After a leisurely morning shopping in the local market near Katherine’s place, we headed for Cholon, the Chinese district in HCMC. We visited 6 pagodas. It was probably too many, but they are so close together we just kept walking to the next one. The atmosphere in the pagodas is always the same: the smell of incense, smoke from the incense and a vast array of vivid colours. One of the 5 was extremely active with booths set up for the 5 main “saints” and a steady stream of worshipers. There seemed to be no restriction for tourists, we just wandered around and took pictures. Every second pagoda we found a street vendor and sat down to read the guidebook with a beverage in hand.
I am going to add to Tim’s commentary on the market. It is a fascinating place in the alleyways very close to Katherine’s house. It opens around 6a.m. You can buy fruits, vegetables, meats, live fish, clothes, material, household items and more. Some of the vendors set up on tables, some spread their wares on a sheet on the ground. The sale of meat goes against all of our standards-pieces of pork, chicken etc. lying on a table in the heat. We have started to frequent one of Katherine’s favourite vendors – the gentleman who trims and slices the pomelos ready to eat for 5000 dong(about 35 cents) or 4000 dong for Kath when she brings her own Tupperware container.
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