Vietnam: Independence Palace and Norodom Palace Exhibit

Date: 24 October 2019

I began my sightseeing around Ho Chi Minh City with quick stops at Ben Thanh Market and Mariamman Hindu Temple in the morning. Next on my itinerary was going to be Saigon’s Independence Palace.

Sushi Tei Ho Chi Minh city — Using Google Maps, I walked towards Independence Palace

Blue building Ho Chi Minh city-vietnam — Lots of colourful buildings in this part of the city

Huyen Tran Cong Chua Vietnam — I entered this green space

Tao Dan Park lawns Vietnam — This is a part of Tao Dan Park — the largest public park in Ho Chi Minh City

Tao Dan park sculpture Vietnam — You have a bunch of sculptures… and benches to rest on

Ho Chi Minh boulevard Vietnam — As I walked towards the entrance, it was nice to see the remnants of French city planning in these boulevards. Makes this part of Ho Chi Minh City all the more scenic.

Independence palace exhibition building tickets — The exhibit ‘From Norodom Palace to Independence Palace, 1868-1966’ is housed inside this building

Tickets to the Independence Palace costs 40,000 VND as does the individual ticket to the exhibit. But the combination ticket costs 65,000 VND (₹210/$2.7/€2.5) and that’s what I opted for.

Norodom Palace exhibit when you enter — The exhibit covers the history of Ho Chi Minh City but most of the photos are about the politics of Saigon, right from French colonial times until the Vietnam War

Norodom Palace hall Ho Chi Minh Vietnam — The site of the former Norodom Palace served as the seat of French colonial power in Cochinchina

And no, the ‘Cochin’ in Cochinchina has no relation to Cochin in Kerala, India.

Faces of Old Saigon Vietnam — One room had portraits featured under ‘Faces of Old Saigon’ — none of whom I recognized or heard about

History of Saigon projection hall — What I enjoyed was this hall

They had projectors displaying narrated videos (on loop) explaining various historical chapters throughout Saigon’s history. They had headphones you can put on… which was a safe thing people could do during pre-COVID19 times.

Saigon tram history Vietnam — This segment was about Saigon’s tramway

Original Norodom Palace Vietnam — What Norodom Palace originally looked like

Norodom palace exhibit stairs Vietnam — Once I sat through all the videos, I went up stairs to check out the rest of the exhibition

Norodom exhibit Saigon history — I did not take many photos though

Mostly because: a) I generally don’t do that for museums as that’s like taking all the revenue away from the museum by putting up all the photos online to view for free; and b) I did not recognize many of the names of the leaders and the prominent families spoken about in the exhibit. Many of the names were from the early 1900s to the 1960s, just before the Vietnam War.

There would be no way I could describe or explain the history accurately unless I myself read through Vietnamese history in depth.

Ho Chi Minh palace exhibit Saigon museum — So I went through most of the exhibits quickly

Vietnam coup d'etat exhibit — These exhibits explain the events that led to the Vietnam war, the tussle between the Communist north and the French-later-America-backed South.

Independence palace reconstruction Saigon — The Norodom Palace was bombed and damaged in the war. It is after reconstruction, the name changed to Independence Palace.

Vietnam political history exhibit — The dead man on the bottom right is Ngo Dinh Diem, the President of South Vietnam, who was assassinated in a 1963 military coup.

Walking to Independence Palace — Once I was done at the exhibition, I walked towards the Independence Palace

Independence Palace Ho Chi Minh city — This is what Independence Palace looks like now, which looks nowhere near as regal as Norodom Palace did

Entrance independence palace Saigon — This is the entrance and there is a ticket counter to the right if you want to buy tickets from the Independence Palace itself

Ticket prices here are the same as the ticket prices as shown above at the entrance of the ‘From Norodom Palace to Independence Palace’ exhibit building.

Meeting hall Independence Palace Vietnam — This building is also referred to as the Reunification Palace

Meeting hall Independence palace Ho Chi Minh city — Now the “palace” hosts foreign dignitaries and high ranking officials. This is the Ministers’ cabinet room

Inside Independence palace Vietnam — I say “palace” in quotes because this building hardly looks worthy enough to be called one

(It speaks to the artistic value of classical architecture that buildings which were constructed in the 1800s still stand today as tourist sights but architecture from the 1960s ~ 1980s don’t hold the same prestige. Just a thought.)

Conference hall independence palace Vietnam — The entire ground floor is taken by grand halls like this

Stairs independence palace Vietnam — I went upstairs

Upper floor reunification palace Vietnam — This is the main lobby of the upper floor

Meeting hall reunification palace Vietnam — More meeting halls

Ambassadors hall Reunification palace Vietnam — This is room is called the Ambassadors Hall

Dress chamber reunification palace Vietnam — Along the sides are other rooms and storage facilities like this dress chamber

Theater independence palace Ho Chi Minh city — This is a theatre hall

National security council chamber Vietnam — This section was the National Security Council Chamber

Helicopter Independence palace Vietnam — They have an old helicopter on the roof. It’s to depict how US forces used helicopters to land on the roof and evacuate Vietnamese and US Embassy staff because North Vietnamese forces were closing in and set to take control of the palace.

The helicopter rescues by the US Army in April 1975 signalled that South Vietnam could no longer be shielded and America were caving to an embarrassing defeat by the North Vietnamese forces, despite all the firepower United States pummelled Vietnam with for over a decade.

Grass lawn reunification palace Vietnam — This is the front lawn

Downstairs reunification palace Vietnam — I went back downstairs

I didn’t spend too much time at the Reunification Palace as honestly… it’s just a bunch of rooms. One can easily read through the descriptions for each room and move on.