"Paris of the Orient"

Once known as the "Paris of the Orient," these scenes in the heart of Saigon show the Hotel Continental and the Rex Hotel, famous during French colonial days. They were built on the sweat and toil of the Vietnamese as a result of a very exploitive French rule from 1885 to 1955, during which the French exacted taxes on the people of Vietnam that never allowed a middle class to develop. Also see the Opera House and City Hall behind one of the ubiquitous depictions of Ho Chi Minh

I will be taking a train today to Qui Nhon in the Central Highlands to stay several days and try to get to the top of Vung Chua Mountain, where I was given an extended stay courtesy of the U.S. Army. Preventive inoculations were included