the view looking at the road past the gates, Le Duan,

the carpet a gift from China we were told,

the main meeting hall,

looking through to the formal meeting hall,

one of the informal rooms,

with a huge mural behind it,

a panorama of the room,

around the courtyard,

are rooms for guest,

on the other side,

the dining area,

with more guests bedrooms,

the cinema,

in case of emergencies a helicopter was on permanent standby,

the games or recreational room,

and the cinema projectionists room,

two huge projectors,

sit side by side,

I am guessing a film re-winder,

the grand ballroom piano,

where the two bombs hit,

a fragment of one of the bombs casing,

is still here,

looking from the top floor,

we just had to have a pose,

we then went form the top of the building to the basement,

all still laid out with maps,

and statistical charts,

the rooms,

and corridors,

seemed endless,

we found ourselves,

in one of the communications rooms,

bank upon bank of receivers,

there was also a switchboard,

in the command centre,

and leading edge at the time,

telex machines,

lots of them,

piled high transmitters,

although we are deep in the bunker, there is still another way out,

in an emergency the presidents bedroom,

the presidents war room,

a few floors ago we looked at the door that lead to the bunker, this is where it ends,

the door is way up there,

the kitchens as you might expect are huge,

in the day state banquets were catered for here,

outside we made our way back to the car,

passing a couple of Chinese-made T59's, first deployed in Vietnam in the 1960s,

but this is the one that became famous well a copy of it, driven by Captain Vu Dang Toan, the commander of Tank 390, with his 3 man crew, 

and it was these gates that made tank 390 famous, for decades after the war, Vietnam's official account of the victory maintained that Tank 843, a Soviet-made T54 that arrived in Vietnam as part of USSR military aid in 1972, was first through the gates, but that was scorched by French photographer Francoise Demulder, who witnessed the moment Saigon fell, in 1995 she returned to Vietnam with her photos showing the moment in question, restoring Tank 390 to its rightful place in the nation's official history, both tanks are now in military museums in Hanoi, preserved as national treasures, 

our driver for the day Hi,

next stop for us,

the war museum,

some of the drivers take a rest under a stand of bamboo,

inside there are a number of rooms,

showing the different stages of the war,

in pictures,

and examples of small weapons,

and facts and figures,

the picture that made tank 390 famous as it crashed through the place gates,

outside planes and other weaponry are on display,

that took part in the war,

I do not know the details of each plane,

there was little  to read,

but they are still impressive,

to look at close up,

a real warbird,

now at peace,

with it's radial 9 cylinder engine,

there were also two helicopters here a UH-1 Huey,

and a Boeing CH-47 Chinook,

we then took a look around the prison,

where the guillotine is still in place, the sign reads, ' In 1960, the last man who was executed by guillotine was Mr Hoang Le Kha',

also on display are these cages, made of barbed wire and made deliberately too small, prisoners would be placed in these as punishment,

the guillotine has it's blade locked in the upright position, still ready for use,

a prison cell, people kept taking pictures of something inside, so Diana had a look and I guess once her eyes adjusted to the gloom of the cell let out a terrible scream, much to the amusement of other tourists, 

this is what she saw, Diana commented 'I knew I was going to see something, just not that',

pictures on the wall tell of appalling atrocities that took place here,

we moved back outside,

to look at some of the other weapons of war,

one of the many army bulldozers used in the war,

there were weapons of all shapes,

and sizes,

hopefully decommissioned,

the bit that makes it go Bang!

now all just scrape metal,

tank tracks,

this is a big one, the top half,

and the bottom half,

the business end of a small gun,

and for waterways a machine gun mounted in a small boat,

back to the car, 

to continue our look around town,

we stopped off at the Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception,

the sign above the door says it all,

a pose by Diana,

and we were on our way,

across the road to the Post Office, built between 1886 and 1891,

passing a street vendor on the way,

another quick picture,

and we were on the steps,

the address, 2 Công xã Paris,

there is a large entrance hall,

flanked on both sides,

by rows of telephones,

with world clocks above them, it is a bustling place, but then it is a working post office,

outside, the Lady in Red,

arriving back at the hotel, we decided to take a look at the roof bar and swimming pool,

we went past the gym and spa, where they had a neat way of folding towels,

I liked these two, the dinosaur,

and frog,

one more flight of stairs to go,

and we were here,  

at the bar,

and pool, great view,

but for me I would be terrified if the wall with the glass on it gave way, go for a swim? no thanks!

we settled for a drink inside,

after a shower and change of clothes we were out, a look up at the mezzanine,

our car for the evening,

took us to this park,

where you can hire various sized restaurants,

for weddings, birthday parties or any other occasion,

but this was where we were going,

on another boat,

albeit a little smaller than the last one,

we had decided to take a evening cruise,

and dinner,

along the Saigon river,

first a cocktail,

we were entertained by two ladies one of them playing a single string instrument that we had seen in one of the villages,

there were lots of dishes to chose from,

not as grand as the Jahan, but still very nice,

we watched the city lights slide past,

as we chose our food,

prawn cocktails,

that will do nicely,

work seems to go on round the clock here in Saigon,

in Saigon just this August they have announced the start of the tallest building in Vietnam, the Vincom Landmark 81,  

when I take two pictures of the same view, I never know whether to go with the portrait,

or landscape view of it,

any way back to the food, we had finished, well we thought we had,

but then a plate of bar-b-q food arrived, it appears that it too was a part of the deal,

further upstream we were treated to a light show,

as ever changing lights cascaded down the side of the building on the left in a kaleidoscope of colours,

it was all just so nice,

even the camera thought so, it had not switched itself off all evening as it had started to do a couple of days ago,

then one of the Mandarin junks set sail,

and sailed past us,

on to desserts,

what to choose?

Diana made her choice,

as we sailed past the lights from the riverside,

and other places to eat and relax,

we had reached the bridge,

so it was time to turn,

and head back to the jetty,

where some of the parties that had not started as we left,

were now in full swing,

nearly there,

safely moored,

and we were on our way back to the hotel,

Mr. Balloon was here so there must have been a children's party,

our car and driver were waiting and we were back in the hotel in no time, so up to the mezzanine for a nightcap,

free table football, great for us,

but tonight just relax,

there is also a business centre here,

and a well stocked bar,

I mentioned the free table football, well this game is free too, but it looks far too complicated for me,

now this is more me,

or this one,

a final nightcap and we were up to our room,

where we found out that we were next door to the kaleidoscope building, this is the view from our window, with that we were off to bed.