Close to The War Remnants Museum was The Reunification Palace. Entry was 30,000 ($1.50) but was one of the best places to see. The exterior is a deceptively bland institutional style building. The interior hides elaborate state rooms, living quarters, and war operations headquarters. The building is T-shaped with one bar facing the front and the rear bar stretching in the back from the centre. The ground floor houses three state rooms in each wing. There are conference rooms in either wing. The long rear wing houses a meeting hall with a draped stage at the front. The rooms and corridors became very 1960s chic. There was a smaller meeting room decorated in traditional chinese style. There were also private living quarters with a bedroom, library, and a grand dining room. There was a movie theatre with projection room, and recreation lounges with a piano and game tables. Most interesting was the top floor viewing gallery from where you could look out over the strecting boulevard ahead. Raised when the cold war still existed we often saw tv images of leaders standing on such galleries waving and addressing crowds. It was unimaginable that one day I could be standing out on such a gallery looking down. Behind the viewing gallery was a helipad for any emergency escapes. The staircase then led all the way down to the basement as I thought the tour was over but there was more. The basement bunkers are the war operations centre. There were 1960s desks, chairs, telephones, radios, telephone exchanges, broadcast equipment, and maps on drawing boards. There were also living quarters again with a bed, and a shooting range for leaders to practice or let out their frustration. Towards the exit was the state car used by the leader. It all seemed rather odd that an ideology that preaches socialism and equality had such elaborate living and meeting rooms, while the population were expected to live the life of peasants in equality. Although this was certainly the highlight of my visit to HCMC and worth the $1.50 entrance. Annoyingly when I left a motorcycle taxi seeing me did a u-turn from the other side of the street and rolled up on the sidewalk beside me. I kept looking down and walking ignoring him. Did I ask you to do a u-turn and follow me as he kept driving alongside me on the sidewalk calling to me? Then I had to look at him and yell NO before he finally drove away. This unrelenting harassment since Bangkok was taking its toll and I just had to wait it out till my friday nite flight to hold myself back from snapping and losing it with one of them.