Vietnam – Day 3 – Saigon – People Watching, Bến Thành Market, and Home Cooked Phố
After a night of drinking you’d think we would sleep in, but jet lag is pretty disorienting. We grabbed some juice and a small snack at the hotel’s complimentary breakfast, then out the door to Bến Thành Market to check out some street food.
There are two Bến Thành locations. This lovely mural and the photo below looks more like a food court in an American mall than a street food market in Saigon.
So we didn’t eat there. We ate at the larger, dirtier looking Bến Thành Market.
Above Bánh Tằm Bì with coconut sauce. Below, Bánh Hỏi Thịt Nướng.
Here’s our chef!
The market is filled with vendors selling everything from knick knacks to produce. Here is a booth selling beans and dried fruit.
You can also get groceries from vendors traveling down the streets. Here’s the cart of a banana salesman.
They ride scooters everywhere including on the sidewalk. This guy came within 1 foot of us while we were walking down the sidewalk. It doesn’t take long to lose the fear of people whizzing past you.
We like alleys. You have to be selective and make sure you don’t find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, but mid day on a Sunday seemed like a safe time for exploring. And this shot above was the payoff.
It almost feels like there are more scooters than people.
Another street vendor selling fresh produce.
We were invited to dinner at Aunt Maika’s house. Ba Nam made homemade Pho for me, Cat, and several other guests. It was the best Pho I’ve ever had (not that I’m the expert among the guests tonight).
This is a fraction of the food that we were served. Each guest had their own bowl of Pho with an individual plate of noodles. Egg rolls, bone marrow from the broth, Vietnamese grilled pork, pate, a jerky style dried chicken, and fruit was also served throughout the night.
Pho with meatballs, rare steak, and brisket.
After dinner we met up again with our friend Zody for a tower of Tiger beer.
Another day in the books! At this rate I’ll have slept about 5 hours and gained 100 pounds by the time I leave Saigon. Until tomorrow!