10-31 (Tuesday) dumped

After breakfast we headed out to Chinatown. Joyce wanted to do one thing and I wanted to tour the ancient Quoc Tu Pagoda plus see some of the other sights so we split up. I hired a cyclo to peddle me around to the various places. The driver and I agreed on 35000 for an hour. About half way through the trip he started telling me that he had four children and how poor he was. We were on our way back to where he picked me up and where Joyce was waiting when he started telling me I was going to owe him more money. I told him we had agreed on the price. He kept saying it wasn’t enough. I said “Fine, pull over right here and I’ll get out because I’m not giving you any more money.” He didn’t like it but he kept peddling. He started telling me again that I owed him more money. I said, “Stop.” And he did! I got out and handed him the 35000. He wouldn’t take it. I walked off. In a minute here he comes holding out his hand. I gave him the money. I started following him because I was sure he was going back to the market where he had picked me up. Of course in wasn’t any time before I lost sight of him. I had NO idea where I was. I stopped and asked some woman how long it would take me to walk to the market. She said 30 minutes. I was supposed to meet Joyce in about5 minutes so I hired a motorcycle to take me back. There was that Cyclo driver! Joyce was waiting for me. She said he came up to her and it sounded like he was saying something about medicine. She didn’t know he was my driver but she wondered if I had been in an accident. Several of his fellow drivers came up and asked me how much I gave him. I told them about the agreement and what he had done to me. They said, “He’s a very bad man.” I was furious at the time but later I thought it was really funny.

When we got back to District One (the main part of town) we went on a tour of the Presidential Palace. This is the one that the tanks ran through the gates when Saigon fell. Both tanks are on display on the grounds. The tour was so interesting. We saw where the President entertained, had cabinet meetings, the war rooms with all the original maps, the private quarters, the helicopter pad on the roof and the location where the pilot “spy” dropped two bombs on the palace. One of the most interesting parts was seeing the bunker way underground. We got to go all through it. The equipment (phones, teletype machines etc) all looked like it was from WW I instead of the 60’s. The kitchen was also very interesting with all the original equipment. The woks were HUGE.

That night we went to the historical Caravelle Hotel (9th floor) to the Saigon Bar Rooftop Café where all the foreign war correspondents used to hang out and drink. The view looking down on the city was breathtaking.