Some 13,000 samples of soil, rocks, minerals, and fossils found in Vietnam and elsewhere are on display at Saigon's Museum of Geology. 

The museum, situated at 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, District 1, looks like an aging block of rock itself. Built in 1970, it displays only 3,000 of the 13,000 items it has dating back to millions of years ago.

Each floor of the three-storied building has a different theme: geology, minerals, paleontology, and gems.

In the ground floor, a geological map detailing the richness of Vietnam’s minerals is displayed. It was created in 1988.

Le Quoc Thanh, 50, a curator at the museum, said: "This map was drawn by scientists over many years after years of study. It has clear annotations and is important to those who work on geology."

Stone samples dating back tens of millions of years are displayed in glass cabinets.

Thanh said most of the specimens were collected by the French in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia).

A rock specimen found in Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands is 1.6 billion years old.

Gemstones like quartz, marble, ruby, sapphire, and topaz in many shapes and sizes.

There are fossils of animals and plants.

A giant seashell fossil was found on Phan Vinh Island in the Spratly Islands (Truong Sa) of Vietnam.

The museum has stone tools made by prehistoric people like axes and knives.

Crude oil, iron, copper, gold, zinc are also interesting to see. The crude oil samples (pictured) found in the southern sea in the 1980s have important implications for the country’s energy security.

The museum also displays many samples of soil, gems and minerals from other countries. The sample in this picture is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hoa, a museum visitor, said: "My favorites are the fossils and rock samples dating back tens of millions of years. The exhibitions are easy to understand and they help me gain more knowledge about geology."

The museum is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on all weekdays, and admission is free.