Vietnam: Tan Dinh Market and Pink Church; night ride to District 7, Ho Chi Minh City

Date: 30 October 2019

Upon returning to Ho Chi Minh City and checking in to Kim Dung hotel, I stepped out for lunch. I was in the mood for some Pho again. Pho is (currently) the most hyped Vietnamese dish (by foreigners). It’s basically a noodle soup, mostly served with cuts of beef.

Pho Vietnam Tan Dinh Saigon restaurant — I checked Google Maps for Pho shops around me and decided to dine at this place

Vietnamese beef pho quay leaves — The bill came to 63,000 VND (₹207/$2.7/€2.4) but the pho actually costs 55k VND. They charged extra for the quay — which are fried breadsticks you see on the plate above the pho.

The waiter kept a plate of quay on my table and I figured it was part of the sides, like the veggies, and was included in the price of the pho. Well, the waiter didn’t tell me that the quay is ‘optional’. If you eat it, you pay for it. Maybe locals knew that but I didn’t. Oh well.

Tan Dinh chicken on street Vietnam — I walked past a local school and for some reason, there were hens in cages outside

Tan Dinh market Ho Chi Minh City — I made a quick visit to Tan Dinh market

Tan Dinh market drinks Saigon Vietnam — Tan Dinh is less touristy compared to the more popular Ben Thanh Market

Tan Dinh market clothes shops Ho Chi Minh city — But many of the shops here at Tan Dinh market also sell a lot of the same merchandise

Tan Dinh market footwear shops Ho Chi Minh city — Just with fewer shops

Cashewnuts Tan Dinh market Ho Chi Minh city — I was only interested in buying cashewnuts and some Macadamia nuts

Prices were slightly lower than Ben Thanh market but with some shops, you would have to negotiate harder. I decided to buy on the day I would be leaving Vietnam.

Tan Dinh market vegetables Vietnam — The rest of Tan Dinh market caters to locals; selling meat, vegetables, dry and fresh seafood

Pink church Tan Dinh road Vietnam — I left Tan Dinh market and walked towards the Pink Church

Tan Dinh Catholic Church is a famous landmark in the Tan Dinh area. Why? Well, look at it.

Pink Tan Dinh Catholic church Vietnam — It’s also just called Pink Church

Tan Dinh pink church Saigon — But the gates were closed, so I couldn’t go in.

Tan Dinh area Vietnam — There wasn’t much else in the area so I went back to my room

I did some work and stepped out again later in the evening. I hadn’t seen much of Ho Chi Minh City besides District 1, which has most of what tourists come to see in the city. I wanted to see how Vietnamese live in Sai Gon, outside of the city center.

District 1 BRTS bus Ho Chi Minh City — I went to the bus depot at District 1 and tried to take a local bus

Unfortunately, language being a major problem, the bus driver nor the passengers could understand much English. One young girl tried to tell me which bus to take, but figured I would be wasting time traveling by bus to an unfamiliar area. So I decided to just book a Grab bike taxi and head across the river to District 7.

I wasn’t carrying my DSLR because I wanted to travel without much weight around my neck. So I decided to just shoot videos of the journey on my phone. Here’s a bike ‘vlog’ as I went to District 7.

I just chose Crescent Mall as a landmark since it showed up in English on the Grab app. I wasn’t particularly interested in coming here just to see a mall — it was merely a landmark. Most malls all look the same to me now.

Mango crescent mall Saigon Vietnam — It has the usual selection of international brands that you find pretty much in every mall

I just walked around, soaked in some air conditioning, and then went into a supermarket operated by Vincom.

Cashews Vincom supermarket Ho hi Minh City — I checked out the prices for Vietnamese cashews. Tan Dinh market was cheaper but of course, you get better packaging and probably better quality here.

Live fish Vietnam supermarket — Fish is sold *very fresh* out here

Skateboarding crescent mall Vietnam — Outside the mall, Vietnamese kids were skateboarding

District 7 apartment Ho Chi Minh City — I booked a bike taxi and decided to head back

Lotteria bulgogi burger Vietnam menu — For dinner, I tried Lotteria’s Bulgogi Burger. It was okay.

Once back in my room, I did some more work and slept early as I had woken up at dawn to catch my bus to Ho chi Minh City. I just had one more night left in the city.

Next posts in this series:

Vietnam: Views from Bitexco Financial Tower observation deck

Vietnam: Saying goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City

Previous posts in this series:

Vietnam: Leaving Mui Ne, returning to Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam: Mui Ne’s Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien)

Vietnam: Mui Ne – Red Sand dunes and Fishing Village

Vietnam: Mui Ne Sand Dunes Sunrise Tour – visit to Bao Trang desert (White Sand)

Vietnam: Po Shanu Cham Towers, Hindu temple near Mui Ne

Vietnam: Taking bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Mui Ne

Vietnam: Nguyen Hue Street and Saigon Riverwalk

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City’s Book Street, Opera House