BenThanh Market is located inside a historic building of old Saigon. Having started off as an informal open air market by the Saigon River the market was given formal quarters in 1859. Burnt to the ground in 1870 it was rebuilt in a more robust manner to become a large indoor space where even now everything the locals want is to be found. The modern Ho Chi Minh serviced apartments of Somerset Vista Ho Chi Minh City located in the city’s business district can be easily accessed via the city’s main highways.

 

While it may be not be to everyone’s taste, Ben Thanh is worth a visit just to see the typical Vietnamese food and merchandise stacked up on shelves. Food items on display range from vegetables to dried fruit, traditional spices, scorpions and snakes in alcohol said to increase virility, dried tobacco leaves, coffee, tea, and traditional sweets and snacks. The market is also famous for original items such as the one day suit and not so original cheap jewellery, knock offs from sunglasses to handbags, wrist watches and curios. The wet market in the same premises offers livestock, meat, seafood, frogs and other local favourites the first thing in the morning.

 

Even if there is no intention of purchasing any of the items aggressively pushed by the vendors, this is an excellent place to get a whiff of a busy local market place and to experience its particular ambience. As with any other similar market place, bargaining over prices is expected and should be done to get a fair price for products. However it is best to go round the market first to get an idea of the products on offer and their prices before buying anything. For those who cannot visit the market while it is open from 5 am to 6 pm they can always go to the BenThanh Night Market where vendors offer the same products as those in the market outside it. The other advantage of an evening visit is that the area around the market becomes a vast open air dining venue where freshly cooked traditional Vietnamese dishes can be sampled. Ben Thanh is also the hub for city buses. Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line is also to start from the market.

 

Uditha Dharmawardhane is a travel writer who writes under the pen name Roland Lefevre. He specializes in creating features on leisure as well as business travel destinations across the globe.

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