Independence

Four day weekend?  Yes, please!!  We are in the midst of celebrating the reunification of Vietnam.  While most Vietnamese have left the city, we have decided to stick around to enjoy a quite, peaceful Saigon.  With what feels like at least half of the population gone, our new home feels like a much different (re: emptier) place.  This has allowed us to be tourists in our own city and actually enjoy all that downtown Saigon has to offer.

Today we shopped, ran, and consumed our way through our city.  We plan to do the same for the next 2 days as we do not have to report back to work 'till Wednesday.  God Bless ... er ... Vietnam!?!

Adam says "2 thumbs up" for a 4 day weekend.

The streets of downtown were eerily quiet ... not many motorbikes in sight.

The city is decked out in posters advertising the holiday weekend.  Pretty amazing.

Flower arrangements have been left all over the city.  This statue of Uncle Ho is no exception.

We have honored the day of independence by shopping and picking up some much needed items.

Adam heard that on Monday there would be a reenactment of the tanks crashing through the palace gates.  This turns out to be false.  The gates cost too much money!

Another fun poster advertising a 4 day weekend.  Children and doves, oh my!

We also celebrated by going to the Ho Chi Minh museum.  Even Adam's short legs could not fit inside this old car.

This boat was carved in the 13th century.  We could have climbed in for a picture, if we had liked.

A mural summing up what our long weekend is all about.

One of the people.

Cho Lon = our part of this amazing city.  So glad to be here for a national holiday.