Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 4-6 June 2006: Street Life Ben Thanh Market And Surrounds

I come back to Vietnam again for a short visit. On a Sunday evening, the streets and parks of District 1 in HCMC are filled with families out for a stroll. A boisterous crowd gathers at Pham Ngu Lao, where bottles of Coca Cola are given out free. A questionable practice, perhaps. Waiting eagerly in anticipation of their coveted prize, this pair of young friends is blissfully unencumbered by ethical deliberations.

Saigon's streetfood is justifiably famous. Banh Xeo is a crispy egg-flour pancake with prawn, streaky pork and beansprout filling, eaten wrapped in aromatic greens and dunked in a chilli-fish sauce dip. Each costs 10,000 VND (approximately US 65 cents). Simply sublime. Ben Thanh market hawks everything you will care to need: in this case, dried seafood - shrimps, fish, scallops, squids - carefully graded into myriad classes by size, quality and price.