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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – UncleEbeneezer – SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace

On The Road – UncleEbeneezer – SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace

by WaterGirl|  April 29, 20215:00 am| 16 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

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UncleEbeneezer

After seeing Notre Dame and the Post Office, we jumped back into our mini-bus and crossed town to what might have been the coolest surprise of the whole trip: the Reunification Palace aka Independence Palace.  It was the home of the President of South Vietnam up until the end of the American War.  Designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ  it is an amazing piece of Mid-Century Modern style.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 9
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

Here you can see this splendid palace from the entry gate.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 8
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

The interior has lovely chandeliers and windows to allow some breeze (though it was still incredibly hot that day.)

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 7
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

More amazing iron-work.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 6
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

Check out these cool chairs and podium!

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 5
February 16, 2016

More Mid-Century Modern Fabulousness.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 4
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2021

There is a lovely little enclosed courtyard.  But the heat was so oppressive that we very quickly ran back inside.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 3
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

What a marvelous staircase!

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 2
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

The Presidential game room looked like a pretty cool place to chill.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace 1
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

Vietnamese helicopter on the roof.  There is a sign next to it that says “At 8:30 A.M. April 8, 1975 First Lieutenant Pilot Nguyen Thanh Trung flew FSE and threw down two bombs at the right target here.” to commemorate the bombing by the VietCong forces.

On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - SE Asia Valentines (Part 4): Reunification Palace
Saigon, VNFebruary 16, 2016

Finally, there are a ton of bunker rooms in the basement filled with all sorts of old equipment.  The Palace is so big and filled with so many neat details that you could spend a whole day just exploring it.

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16Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    April 29, 2021 at 5:56 am

    Looks like Bunker’s Bunker. Well, not really! And that chopper is a Huey.

  2. 2.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    April 29, 2021 at 6:25 am

    It was hot as blazes with lung busting smog when I visited in 2018, but that air draw in the palace was amazing. Mid-Century Modern was great for that.

  3. 3.

    raven

    April 29, 2021 at 6:34 am

    “On the morning of 8 April, Trung and his squadron were preparing a sortie against advancing North Vietnamese forces – all aircraft in the squadron were armed with four 500lb bombs. According to Trung’s account, during takeoff he spread confusion by indicating to his squadron (who per VNAF protocols operated under radio silence during takeoff, instead communicating by hand signals) he was encountering mechanical issues while indicating to Ben Tre’s ground control that he was taking the rear position in his squadron. After departing Ben Tre, Trung flew his Northrop F5-Etowards Saigon and dropped his payload on Independence Palace, the South Vietnamese presidential residence, striking the building with all four bombs and causing minor damage.[4] He later destroyed a fuel depot before landing at a nearby airstrip, disarming his aircraft’s 20mm cannon in preparation for a crash landing, and then flying towards North Vietnamese lines, successfully landing his aircraft (albeit with some damage) at an airfield in Phước Long.[1] Following his landing, Trung was congratulated by North Vietnamese officials and granted the rank of lieutenant in the Vietnamese Air Force (VPAF).[1] Trung’s bombing of Independence Palace had caused only minor damage, but his actions were celebrated in North Vietnam, was widely covered in Western media, and constituted a major blow to South Vietnamese morale.[3]”

  4. 4.

    raven

    April 29, 2021 at 6:36 am

    Here’s his plane.

  5. 5.

    Geminid

    April 29, 2021 at 6:50 am

    @raven:I just read Trung’s short Wikipedia biography, through your link. It’s quite a story.

  6. 6.

    raven

    April 29, 2021 at 6:53 am

    @Geminid: Yea, I’d never heard of him, I’m glad I pursued it.

  7. 7.

    randy khan

    April 29, 2021 at 8:28 am

    That was a treat. Thanks.

  8. 8.

    Laura Too

    April 29, 2021 at 8:31 am

    @raven:  Thanks for the peek in to history. So much to learn.

  9. 9.

    Laura Too

    April 29, 2021 at 8:33 am

    Such amazing pictures. What an amazing tour you had! Thanks for letting us tag along.

  10. 10.

    UncleEbeneezer

    April 29, 2021 at 8:34 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:  Yes, it was relatively pleasant (though still a bit warm) inside.  They definitely know how to use their architecture for managing the local climate.

  11. 11.

    Jerry

    April 29, 2021 at 8:45 am

    I hope there is more. I have really been enjoying your trip to Vietnam

  12. 12.

    UncleEbeneezer

    April 29, 2021 at 8:45 am

    @Laura Too: Glad you’re enjoying it.  I think we still have two more stops on the tour for this day.  It was about 6 hours or so and crammed with stops and stuff.  We were supposed to do a cooking lesson in District 9 (outer district of HCMC) in the evening, but we were so burnt out, hot and itchy (from first night skeeter bites) that we ended up bailing on that to go back to our hotel and chill in the pool.  It was a lot to cram into one day.

  13. 13.

    JanieM

    April 29, 2021 at 10:13 am

    So interesting yet again. So much geometry! (And color, of course.) The transition from #2 to #3 was especially powerful — the hallway with a view receding to “infinity” — following by…a gate with a wall behind it. Also, that mid-century style evokes memories — not specific ones, of course, because I didn’t live in a color palace. :-) But the furniture takes me back in time, especially #5 and #8.

    Great stuff — looking forward to more.

  14. 14.

    UncleEbeneezer

    April 29, 2021 at 11:00 am

    @JanieM: I really never thought much about design, architecture etc., but my wife loves that stuff and is very knowledgable about it.  She’s really opened my eyes.  Obviously SE Asia is just awash in French Colonial, but there’s also some really great Mid-Century Modern too.

  15. 15.

    J R in WV

    April 29, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    Wonderful places, great history, excellent photos.

    Thanks so much for sharing, a great tour of a place I’m so glad not to have encountered in the 1970s!!

  16. 16.

    UncleEbeneezer

    April 29, 2021 at 11:37 pm

    @J R in WV:  On that note, get ready because I think the War Museum is coming up next.

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