Sunday, 12 February 2023 -
As we waited for the boat on the Saigon River we were across from the statue of Trần Hưng Đạo.
Pretty clever - he impeded long spikes tipped in iron in the river where the Mongols were expected to travel. The Mongol ships passed over them at high tide but as the tide went out they were trapped and destroyed.
The Vietcombank Tower is the 7th tallest building in Vietnam at 35 stories.
At 81 stories it is the 17th tallest building in the world.
Our guide demonstrates how the Viet Cong used small foxholes - spider-holes - for concealment. They would drop into the hole and a cover would close the hole with grass on top making it very hard to see.
We only found two mistakes in the descriptions of military units and operations. The photo descriptions were heavily slanted from the Vietnamese viewpoint. The propaganda in the rest of the museum was not that interesting - needs better context.
There are several U.S. vehicles, helicopters, and aircraft on display.
Ho Chi Minh statue outside the People's Committee Building.
The Saigon riverfront in lights.
Vietnam's first non-rooftop helipad is on the 52nd floor. The helipad extends 70 feet out from the main structure. It is strong enough to carry a helicopter up to 3 tons.
It was fun to wait for the direct view from the top of the dinner boat down the wide plaza.
There were hundreds (thousands?) of people out enjoying a very pleasant evening and all the street performers.
