I cannot believe we’re nearing the end of July, guys. Time flies so fast when you’re having fun. Or so busy. Which is sad, because deeeern, when do we get to do all the fun things, eh? I’m having a bit of a walkabout-drought here, it’s a good thing I can let my mind drift back to previous visits, like this one foray into a palace in the heart of Saigon: the Independence Palace, or the Palais de l’independance.
From the War Remnants Museum (check out my blog posts about my mind-boggling visit here and here), it’s about a 10- to 15-minute walk for you to get to the Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, VIetnam. You can’t miss it, since it’s pretty much a massive compound surrounded with massive gates, much like a fortress.
We lined up a bit to secure our entrance tickets, which cost 20,000 VND, which is around Php45.00 or less than USD1.00. Then it was a bit of a walk on an oval-shaped paved road leading up to the entrance of the Palace. (And it was scorching hot, too.)
There she is, looking stately and palace-like. She sits in 4,500 sq. meters of space within the 12-hectare park. It has 95 rooms (!) which made my eyes go wide when I read it, because only a few of the rooms were open for visitors’ viewing.
The architecture combined concrete with wood, making use of the latter in the building’s embellishments. In tune with ancient Vietnamese architectural design, it didn’t have any curved roof design, which actually lent it a more modern and functional look. You see, the rooftop has a helipad as well.
Here we talk of ‘independence’ and ‘reunification’
The Independence Palace of Vietnam is also known as the Reunification Palace. In fact, most people now refer to it as the ‘Reunification Palace, formerly the Independence Palace’. For purposes of this blog, I am sticking to Independence Palace, since that’s what the panels and signboards had at the time of this visit.
This Palace has become witness to many of the most momentous and dramatic events in the history of Vietnam.
This site used to be the location of the former residence of the French colonial Governors General, way back in 1871. After the Geneva Convention, the structure became the palatial residence of the first President of the new republic of Saigon.
Unfortunately, the structure sustained damage from a bomb attack in 1962, so a new structure was built. While the former structure was designed by Achille Antoine Hermitte (a French architect), the new structure was designed by Vietnamese architect Ngo Viet Thu.
After 4 years, the new Palace was completed, and went on to become the official residence of the Presidents, until the siege of the Liberation Forces in April 30, 1975. The liberation flag was raised from the rooftop of the Palace, signaling the liberation of South Vietnam.
Of course, all that info was unknown to us when we visited. So it was with fresh and innocent eyes that we had a tour of the Palace. Oh, and there are supposedly English tours conducted, but the place had lots of English signs, so going around by yourself shouldn’t be a problem.
No Princesses here, though…
First things first, the place is huge. But made for easy and organized touring. Usually, if you have a fairy-tale concept of a palace, you’d think of something like a maze, or one with secret doors and passages and hallways. This place probably has those, but they were, well, kept hidden, as they should be.
The Independence Palace has four floors, plus a bunker, and a ground floor.
The central staircase is not allowed for actual foot traffic. It’s the side stairs that are used by visitors. Too bad, it would’ve been nice to walk up and down that staircase.
This is the Cabinet Room, where meetings of the President and his ministers are held. FYI, that time, in 1967, the government consisted of the Prime Minister, 19 cabinet ministers and 7 deputy ministers.
The room is large enough, so I guess it had no trouble holding all 27 of them.
Visitors aren’t allowed to actually step into the rooms. We can only view them from the many doors around the sides, which had ropes keeping people out.
This right here is the State Banqueting Hall where, you guessed it, state banquets are held. It’s large, since state banquets often have as many as 100 guests.
Notice how the room had a gold theme going on. The gold color scheme was intended “to create a convivial atmosphere”, whatever that means.
That painting on the wall is supposed to be the focal point of the room. It is a painting in 7 sections by the Palace’s architect himself. It depicts a scene from a poem written in Chinese characters known for evoking national unity.
I’m not sure if that is the actual painting, or that’s just a replica, though.
By the way, check out the windows at the back. It’s still quite secure, from what I can see.
We come to the National Security Council Chamber, the room used for meetings between the President and his senior officers and US advisers. I guess this is where they strategize.
See the maps behind the long table? Those are maps documenting the war situation in the South.
Several steps from the Chamber is the Presidential Office, which is pretty self-explanatory. I guess you can say this is the Independence Palace’s Oval Office (only there’s nothing oval about it).
I was quite surprised at how sparse it was, the red color probably the only factor giving it a sense of grandeur or importance. The presidential table and chair looked more functional than symbolic. And the only other items in the room was a set of low table and chairs, presumably for more casual talks.
Next door are the Presidential Reception Rooms, which were more ornate and decorated for entertaining, for lack of a better word.
There are two Presidential Reception Rooms. In this first one, the President’s chair and table are on a raised platform and right across it is a chair where the guest of honor will be seated.
The second Presidential Reception Room, which is in an adjoining room, is considerably simpler, but nonetheless elegant.
By the way, on the second floor, in the middle of the floor, is this large round carpeted area of golden dragons on a red background.
This carpet was manufactured in 1973 in Hong Kong.
The Vice President also has a place of importance in this palace. This is the Vice President’s Salon.
We come to the Ambassadors Chamber, where the ambassadors from many countries will have an audience with the President. This is where they present their credentials to the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Vietnamese artist commissioned to furnish and decorate this room made use of fine Japanese-style lacquerwork. That large painting on the wall is actually composed of 40 small panels and it is entitled “Declaration of Victory over the Ming”.
It looks so grand, this is probably my favorite room in the Palace.
On the third floor are where the private apartments and bedrooms are located. Check out these bedrooms, which are so spacious. Or was it because they were decorated in a minimalist style?
And there is a Game Room too! OK, this is definitely fighting for the top spot on my favorite-rooms list.
They also placed an indoor garden or atrium in the middle of the floor. Oh, I definitely wouldn’t mind living here.
We went up to the rooftop terrace, which is understating it, because when we got there, it was actually a very spacious area that can be easily turned into a ballroom or another banquet hall.
Of course, right outside is the helipad. We just peeked at it, but did not stay out long, because it was so dang hot. We lost count the many cold water and soda we bought just to cool ourselves down. Incidentally, the rooftop terrace had a “bar” that sells these cold refreshments.
By the way, this rooftop terrace has a name: the Salon of the 4 Cardinal Directions, or the Room of the 4 cardinal directions of Peace. Simply known as the “meditation room”, it was originally designed as a place for the President to reflect in a calm environment before making crucial decisions.
However, instead of being a place for meditation, this was turned by then President Nguyen Van Thieu as a party and entertainment room that can hold more than 100 guests. The dancefloor was made of high-quality wood, and the windows were made with blast-proof glass.
We hung out a bit here, fanning ourselves to death, and checking out the view outside.
After a while, we went back down and, this time, headed straight down to the Bunker.
The Presidential Bunker is 72.5 m long, 0.8 to 22.5 m wide, and has a depth of 0.6 to 2.5 m. There was quite a crowd of visitors that time, so there were points in the bunker where it became a bit cramped and crowded. And hot. So if you are claustrophobic, pick a day that does not have a lot of visitors. (Yeah, good luck with that).
This is the Command Center, which is protected by a concrete wall built to be able to withstand a 500kg blast. This was the intelligence coordination center at the time, and it had maps that provided an overview of ongoing military operations.
There were dedicated rooms for telecommunications, message correction, code (I don’t know, maybe for encryption purposes?), switchboard and radio receivers.
The President also has a bedroom in the bunker, but I guess the more important room is the one next to it, which is the President’s War Room, which is essentially the Presidential situation room.
We felt our visit nearing its end as we further went down to where the sets of wheels are parked for display.
The first one is a restored US Jeep of the same model used to convey President Van Minh on April 30, 1975.
The second one is a Mercedez-Benz 200 W110 manufactured in West Germany in the 1960s, and was one of the many vehicles used by President Thieu.
There was also a shooting gallery. I wonder if they let visitors have a go at it, or it’s plainly for spectators.
The Reunification Palace is one of the often recommended top places to visit when you are in Ho Chi Minh, and I concur. Propz to the ones keeping the place running and maintaining it, so that it can still be viewed and visited by more people in the years to come.
I honestly wondered how their actual government office buildings look like. Are they anything like this?
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