There are few cities in the world that make a spectacular first impression - Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam is definitely one of them. I think it has something to do with the location of the airport - being bang in the middle of the city.
When you emerge from the Tan Son Nhat airport, you are immediately engulfed by the buzz of the city life, it’s exhilarating. The exhaustion of waiting in immigration swiftly vanished as I stared out of my cab window at the city’s eclectic vibe.
Ho Chi Minh city
The city was filled with bakeries here and there, the pavements were wide and the warm light of the night filled these extremely wide roads. If not for the hundreds of busy two wheelers that filled the streets, I would’ve never known that I was in Asia.
Ho Chi Minh city, earlier known as Saigon or “Paris of the East” used to be a French colony for about a century. When the French took over Vietnam is 1862, they built the city in French Architecture, which is quite evident from the city’s infrastructure even today.
In 1954, Ho Chi Minh city marched into freedom led by its communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The influence of the colonisation simply cannot be missed since the city still retains most of the beautiful buildings built in those times.
There are also a few ugly glass facade buildings that seem out of place at first but then what city today can truly do away with that. Although it is a strongly communist country and you will see traces of this everywhere, apart from taxi drivers providing very diligent receipts, I didn't feel the effects of a strong national political opinion.
I was in the city for a few days in 2015 on a business trip. When you have a limited amount of time to explore a city, which is typically the case when on a business trip, I feel like I relish every moment of it a lot more.
But I don’t know if it’s the time constraints or that I enjoy travelling solo versus with others. To be fair, I haven’t done any solo holidays to be sure. This one time I went to Bangkok with the family fared very differently from the times I’d been there on work.
Anyway, back to Saigon - it is divided into 20-25 districts (which keep splitting and consolidating every now and then). I stayed in District 1, the central business district at Hotel Majestic Saigon, Bến Nghé. It’s a 100 year hotel in a fantastic location.
Business, Food, Coffee, etc.
I loved the rooftop breakfasts every morning, with the beautiful view of the Bến Nghé River. Although my favourite bit was sipping delicious iced vietnamese coffees post breakfast. I even lugged back coffee power and a coffee filter from the Bến Thành Market, but I wasn’t able to recreate the taste of cà phê sữa đá.
I am not into coffees the same way that men in their 30s and 40s, coping with their mid-life crisis are, but I can appreciate a tasty coffee, even if it’s robusta.
My favourite part of this trip, again as with most business trips, was being “taken care of” by the hosting colleagues. Asians in general, are great at hosting - my colleagues took me to so many local restaurants and did all the ordering themselves.
They once took me to this office go-ers canteen (can’t remember the name) and ordered so many dishes for the table, I couldn’t tell what I was eating but everything was so delicious. The depth of flavour that comes from their soulful broths and the fresh herbs is unlike anything else.
Speaking of broths, I had to have the Pho, and I am so glad I made my acquaintance with it in a humble street side eatery (Hue Beef Noodle Soup 24H). This is one of those places that may never feature on a tourist trail, but it’s exactly the type of place you’d eat at as an office-goer.
Something about street food that makes everything more authentic. I’ve never eaten at one of these lunch hour carts in Bangalore - but the type of food I’ve seen people eat there is “home food” or what makes for a regular mid-meal consumed by most locals.
Another dish that’s quintessentially Vietnamese, and has made its way around the world is the Banh Mi. With it’s French exterior and Asian interior, it accurately captured the vibe of Ho Chi Minh city for me. But I am not a big fan of breads, so I was happy to just watch my European colleagues enjoy them with much pomp.
One afternoon, I even enjoyed a local homemade affair - but of an expat living in Vietnam. I was invited to a colleague’s barbecue in District 2. This is one of the more affluent upscale neighbourhoods where most expats in the city live.
It’s one of the funnest parties I’ve been to - a great mix of locals and expats from many different countries - all of them sharing their experiences living in Ho Chi Minh.
Just like you’d expect in most cities, the fancier restaurants I went to lacked the authenticity of some of the more humble culinary institutions on the street, but they made up for it with their proud tropical ambience.
Every time I write about my travels, I am usually salivating throughout the post and longing to be transported back to these cities, especially in South East Asia.
They have the tastiest food - hands down. It’s so hard to find authentic food from the region here in Bangalore. We seem to have done a good job butchering it under the name of an all-encompassing “pan-asian” cuisine.
The food in every country of this region is unique in flavour, and the only way to truly appreciate the nuance is at a good mono-cuisine traditional restaurant where the flavour has nowhere to hide.
But this is not different from trying to find vaguely familiar tasting Indian food in foreign countries. One evening, I met a friend and his wife for dinner at Ganesh, an Indian restaurant, run by Nepalese.
Interestingly, the menu was a combination of both North and South Indian food. There was “masala dose”, and I was almost tempted to try it given they way they’d spelt it, but I didn’t.
Apart from my first trip to Europe, and the time when I was pregnant with my daughter, I’ve never really enjoyed eating at Indian restaurants outside India.
First of all, it tastes nothing like anything you’d eat at home (especially as a Kannadiga), or any restaurant in India for that matter. Secondly, I don’t think packing food with a load of spices, uncooked that too, makes food Indian.
But then again, one must remember that this food is probably made for the local palate by immigrants, from the Indian sub-continent, but not necessarily from India. Even if they were from India, they’re usually second generation or later, who’ve invented their own version of India based on when their folks left India and how they chose to pass on culture.
This was pretty much the end of the business part of the trip and encounters with familiar characters. I had one weekend to myself, and that was definitely adventurous.
Weekend Adventures
I started off with a visit to the Bến Thành Market. It’s an iconic century-old building which is full of locals and tourists. It’s been renovated several times, while still retaining its initial French Architecture.
In general, I really enjoy visiting local markets - I feel like the soul of a city is usually trapped in these places. It’s a mix of a wet and dry market where you can buy just about anything and everything from spices to trinkets. I visited this market during the day, but I hear that the night market is very fun with lots of food stalls.
I also visited the old Saigon railway station, again built during the French colonial times. It has the most beautiful flooring (not sure you can see it in this picture taken with my ancient iPhone 4). The building was so beautiful from inside out that I just plonked myself at a bar close by and sat there admiring the building for a while.
On the Sunday, I ended up sleeping through breakfast, so I stepped out for an early lunch. It started raining cats and dogs. Given that I was in the city during the “wet season”, it wasn’t unexpected.
So, I quickly ran into a tiny street side eatery and settled down to gorge on a piping hot Pho Ga. As I quietly savoured my pho, a guy sitting at the next table waved at me, I awkwardly half-smiled back.
He asked if I spoke English. His accent was American but his face was Asian. Without wasting much time at all, he asked if I’d like to go dancing with him. Awkwardness having escalated, I sheepishly thanked him but declined his offer.
I am not going to lie, I felt flattered. I didn’t think East Asians found Indians exotic. Just then, he announced he was 21, American and visiting his grandparents in Vietnam (well, it’s hard to guess the age of East Asians I guess?). By this point, the rain had stopped. So, I picked up my things and left.
Since it was clear outside, I walked upto the Saigon Opera House to see if I could catch the highly recommended AO show. This show is a combination of a musical and a circus - like a Vietnamese version of the Cirque du soleil if you will?
It depicts the contrast and transition between the peaceful village life and the modern fast-paced city life of Southern Vietnamese cities.
It’s a very touristy thing, I imagine? When you look at the Opera House filled with foreigners and the hefty ticket prices, you start wondering if this has anything to do with the “real” Saigon.
But the show was simply mesmerising. As each act led to another, my brain had completely surrendered to the performance with absolutely no room for distractions. The movements were swift, the stage was small enough to be able to capture the sights in a single glimpse and so I didn’t have a choice to be hijacked by the performance on stage.
Towards the second half, the transitions from one act to another slowed down a little bit and that’s when I became conscious of having lost control of my attention to the show. The performers moved about as crabs, flamingos and little bug like creatures under woven baskets (as props), to the sounds of the sea sprinkled with oriental music.
The part of the show that seemed a bit disappointing yet interesting was this one act that depicts modern day urban life in Ho Chi Minh city, which seems out of place at first, but then you realise that’s how people who lived through the transition experienced modernisation of their lives.
When I sent a picture of the Opera House to some friends, they insisted I send them pictures of Vietnam instead of Europe. This is what I loved about Ho Chi Minh - the very natural blend of west with east.
I think Bangalore from the 90s had a similar vibe, especially if you hung out around MG road or cantonment, that natural blend of local “Bangaloreness” with a fading Victorian vibe.
That’s the thing with colonisation no? Although it is a traumatic experience for those who live through it, the generations that are born in its aftermath see the remnants of colonisation as a feature rather than a bug, especially in fast growing cities where its own sense of identity is constantly evolving.
Wonderful post as ever! You are lucky to have visited so many interesting places and experienced their fantastic cuisines. As someone who thinks nothing can beat Indian cuisine this is an eye opener :)
Apropos to Vietnam there is a wonderful novel written by a Vietnamese-American writer called Viet Thanh Nguyen called "The Sympathizer" and its sequel which give a glimpse into their history and culture.
Hey, thanks Prem. And I've heard of the book you mention, it's on my "want to read" list now. Another book from Vietnam that's been sitting on my list for ages is "The Mountains sing" which is a multi-generational tale giving you a glimpse of their history too.