Pink Hair and Walking Through Ho Chi Minh City

Alexis recently had another salon experience abroad and dyed her hair pink! She has been thinking about doing this for a very long time. Grandma’s – this is where your Christmas money went if you were wondering! The stylist asked Alexis if she recently cut her own hair, which we found hilarious. She then asked if she could please fix it and touched up Alexis’ curtain bangs. Maybe our Filipino haircut wasn’t that great?!

Historic Landmarks of Ho Chi Minh City

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening exploring the city center of Ho Chi Minh City. We have already been to the city center multiple times for tours and our trip to the Skydeck. However, yesterday we dedicated our time there to walking to some of the historic sites. We saw the Saigon Opera House, Central Post Office, City Hall, Notre-Dame Cathedral (it was under construction), and strolled down the Nguyen Hue Walking Street.

We went shopping at the Ben Thanh Market, ate some delicious street food, and wrapped it all up with a double-decker bus tour of the city at night. Ho Chi Minh City still has many elegant colonial-era buildings from the cultural influences left behind when the French ruled Vietnam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were beautiful!

Saigon Opera House and Central Post Office

City Hall and Notre-Dame Cathedral

Ben Thanh Market

The Ben Thanh Market is Ho Chi Minh City’s most famous market. It originated as a riverside market in the 1600’s and moved into its iconic French-built hall in 1914, where it operates today. Inside there was a little bit of everything from clothes, souvenirs, food, and so much more. It was loud, colorful, chaotic, and a little smelly at times. We visited the Saigon Square Market last week and that was intense too, but such a unique experience!

A New Street Food Favorite

We tried some delicious street food after leaving the market. Alexis and I got a new favorite of mine – colorful sticky rice! This is a festive Vietnamese dish where glutinous rice is dyed with natural plants into five bright colors. Each color represents an element of the universe, and together they symbolize harmony, luck, and prosperity. I told Dave we have to get this at least one more time before we leave. It’s in the running with okonomiyaki for my favorite food on gap year so far!

City Lights from the Top Deck

We ended the night with a double-decker bus tour of the city. The amount of motorbikes is still unreal to me. This was a fun way to see the city in a different way!