Ho Chi Minh city is filled with street markets filled with everything from fruit to live fish, from meat and dried squid to beautiful fabric. The food markets in Vietnam have some of the freshest and tastiest tropical fruit that I have ever tasted.
Smelly, chaotic, people grabbing at you and people shouting in a language you don’t understand…..sounds horrendous, but it’s actually an amazing experience. After all, you don’t have to buy anything at the markets, just go there for the experience. The smell of Durian fruit (which is banned in some places due to it’s pungeant aroma) permeates the air of some parts of the market but there are so many other strong smells that compete with each other.
Depending on what fruit is in season you can usually get a whole kilogram of litchis or tasty mangostenes for as little as $2. The stalls usually appreciate repeat business and you will find that the fruit and food get cheaper after a while as they get to know you and start giving you local prices in stead of “tourist” prices.
The one thing that amazed me about the small markets was that some of the stalls only sell one kind of fruit and lots of it. I hope they change what they sell according to what is in season.
The markets are filled with fish stalls where you know your fish is super fresh as they are mostly still alive! They don’t just have fish but also clams and even water snails if that is what you are in the mood for.
This market really has a bit of everything for everyone here, as long as you are prepared to be hassled to buy or if you do find something of interest, prepared to haggle to a good price. Everything is over-priced, every stall holder wanting you to come and buy from them, but you get used to it over here and eventually it just goes in one ear and out the other as far as their sales pitch is concerned. Shop around the stalls, you will generally find another stall with the same items at a cheaper price if you are willing to haggle to it.
The sellers are friendly and will follow you a few meters if you ask questions about something then walk away (like any market) but this is also a good way to bargain! they sometimes may touch your arm but it’s in no way unfriendly although for someone who is claustrophobic like me it definitely put me off from buying an item more than once..
Personally I wouldn’t buy meat that hung out here in the market all day long. You don’t see any flies on it right now but I am sure the meat hanging un covered or cooled in the heat is not good for it.
The most shocking thing that I found at one of the small local markets in Ho Chi Ming in my first week was a fermented bear cub between jars of fermented snakes. Yes it was a real bear cub fermented in wine that men then drink for “strength”. Just like the famous snake wine of Vietnam, in which you have a real snake and sometimes even a scorpion, I would not taste this wine even if you paid me.
Janaline's world journey 
So bright and colourful!
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And there are the most interesting things at these local markets….
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Reblogged this on Just Go Places.
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Thanks for the re-blog!!
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OMG – a bear cub! the snakes I can handle as they freak me out. but that poor bear cub just looks like he is sleeping.
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The snakes are quite creepy I agree! The little bear cub was a shocking find and I had to get out of there after I discovered him.
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Very colorful indeed!
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Colourful, noisy and a bit smelly but overall an amazing place to explore.
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OMG… You are now in Vietnam. Fabulous post!
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Opps, should have put a date with my post…I lived in Vietnam a couple of years ago but have only now gone through all my photos and decided to blog about the fabulous adventures I had there. I am currently in South Africa- living and working here in Cape Town as a Travel agent now.
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Whatever! you sure get around, and I love all of your pics, whenever they are taken!
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I was thinking how wonderful and vibrant all of it is, until I came to the bear cub!!! I am aghast that these practices are still legal!!
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I know Madhu, that was a big shock to me…I dint know things like this happened!
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How vibrant 🙂
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The smells and colours of the market is definitely overwhelming!
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I’m glad you enjoy our markets ^^ It’s summer time and Vietnam markets are full of tropical fruits ^^
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How lovely!! I used to love buying bags full of mangostenes or litchis in the afternoons on my way home!
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This post reminded me of the public markets in the Philippins except that the ones in Vietnam look cleaner and neater.
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At first these Vietnamese markets looked quite dirty to me but after a while I got used to them and saw the beauty in the colours and people of the markets.
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Except for the fermented snakes and other reptiles (we don’t have those, am glad), this looks very much the wet markets I grew up in. The melons are pomelos, they look like grapefruits but bigger and sweeter. The best time to buy meat is very early in the morning right after it just arrived from the butcher and seafood for that matter.
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I definitely agree with that, I would not buy any meat in the afternoon after it has been there in the hot sun for hours! They actually sold a lot of live fish in the market so that was quite safe any time of the day.
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Thank you for this post it was like being there.
The colour, the fruit and the people I so enjoyed.
I love the barter system but I remember I am richer than them.
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Thank you! Vietnam definitely taught me how to barter!
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oh the sights and smells come back just seeing that … as does the humid heat!
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Oh yes…I do tend to forget how humid the summers were. The days were so hot and humid that I tried to avoid the markets midday in the summer.
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Thats soo colorful…!!!
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These markets are overwhelming to all senses with its colours and smells and strange products.
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brilliant, colourful set of photos! Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you!! I spent hours in these markets, they were such interesting places!
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Very nice !!
Loves the variety types of fruits.
Did you have chance to taste all of it ?
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I tasted a lot of them but couldn’t get myself to actually taste the stinky Durian fruit that Vietnam is quite famous for.
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I had durian flavoured ice cream when I was there a few months ago, it was far better than the fruit raw, I had however to steer clean from a cafe in hanoi where some ladies were having coffee and durian alongside it . Despite being outside it still stunk!
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Truly colorful! Lots of photos you must be touring the market all day.
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Thank you!! I did spend a lot of time in the markets, they were such wonderful places to explore!
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nice…bright, colorful and chaotic
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Vietnam is definitely all three those words combined!
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