Into the backstreets...
Re-directing traffic to Escape Artist, a website that has just published a travel feature I wrote about why you need to lose yourself in the alleys of Ho Chi Minh City to discover Saigon.
DEAREST SUBSCRIBER, how’s it all going? I recently wrote a piece about the backstreets and alleyways of Ho Chi Minh City. It’s where many of us in this massive city feel more at home, and also where many entrepreneurs can afford to set up a small business, but to set the piece up, I began on a main street with a view of one of the city’s most instagrammed landmarks:
Everyday the scene outside Tân Định Church appears to be the same. As a torrent of motorbikes, cars, buses and trucks pours down Hai Ba Trung (a major thoroughfare named in honor of two sisters who masterminded a military victory against Chinese forces in 40 BC), clusters of sweaty western tourists enter the hallowed grounds, curious to see the quirky strawberries-and-cream-colored interior. On the other side of the road scores of Asian tourists—many donning conical hats, some wearing ao dai (Vietnam’s traditional silk dress)—pose for pictures with the place of worship in the background while local Gen Z TikTokkers and Instagrammers—often dressed for a night at the club, or an anime cosplay party, and who always know where to find the money shot—take turns snapping photos from the second floor balcony of a hugely popular coffee chain (Cong Caphe) that has cashed in on communist kitsch (staff dress in casual military clobber and serve drinks in camping cups). Also facing “the Pink Church” is a svelte looking eatery that serves Hawaiian dishes like loco moco and ahi poke and where, later on, a Filipino or flamenco band might be heard playing tunes from the rooftop.
Contemplating all of the above in the stultifying afternoon heat, one Vietnamese-American poet’s line about Ho Chi Minh City (often still called Saigon) being a “hodgepodge of incoherence” would seem fairly on the nose. But every so often a baffled visitor will wander away from the clamor outside Tân Định Church and slip into a nearby alleyway to find another kind of sanctuary, somewhere like Grandmum, a cafe with a small yard adorned with potted plants and a cosy living room vibe inside…
If you wish to read more, here’s a link to the article (it’s free to read though you might be prompted to give them an email address). My thanks to Thi at Grandmum, Tung at NEO and Steve & Francois at Vina Groove. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to work on a feature which involves getting to know more about the entrepreneurs who live here and make turning every corner of this city so much fun, because, well, you never really know what you might find, or who you might meet…
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