Pounding the Streets

After looping North and East to the Pagoda and the River, I doubled back towards the Palace of Reunification. This was the site of the original Presidential Palace.

In 1962 the South Vietnamese Air Force bombed the palace in an attempt to assassinate then-president Diem. Diem ordered the palace rebuilt, which it was, but not before another coup proved fatal for Diem and his brother. At the onset of the ultimate coup, the two brothers used secret tunnels to escape the palace and took refuge in Cha Tam church. They were captured at church and while being transported to military headquarters by armored vehicle, the two were murdered.

I stopped short of the palace to enjoy the shade of a park, rest my dogs and smoke a cigar. I was entertained by a dozen guitarists having a group lesson and by an earnest young student who wished to hone his english language skills.