11-02-2026 A Wandering Walk Through Ho Chi Minh City

Went on a short walk and had lunch and then in the evening we did a big loop walking around Hoi Chi Minh City. We started and ended on walking street. No real destination, just taking a stroll while we took in the sights and sounds.

Travel Facts

Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Location and route: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A short lunchtime walk, followed by an evening walking loop starting and ending on Walking Street.

Timing: Selected photos and video run from 12:23 pm through 12:27 am the following morning (Vietnam time). These are capture times, not a timed walking activity.

Food: A food-cart lunch; Cara had falafel and Eric had a chicken sandwich.

Photos and Videos

You see these Giant busses that roll around on these narrow streets. The cars and scooters don't give them a break and just cut right in front of them. Those bus drivers have a tough job.

We ended up at a kabob place that was really just a food cart. Cara reported that her falafal was good. Eric's tasted a little funny and later he could feel it, but luckily he has an iron stomach and recovered quickly. Who knows what it was, but his sandwich was chicken shaved off of a big spit. Who knows how old it was?

This is a great name for our hotel! We are staying there for our first week in Vietnam.

This picture is an example of how the food carts look in Vietnam. They take a regular scooter, take off the front wheel and then they build out a food cart on it. They all sell different stuff, but this one was selling dried squid. You can smell it before you see it. We will not be trying that, it stinks like rotting fish.

So this is the sign for the start of walking street, it is a lot less busy than it was on Halloween.

Some of the bands are pretty good, we listened to several songs from these guys.

A pack of 4 adolescent puppies were running together in a pack. You see a lot of dogs running around and we figure that they either learn about traffic or die. So the ones you see have a survivorship bias.

There a a bunch of electric scooters in use. Instead of charging you pay a buck to just go and swap out your battery. Vietnam is making a big push to make these convenient because the air pollution can get pretty bad sometimes.

Another common sight around town. This guy is getting copper out of broken motors.

The locals gather in large groups outside in front of the restaurant, they drink tons of beer and they eat family style with lots of different dishes that they share. The waiter brings them a big cooler of beer and they drink all they want and pay for only what they drink. Some of the tables are full of the empties so these folks love their beer.

Even saw a cybertruck!

This is at a 7 eleven. Similar to gas station food in the US.

The seafood restaurants all have big aquariums. You go and pick out what you want, they weigh it, then they kill, clean, and cook it for you. I often wonder how something like this would go over in America?

After a big loop we are back to walking street. Our hotel is just a block away.

On walking street, lots of the bars have dancers in front. They stand on little platforms and just dance.

Here is another better picture of the stinky dried squid for sale. They are like hot dog carts back home. I have never seen anybody actually eating this stuff, but they must.