Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon

Our last major stop was Ho Chi Minh City, where we were for 2 full days. This busy city of 6 million people was very directly affected by the war, and we saw a lot here. One of the hardest things we did was see the War Remnants Museum, with sobering images of the war and it's destruction. We walked around the city, ate a lot more great Vietnamese food, and visited some museums and sights.
Here's the Reunification Palace, a famous building that's been restored since the troops stormed it and knocked down the gates.
Here's the basement rooms of the Reunification Palace. They kept a lot of the equipment in tact, and this was a center for war strategy, planning, and communication.
durian for sale. this smelly fruit is sold widely in HCMC, but is banned at many public places all over Asia for it's terrible stench! In HCMC, it was banned in our hotel.

We stopped at Fanny's for some delicious ice cream during our hot and humid walk around the city. Vietnam surprised us by having delicious ice cream so widely available!
Here's the Rex Hotel, where many American officers and journalists stayed during the war.
streetside tailor
In all of Vietnam, the buildings had these stamps on the sides of the walls. We never quite figured out what they were for.