Swapping homes for around the world travel: Tao Dan Park and the Reunification Palace

First, some images from last night.

Crossing the street takes nerves of steel.

Shortcut down this alley to get to The Garlik Restaurant.

Drivers will take to the sidewalk to go around traffic. I don't know if that's legal or not.

It's just curb to curb traffic. I know the photo is blurry, you try taking pictures of moving objects.

The next morning we had an early breakfast (I tried the pho this time instead of a typical American breakfast and it was very good. The hotel provided breakfast has lots of variety, both Vietnamese and American style food) and then we set out to see the Reunification Palace. Even though we took a short cut through the park it took a while to get to the palace because of so many interesting things going on:

People practicing their forms with swords.

I would love to see people in Minnesota parks practicing with swords, exercising to music, doing yoga, etc., and not giving a damn what anyone else might think.

Sculpture Garden! I love sculpture gardens.

Weird flowers on weird tree, no idea what it is but I really like the way it looks.

And finally the Independence, or Reunification, Palace. I was very over-heated by this time and was hoping the palace would be air conditioned. No such luck but here is a tip - if you go down one level from the main floor and look for the door that says "Documentary movies" you can sit in a small air conditioned room and watch a documentary about the Vietnam war and the Independence Palace. It's so nice a cool in that little room!

This picture of me is not photo shopped, the planters are just that big.

Below are a few pictures of the Game Room. I thought that the decor was the most indicative of the 60's and 70's.

This part of the palace was bombed by a spy and later rebuilt. The red circles show where the two bombs hit.

The private bedroom of the president. Check out the TV.

The walk-in closet in the President's private rooms.

To the bunker! The bunker was built to protect the president and his family from bombing and so he could continue to direct operations from a secure location.