April 30: Independence Palace

Reunification Palace


A view from the top (well, almost)

A historic place for the Vietnamese.

Ticket to enter the palace is at 15.000 VND per person.

No words to describe what are to be seen inside. Photos are definitely inferior to the actual thing. I was too tired attempting to shoot a good shot, and now tired to describe how it went inside. It was tiring, by the way (imagine getting fewer than the ideal number of hours of sleep, then a tiring day before an early morning flight, and a good deal of hours walking around.) And since it was Reunification Day, lots of people everywhere (and motorcycles).

Snapshots inside:


Corridor


Booklet


Office of the President (there's a cheetah inside >> check it out here)


Credentials presenting room


Gambling Room


Heliport


Basement


This is a real gun


Mercedes Benz (see the "behind the scene" here)


I wonder if that's really the target they use for practice shooting...


A Tank


More snapshots: The Cast


Turista


Me by Mon


Ed (his photos here)


Mon (the "actual shot" here)


"Behind the scene" shot


Going further down the basement


Finally, my jumpshot. :)


Jumpshot (by Mon)

April 30: Reunification Day

Vietnam celebrates Reunification Day on April 30. Hence, festivities, activities, and thousands of scooters seen around this street...



Did I say thousands? This is just a tiny glimpse of that throng of crowd...



...who went out of their way to witness an event (which I did not see)...



And there was this person who talked to us. Sorry man, I panicked when you agreed to have your picture taken. Not as good as it should be.



Thank you for that smile. :)

Further we walked and crossed this street...



...saw this crowd and an activity I could not understand...



...at least I got this beautiful shot...



...of Mon in the green green grass of Vietnam.

Then off we went to the "Creperies and Cafes" to eat dessert or snack, whichever you prefer.

;)