The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City stands out for the cluster of decommissioned American military aircraft and heavy artillery pieces parked permanently in its front courtyard. This institution serves as an archive of the conflict…
Wartime Saigon Landmarks
We'll walk through the heart of old Saigon to the hotels, government offices, and safehouses that defined the war era. Along the way, we'll see where international journalists filed their stories and where the conflict finally came to its dramatic end.
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1. War Remnants Museum
2. Independence Palace
The Independence Palace is defined by its long, curved facade covered in a vertical concrete screen shaped like traditional bamboo curtains. Completed in nineteen sixty-six, the building served as the home and workplace of the president of…
3. Museum of Ho Chi Minh City
The Museum of Ho Chi Minh City features a pale, neoclassical facade adorned with ornate pilasters and a grand double staircase. Designed by French architect Alfred Foulhoux, it originally served as the Gia Long Palace for the governor of…
4. Rex Hotel
The Rex Hotel features a distinct bronze crown statue sitting atop its primary entrance corner. Originally built in the nineteen twenties as a French garage and dealership, the building evolved into a hotel after the Vietnam War ended.…
5. Hotel Continental Saigon
The Hotel Continental Saigon features a stark, white facade with deep, arched windows and wide balconies that overlook the city center. Built in eighteen eighty to provide French travelers a place that reminded them of home, it served as…
6. Caravelle Hotel
The Caravelle Hotel stands out because of its stark, white ten-story facade and the wrap-around balconies that once served as the primary vantage point for international correspondents. Opened in nineteen fifty-nine, it was the first…
7. Pittman apartments
The Pittman Apartments rise as a narrow, fading yellow block on the corner of Le Loi and Pasteur streets. This building served as the central hub for American news organizations during the war in Vietnam. Reporters from the Associated…