Intramuros (Old Manila)

Yesterday, Desiree and I, after a walk around the block near our tower, caught a Grab ride to Old Manila.  While in the old city, we took a pedicab tour of Fort Santiago and some of the oldest buildings in the surrounding area.

John, our pedicab operator, assured us Americans are the best and Russians are mean.

“A Russian tried to choke my friend,” John told us.

“Why did he try to choke your friend?” I asked.  Choking a pedicab dude seemed fairly implausible to me.

“He thought my friend charged him too much.”

To be fair, Desiree and I wanted to choke John at the end of our three-hour tour.  But Desiree is perpetually sweet and I am a “best” American.

Anyhow, John gave us a pretty fun tour.  He knew a great deal about local history, especially history of the fort and most of the older buildings.

Sadly World War II took a heavy toll on everything, but what remains and what has been rebuilt is impressive.

Posted are a few pictures from yesterday.

Global City

Old Chinatown

Riding in John’s Pedicab

Desiree

—Mitchell Hegman