After all of that walking, and being on my feet the remainder of the day at the museums, I was pretty tired. I arrived back at my room at about 5:00. I showered off and rested before heading out to the Ben Thanh market. You can buy just about anything in the interior portion of the market – or at least poor quality knock-offs of just about anything. I walked around a bit, but wasn’t really shopping. As night falls, the inside part of the market begins to close, and the action moves to the periphery and the food stalls. I wanted to shuffle around and try a few different dishes, so I did that. At my first stall, I was greeted in perfect English by two girls in their late teens. Both were Vietnamese. One lived in Saigon, the other had moved with her family to San Jose, California. They were helpful in recommending different foods and beverages. They were kind but a little hard on my for my manner of eating things and apparently poor pronunciation of Vietnamese phrases. The didn’t like my rendering of, “Khong cam on,” the Vietnamese phrase for “No, thank you,” that I was most proud of learning. They laughed at me a bit, but it was all in good fun. They also poked fun at me for eating rice with chopsticks. Everyone I had seen eating rice in Taiwan used sticks, so I had learned how to do it. They correctly pointed out that it’s much easier to eat with a spoon. “You look like such a foreigner,” my new friend from San Jose chortled. What possible response could I offer to such an utterly true statement? I just laughed with them. Since my supper was fairly late on the 8th, I wandered back to bed later than I usually do. I was nevertheless up early the next morning for my do it yourself bus tour. I had mapped out all of the more distant historic sites in Saigon to see using the city’s municipal bus system. Each bus ride cost only 5,000-6,000 dong ($.19-$.23 U.S.), and all of the attractions I visited on the 9th were free, so it was a very inexpensive day. I began by checking out the Jade Emperor Pagoda. This temple was constructed in the late 19th century by order of a Cantonese merchant. Like many temples in Southeast Asia, it has Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements to it. The journey there took me through other parts of downtown Saigon, and briefly along the river. The temple was next to a more modern Buddhist worship facility. It was fairly small, and did not take long to see. From there, I took another bus to a much older temple. Giac Lam was constructed in 1744, and has served as a Buddhist worship facility ever since. The temple grounds here are much larger than those at the Jade Emperor Pagoda. The site includes a substantial mausoleum for the cremated remains of worshipers. A seven level hexagonal pagoda was added in the twentieth century. I climbed it for enhanced views of the city. It was another nice stop. I next went to yet another old religious building. I took a pair of buses to the Cha Tam church, also known as St. Francis Xavier. The first ever Vietnamese – Chinese priest oversaw the construction of this building around the turn of the century. It is a pretty building, reflecting its French Catholic heritage. The church was also famous at a last refuge of Ngo Dihn Diem and his political advisor. Diem was the first president of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) after the country was partitioned in the wake of the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu. The Nguyen monarchy had been placed in charge, but Diem had been running the country anyhow before he wrested control from them and essentially installed himself as president. His authoritarian, nepotistic style bordered on dictatorship. He was a notoriously difficult person to deal with. As much as the U.S. government wanted to support a non-communist state in South Vietnam, even our own State Department did not believe they could support Diem long term. Eventually, a coup toppled his regime in 1963. He fled Independence Palace and hid near Cha Tam. Strong Catholics, Diem and his political advisors went to pray at Cha Tam before turning themselves over to the coup party. Their prayers weren’t answered. They were assassinated en route to turning themselves in. The bus from Cha Tam to the Ho Thi Ky Flower Market didn’t really save any time over walking, so I hoofed it over to look at the several streets completely occupied by flower shops. I found it surprising how many street vendors in Vietnam sold flowers. It was more impressive to find an entire neighborhood of flower peddlers. The shops appeared a bit smaller than those in the Kowloon Flower Market, but the number of shops seemed larger in Saigon. I did not buy any flowers, but enjoyed the pretty sites. There was an accompanying food market in Ho Thi Ky, but few of the food vendors opened before 5:00. I managed to find one who offered a limited menu for late lunch. I had a little soup before strolling back to my room at about 3:00. I was able to shower and rest a couple of hours before going back out for the evening. (Continued)