Reality check

A trip to Vietnam is an opportunity to reflect on what we think we know.

- MARC WILSON

The cocktail bar is a mashup of dark wood and brass steampunk décor, with a uniting narrative that relies on the globetrotting adventures of the wizard Merlin.

I'm not going to scratch too hard to see what's below the surface because the drinks are pretty amazing. As was the pho pizza.

This is Ho Chi Minh City, and mashups are a defining part of the experience. As I eat my breakfast I can look out over the Ben Thanh Market and the massive traffic intersection it borders. Hundreds of scooters flow like blood cells around pedestrians and each other, in a semi-chaotic stream that, in defiance of reality, doesn't seem to cause accidents. A couple in wedding garb are having their photos taken on a large traffic island, a few metres from not one but three hip-hop troupes performing routines for their camera crews. And above it all, electronic billboards with their shifting messages in Western-alphabet Vietnamese.

Travelling provides lessons in perspective, and these different perspectives have their roots in history.