The Last Helicopter Out Of Vietnam

The other stop on the cyclo tour of Ho Chi Minh City was at the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam, aka Independence Palace, now known as Reunification Convention Hall.  (We may have made one more stop, but I'm blanking on what it was, and have no pictures of it).

It was beautifully designed by a Vietnamese architect and served as the palace of the Presidents of Vietnam until the end of the war, when it was captured by the North as a tank crashed through the gate and the South surrendered.

Designed and built in 1962, the beautiful building (there are pictures) was renovated since then, and the grand old palace now looks like crap.  There are no pictures of it below because, well it's really not good.

The rest of the tour was enjoyable, and we finished up at the old Post Office, which was designed to look like a grand train station and does so.  It's now a mall with little stalls in it.  A gathering place for people, both the inside and out are worth seeing.

From the sidewalk, you can see another landmark of the end of the War -- the rooftop from which the last helicopter out of Vietnam took off.  Contrary to popular belief, the building roof it took off from was NOT the American Embassy but a building used by the CIA.  (Dang, this blog can be so educational!).

I've seen the iconic picture so many times it is imprinted on my mind.  The pictures you will see from me have tall buildings behind it now, which is why I didn't recognize it at first.  Here's that picture from April 29, 1975, taken by a Dutch photographer and famous around the world: 

This has gone on to be a famous saying.

It certainly was a scary time for

Americans and their Vietnamese

supporters.

A typical street scene from the cyclo.

Gail coming in for the Burning Monk stop.

Carol on the cyclo.

Look at all the wires and

how they are strung.

Flowers in front of the Cathedral of

Notre Dame, which is covered by

scaffolding as it is undergoing

renovation, of course.

The Old Post Office.

The clumsily circled structure on top is the

 roof of the CIA building which the Last

Helicopter Out Of Saigon departed from.

The cool ceiling of the Post Office.

Look at the minute hands on each of the

clocks.  As Chicago would say, "Does

anybody really know what time it is?  Does

anybody really care?"  Thanks to Apple

watches,  the answer to the first question

is yes.  And the answer to the second is yes.