Wednesday Walk in Saigon 🇻🇳 People and Streets of Cholon Historic District

It's the rainy season here, you should really appreciate the good weather and go out whenever you see the sun's rays. Otherwise, a row of cloudy days with regular rains may follow so you'll be "locked" at the hostel.

With these thoughts and the spirit of "don't miss this photo opportunity", I left the hostel when the sun re-appeared from the clouds, and headed to Cholon historic district, my favorite street photo place.

Favorite is not only because of its diverse urban life but also because of people's attitude. Cholon is a popular off-the-beaten-path destination within Saigon so foreigners appear in its streets regularly however not many at all. Thus, your presence doesn't amaze people but they still feel foreigners are important and cool. It's just the best attitude for a person photographing people in the streets... So, let's start the walk in Cholon with a 50mm on a full frame! 🙂

That's where I appeared on June 2, 2024, after taking off the bus, a kingdom of intense colors:

This is where the poisonous colors are spreading from all over Saigon 😄 All those classical red short-legged chairs and tables for street restaurants. 🙂

But being together, they look fun, like a pile of felt pens.

Who has painted it? It's a piece of art, take it to a gallery! 😀

Time to drop some people to make the post lovelier:

Yes, hands. You are rich if you have hands.

I headed to my favorite market street then. This:

Look how the Vietnamese flag was lifted by the wind; luck. Flags are so capricious.

I found this place in the 2019s. This time, in 2024, I have re-visited it twice.

And let's zoom out:

Isn't that a gorgeous place?

That's the meaning of the word "lively". 😄 A street poultry market.

Keep walking.

I noticed how sparkled the girl's eyes (she probably wanted to be photographed, I realized) and I asked the adults for consent. When her dream was about to come true - I prepared to take an image - she got afraid and quickly hugged her mom with eyes full of fear and confusion. The mom whispered something motivating so the girl gathered her bravery and took the star position radiating self-confidence. They were happy. I was happy.

Next to Binh Tay Market, I spotted another photo opportunity:

This is how they often sell veggies and herbs all over Southeast Asia but you not always have the best angle to shoot this. At Binh Tay Market, I was lucky.

He probably felt my photo attention with his nape and turned.

We had a lovely small local-traveler talk. They loved I spent that much in Saigon in my life and told me Welcome to Vietnam when we were parting.

Another thing about Vietnam: shop signs and sheds are often tilted. That breaks predictable geometry and sometimes creates deeper harmony than right angles.

The belly is breathing. That is how Southeast Asians cool themselves down.

Have you heard about Vietnamese ballet? This:

I am never tired of shooting this form of art. 😄

Around 5 pm, before leaving for soup pho, I started shooting people on motorbikes.

I am collecting these images for a separate Vietnamese on motorbikes post.

If you attentively look at the image above, you'll notice that this image can work well as bw. That's a lucky bw street and will come back right for that there next time. Yeah, a lot of plans for Saigon.

The walk ended with a bus trip to my favorite soup pho restaurant. $2 for a large bowl of hot broth with noodles, sliced beef, and a heap of fresh herbs plus lime and chili; that is truly the food of the gods.

I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on June 2, 2024, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.