A motorbike carrying a family, a potted kumquat tree and a stack of baguettes rolls past at rush hour, and nobody looks twice. Life here travels on two wheels. Grab bikes weave through alleys, the new metro glides out from Bến Thành Market, and water buses cruise the Saigon River past glass towers.
Away from the first sights, Chợ Lớn smells of temple incense, Thảo Điền swaps horns for riverside cafés, and the Củ Chi tunnels wait past the suburbs. The tropical climate swings between a sunny dry season and a wet season of short, heavy downpours. With a Local Friend, the menu gets translated, the alley maze makes sense and you know which cơm tấm stall the neighbors trust.
