A culinary trail through the busy streets of Ho Chi Minh City uncovers many layers of Vietnam’s bustling city.
Crossing the road in a Vietnamese city is almost a religious experience. Stepping off the sidewalk and into an unstoppable river of motorbikes is daunting even if you are used to peak- hour traffic anywhere in India. Perhaps life would be easier if I was part of the flow, I thought. I was wrong. On my last evening in Ho Chi Minh City, which I had visited in November last year, I signed up for a food tour that involved riding pillion on a bike. And, within two minutes, I started to regret it.
Ho Chi Minh City—or Saigon, as the locals prefer to call it—has over 7 million bikes for a population of 8 million people. Nothing can prepare you for the chaotic energy of Saigon at rush hour. Bikes zoom along wide boulevards, through narrow alleys and past vendors hawking a variety of goods, including rice, chicken, lanterns and giant springs.
Before we left, my guide and driver for the night, Tien Huynh of XO Tours, made me stow away my bag, camera and phone in the trunk of the scooter. “There’s a lot of bag snatching and pickpockets. It’s much safer to put everything away,” she explained. But it was her next piece of advice—“If you get scared, hold me tight”—that rang in my ears often in the next few hours. As the 5-feet-nothing swerved nonchalantly through bikes and cars on her perky red moped, I clung on to her for dear life and prayed to all gods, old and new.
This story is from the September-October 2016 edition of Forbes Life India.
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This story is from the September-October 2016 edition of Forbes Life India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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