The Independence Palace, Ho Chi Minh City

A groovy, well preserved example of high 1960’s architecture, this 92 room palace was in use by the president of South Vietnam for less than a decade before the fall of Saigon to the communists. It’s mostly as it was back in the 60s, with very neat period furniture and decor. There’s less sheer propaganda here than in other war-era museums, too and tickets are reasonable. Do be aware that they close for lunch, so either go in the morning or afternoon. One star taken off because navigating the complex is confusing and sometimes poorly marked, and the huge central space age looking staircase is closed, so you have to go all the way to the sides for the other stairs - but there’s no sign telling visitors this. Don’t miss the bunker complex underground, or the Huey helicopter on the roof landing pad. Well worth a few hours of your time and a few dollars.

Then they filed back to the farm buildings and halted in silence outside the door of the farmhouse. That was theirs too, but they were frightened to go inside. After a moment, however, Snowball and Napoleon butted the door open with their shoulders and the animals entered in single file, walking with the utmost care for fear of disturbing anything. They tiptoed from room to room, afraid to speak above a whisper and gazing with a kind of awe at the unbelievable luxury, at the beds with their feather mattresses, the looking−glasses, the horsehair sofa, the Brussels carpet, the lithograph of Queen Victoria over the drawing−room mantelpiece. They were just coming down the stairs when Mollie was discovered to be missing. Going back, the others found that she had remained behind in the best bedroom. She had taken a piece of blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones's dressing−table, and was holding it against her shoulder and admiring herself in the glass in a very foolish manner. The others reproached her sharply, and they went outside. Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial, and the barrel of beer in the scullery was stove in with a kick from Boxer's hoof, − otherwise nothing in the house was touched. A unanimous resolution was passed on the spot that the farmhouse should be preserved as a museum. All were agreed that no animal must ever live there.  George Orwell, Animal Farm. 1945

It was like going in a time machine and landing in the 60s. Some interesting decor and architecture. the bunker was quite interesting. Layout was a bit confusing though. Protip: Make sure you don't take shortcuts or you might ended up going against the flow of people.

This is a must see place for those interested in recent political history. The former South Vietnam presidential palace is now turned into a museum. In addition to an interesting story of America's attempt at modernizing a foreign land, it is a wonderful architectural statement in the international style that symbolizes some of the idealism of the early to mid 60s. As with Afganistan, ultimately the United State's inability to stem the rampant corruption of their allied regime let to it's eventual fall to the relatively clean North. To now see the city rise well beyond what that earlier regime failed to deliver is a true testament to human endeavor.

So interesting to see how the rooms looked in the 70s and it's definitely worth the money to visit. I would advise visitors to refer to the floor plan on the wall on the right hand side when you enter the palace. Although there are arrows to guide you, they aren't always clear and we were about to leave until we noticed that we'd missed the bunker, top floor and roof which should definitely be seen!