This year did see me heading for Vietnam over Christmas and New Year. My trip did start in mid December in Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon and to then end in Hanoi in very early January.

I arrived in Saigon midday, left my stuff in the hotel and started to explore my surroundings. I ended up following the walking tour lined out in my guidebook. This led me past the main sites in central Saigon. The biggest attraction (at least for me) surely being the Reunification Palace. I got myself a ticket and did head inside. The interior of the palace clearly reflects the 1960s / 70s – and probably not much has changed since those days – when back in April 1975 a tank did crash through its get, marking the end of the Vietnam war.

My actual tour did start in the evening. As it turned out, there were only five of us – so a fairly small group. On Monday morning the included program started with a city tour (most of which, I had already covered on Sunday) and a visit to the War Remnants Museum, exhibiting items related to the Vietnam war (or American war as they say here).