Night market at Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh is bustling with roadstalls and vendors peddling their goods at night. Selling a variety of goods from clothes, bags, shoes to art pieces, decorative items, there is something suitable for everyone.

This is the side street with temporary set up stalls located just beside Ben Thanh Market. As Ben Thanh market is closed at night, many of the vendors move outside to sell their goods. 

Many of the push cart trolleys sell this glutinous rice snack. Each colour represents a different flavour, such as sweet potato, pumpkin, pandan...

Fruit peddlers at the night market... no stall, no license needed. All you need is a plastic chair and some space. 

A variety of exotic fruits can be found in Ho Chi Minh such as jackfruit, mangosteen, custard apple, and huge mangoes!

Fresh flower sculptures are sold at this shop. 

Fresh rose bouquets are sold. 

Beautiful bouquet of pink roses. I wonder how much it cost? shouldn't cost too much, as I remember buying a stalk of rose at Ben Thanh market for only SGD0.30. 

Shops selling Vietnamese coffee powder can be found almost everywhere. Besides coffee powders, they also carry coffee filters which is essential for a cup of traditional Vietnamese coffee. I still think it is quite tedious to make a cup of coffee this way. By the time the coffee finish dripping from the filter, the coffee is cold already. Nespresso still wins hands down for me. 

It's hard to guess what this stall is selling, until you study closer at the ingredients. It actually sells baguette sandwiches.. if you notice the baguette on the second level, and the variety of hams below. Baguette sandwiches are also a common food of the locals, due to the influence of French during it's colonial period.

We were attracted by the smell of grilled cuttlefish from far away. 

They still use the traditional way of grilling cuttlefish above charcoal. 

We bought one for sharing. It costs around SGD3 per piece. Is it considered cheap? maybe it costs cheaper for locals...

The finished product. Don't be fooled by it's mild orange colour, it is actually quite spicy! 

This couple is selling Vietnamese rice paper rolls (something like popiah). The husband fills the rice paper rolls with the fillings while the wife grills it on top of a simple charcoal pot. It is then wrapped up and eaten like a popiah. 
If you realise, they are selling it at the pedestrian streets, with just a simple charcoal pot and 2 stools. No stall front, no license, no hygiene standards. But I guess it must taste good, as many locals were buying from them. 

Painting shops are also very popular in Vietnam. Many foreigners do come here to buy a painting or two back to their home country. 

Besides the traditional vietnamese style paintings, modern or "imitation" art paintings are also sold in the shops. 

These are actually 3D pop up cards, and they cost a hefty SGD2-3 a card. 

Although the cards are not cheap, I give credit to the people who carve out the 3D works. They are really intricate and super complicated!

Vietnam is still packed with motorcycles. Almost every person owns a motorcycle there. It's hard to cross the roads there, as there are usually no traffic lights and many vehicles. As our guide put it: "your hotel is about 8 mins walk away. 3 min for walking, 5 min to cross the road". What an adapt way to describe how hard it is to cross the roads of Vietnam. 

The Saigon Opera House looks stunning at night. The play had just ended, as there were many people coming out from the Opera House. 

Feeling hungry after a long walk back to the hotel, I bought an instant pho from the convenience stall opposite our hotel. This one is under the Pho24 brand, which is one of Vietnam's largest Vietnamese pho chain. Also not cheap, costing me around SGD1.50 a cup. The soup and the pho was quite good. And I actually couldn't find it selling at a few of the supermarkets I went to.. hmm only convenience stalls carries it? 


Ben Thanh Night Market
Phan Chu Trinh and Phan Boi Chau street 
Open from 1830hrs - 12 midnight