My appointment today was at 5 o'clock and I had the whole day to kill. Plenty of time to visit some places I've wanted to see but didn't get round to it last time. It's hard to write about tourist cliches and the Reunification palace is one of them. Everyone has seen the footage of the tanks smashing down the gates, and that's where I went. The building itself is a monument to crassness and bad architecture on a massive scale. Why have 10 foot ceilings when you can have 30 foot high ones? As you can see by the pictures people are dwarfed by the massive scale. The old palace was bombed by dissafected airmen from the South Vietnamese air force and what a pity they demolished the old building and immediately built this one. Presidents Diem, Thieu and later Cao Ky lived here. Remember Cao Ky? He came to Australia and PM Holt fawned over that little slick cowboy. He got his just desserts, went to live in the US with all the purloined loot from the Treasury.
 And who wouldn't want elephant feet for a memento from some African country?
The picture gallery in one room contained the iconic picture of the buddhist priest from Hue burning himself to death in protest at Diem"s treatment of the buddhist congregation who as befits Buddhists were not entirely happy with all the killing going on . Diem then started killing Buddhists some of which he threw from the top of one of their temples. How to win hearts and minds huh? The burning Buddhist is pictured with a car behind him, the very car Marley and Sally saw when we did a tour of Hue which is where the priest came from and which is a very strong Buddhist centre. I was looking at the picture and remarked to the guy beside me (I am such a didactic fool) "that car is on display in Hue even now". He said " I used to own one of them" in an English accent, "I think its a Morris Oxford". 
In all the pictures on the walls, and there were hundreds I couldn't find one of Cy and Holt.
Lots of stairs to climb in the Palace so I went and sat outside in the beautiful park and decided I'd better go to a supermarket and get some supplies. Fruitless hailing of taxis and then a Xe Om guy, the motorcycle taxis, approached me and I hopped on , $2 to supermarket, OK off we go through the maelstrom. Not a bad way to travel I thought despite the swirling chaos around me. Big supermarket, 157000 dong ($8) for shaving cream, deodorant and toothpaste . Back on the Xe Om and he wants to take me to a Pagoda and I could see which way this was going and should have listened to my inner voice which was saying don't trust this guy. We go to the Pagoda and I almost blind myself with the smoke from the incense a bloke sold me inside the gate. I plant the incense at a statue and watch the Buddhists supplicate then into the temple and find that the upper floors are blocked off. I was glad as I couldnt face more stairs.
Now the driver wants to take me to Saigon River, "Big river" he says. I tell him just go to hotel, so after more impassioned pleading to go to "big river" I win out with a weak excuse I have to be at the dentists at 1. "I will wait for you and take you" he says. derr I dint think that one out very well. Anyway I fobbed him off and he takes me back to the hotel. Well not right back to it, he pulls up about 100 meters short for some reason. I get off, "that'll be 500,000 ($25) dong thanks! And you know what? In my weak, hot and tired state I paid him without a murmur. 
Back to hotel and wait for appointment time with dentist . I talk with Thanh and find out the dentist is not near the railway station as I thought but smack dab in town near the Saigon Post Office. She also tells me the Tower was built by the French. Speaking of which I actually heard someone say  "Mon Dieu!" as I was sitting in the alley being unofficial greeter for Nguyen Khang hotel.
Dinner at 5 Oyster bar, Pho Ga and spring rolls and 2 bababa as usual($6). Gee I love this place. Walking back to the hotel I saw an incredible mix of Viets eating outside and talking non stop and westerners eating and drinking at bars along the way. Lanterns from Tet still ablaze in the streets and a plethora of neon.
While being unofficial greeter some Oz guys came up and started talking. The man had been here 23 times before and reccomended the 5 bar on Pasteur if I wanted to drink heaps for $5 and get pissed. His parting words, tongue in cheek I guess, were, "the girls behind the bar are real ugly".