Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Ben Thanh Market

Sunday we walked down the road from the Rex and paid a quicker-than-we-planned visit to Ben Thanh Market.  Picture a typical flea market-type atmosphere (enclosed space, lots of vendors crammed into too little of a space, moderately icky heat) and then throw in the smell of fish and a whole lot of people not speaking english, and you'll have a pretty good picture of the trip. 

 

008

A friendly reminder of my employer. 

 

010

013

At some point I realized that not all of the vendors were open to bartering.  Above some of the vendors were signs that said, among other things, "Fixed Price."  I guess that's why the women was so offended when I tried to get a better price on a little turtle-compass thingy. 

 

016

019

036

Around the perimeter of the market was the non-food type items and, what we saw of it, the middle was more produce and the like.

 

037

038 

039

040

Apparently LISA brand mayonnaise is all the rage.

 

041

042

043

044

046

The way the packaging looks of so many items in Vietnam (and in Asia in general) so much stuff looks like candy to me.

 

047

048

049

050

A good shot of dragon fruit (the one in the back row in the center).  Weird, crazy-looking fruit, but very very good.

 

051

In the middle of the produce area are little food stands with tiny tables and tiny chairs (they look like kids-sized tables and chairs, a bit) where people quickly grab a bite.

 

055

We bought a yummy baguette here.  The french tradition definitely lives on in the breads and pastries.

 

059

Imagine setting your wares up right on the side of the street.

 

060

The bananas here are smaller and, I think, a little better than the ones we get in the states.  They're a little bit more starchy, kind of like a plantain, but still sweet and tasty.

 

065

A statue of someone famous in the middle of one the roundabouts-of-doom.

 

070

The Happy New Year banners and decorations stay up for about 15 days after Tet.

 

072

More cool architecture.  This building defies the norm of Saigon, neither neo-classical nor boring Communist pragmatic Modern....oh, sorry.  This building shur iz purty.

 

074

Hats for sale.  If I hadn't known that none of them would fit my mondo noggin, I would have bought a couple.

 

075

People really DO wear the conical hats here.  It seems like just one of those cliche type of things, but they really do wear them.

 

078

Shirts.  Again, I think I need to buy a 3XL here for it to ALMOST fit (I wear XL in the states).  

 

085

086

3 comments:

Baby N's Mom said...

Norah is SO cute! She does have a great smile. Thanks for posting so many pix. It's great to see everything. The produce looks amazing. Where did you get that blow up tub? What a great idea for travel. Again, thanks for posting so much.

Melissa said...

THANK YOU for posting so much information and so many fantastic pictures! We are a waiting CHI family... love following your trip.

Congratulations on your precious little one. Have a great trip!

Melissa
vietmama.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I loved the market, but the smell was overwhelming. We went back b/c I wanted lots of stuff! The prices are fixed by the gov't on the outer perimeter, which is why you can't barter.

I hope things are still going well for you!!!