Day 13 - Cholon

17th March 2011
It’s my last day in Vietnam! My flight leaves in the evening so I can’t venture out too far today. For my last night, I stayed at the iPeace hotel which was actually the best one I had for the entire trip. It was located at the heart of the Backpacker's area so it was very convenient with a double and a single bed, plasma TV, air-con, free Wi-Fi and nice clean bathroom all for $27. So glad I found this hotel thanks to a recommendation from three Argentines women I met the previous day.

I started the morning with a cup of Vietnamese coffee from around the corner. I’m not a regular coffee drinker but in Vietnam I frequent the coffee shops since they can be found in almost every corner. I’ve tried many versions from Vietnamese iced coffee, very sweet and loaded with condensed milk to strong black with intense flavours and you can also have it hot or cold. The Vietnamese love their coffee. They are actually second only to Brazil in coffee exports.

Feeling more energised with my caffeine fix, it was time for me to venture out to Cholon, which is one of the world’s biggest Chinatowns. This area before and during the war was home to thousands of Chinese immigrants. Through the Chinese fled in massive numbers following the communist victory in 1975 (including my parents). In the old days Cholon meant opium dens, prostitutes, and gambling but of course it’s all gone now. But it is still an exciting place to spend a few hours.

The area is located about 5km away from the city centre so I had to take the motorbike taxi to get there. Riding motorbikes in Vietnam was definitely one of the most insane and fun things I’ve done during the trip. There are no rules - traffic just coming from every direction. But by now I was beginning to grow fond of this system of organised chaos. I can see some advantages like not having to wait for traffic lights and no speed limit. They are just so relaxed about the rules. And it is not just traffic I am talking about but everything. It is only when I was overseas that I realise that sometimes we have too many laws in Australia, it’s like a nanny state. Anyway, I digress…

So after about 15 minutes ride, I started seeing various Chinese signs, herbal medicine shops, Chinese pagodas, lanterns, BBQ ducks and Chinese lion masks. I knew I have arrived in Chinatown. The traffic here was just as frenetic (or even more), the shops more jumbled and the buildings more ramshackle. It is one of the busier and poorer areas of the city. It was also less touristy.

Many things can be found in Cholon and each street seems to specialise in its own unique type of merchandise. It kind of reminds me of Hanoi’s Old Quarter. One street will have shoes and hat stands thrusting out into the oncoming traffic. The next a bunch of traditional Chinese medicines stores and then around the corner, shops specialising in festivals gear such as firecrackers, lanterns, drums and lion dancing costumes. As I walked down the noisy, bustling streets I could smell the food being cooked outdoors and on occasion I might hear locals speaking Cantonese. I also went pass a small park in the middle of the town which had pretty cool dragon statue/ water feature.

I soon arrived at the Binh Tay Market. It is a local market in an old clock tower building selling all sorts of stuff. The market itself was chaos on the outside. Very typical of Vietnam. Street vendors, mad moped drivers, people moving cumbersome sacks of rice, people selling fruits and all kinds of activity surrounded the place. Inside was like a labyrinth of market stalls. You could find everything here such as tourist rubbish, candy and other snacks, and many knock off designer clothing stores. There is also food market selling vegetables, meat and fish.

After a bit of shopping, I decided to visit some temples and pagodas. Cholon has Vietnam’s biggest concentration of Chinese temples. They are usually bright and colourful façade and exquisitely detailed ceramic-tiled roof. Most of them also are lavishly decorated in red and gold, spiral incense burners. It’s not so easy to find the various temples and pagodas in the small alleys of Chinatown Saigon. I got lost a few times.

Quan Am Pagoda is the oldest and most popular shrine in Cholon. It is artistically very rich, including gold and lacquer panels of some of its guardian spirits. The space in front of the altar is dominated by pillars decorated with relief carvings of yellow dragons. Off to one side stands a large cast bronze bell. Lanterns and wooden models of Chinese theatres hang over the entrance. 

The next temple on my list is Thien Hau Pagoda. The temple is located right on the busy main street. It can be accessed by entering through an iron gate and crossing a small courtyard. The roof is decorated with small delicately porcelain figurines expressing themes from Chinese religion and legends. There are also high red wooden pillars with spiral incense hanging from the roof.  These incense coils burns for days. They give a strong scent and can get overwhelming at times.

I also visited a few more temples but I couldn’t recall their names. But they were also beautiful and very well ornamented.

It was very hot and dusty by this point and I decided to track down a taxi to take me back to my hotel. I then had a short rest, took a shower and soon I had to check out. The rest of the day was spent trying to get rid of my Vietnamese Dongs. Tip: spend it all as you can’t exchange it back when you get home. Walking down the main streets for the last time I went to souvenir shops, propaganda poster shops, markets, bought some pirated DVD shops, some cheap clothes and various trinkets that I don’t really need. I still had some VND left so I spent my remaining tens of thousands on a massage for a few hours. It was very nice!

I then went and got early dinner and  bought bánh mì for the flight home. It is French baguettes filled with grilled meats or liver or pork pâté, plus fresh herbs and vegetables and other snacks. While walking down one of main streets in the backpacker’s area, I bumped into Maria from Brandsexclusive (my old workplace). We were both shocked to see each other because it was so unexpected. I didn't even know she would be in the country. This weirdness continued at the airport, when I also bumped into the guys who I shared the same cabin train on the overnight sleeper train to Sapa. I waited for another 3 hours in the airport before boarding the plane back to the Australia. Flying back was the worst part of the entire trip because I knew my trip would soon be over.