This little blogger went to market

When I think about it, I guess the outdoor markets here aren't so strange; I've been to plenty of farmer's markets and flea markets in America, and (as here) they sell everything from sandals and spaghetti straps, to strawberries and salmon. But, as with most things I've noticed, the difference is in the details.

I use the term "outdoor markets" somewhat loosely. Here, there are markets with tin roofs. There are markets with tent roofs. There are markets with no roofs at all. In those cases, people just set up their wares along an alley. In all cases, space is tight, with vendors often sitting on the makeshift counters or desks that display their merchandise. Some markets have everything. Some just have food. Some just have clothes and trinkets. Of the latter you would probably see plenty as a tourist, especially Ben Thanh Market.

And you'd probably only want to see the food markets as a tourist, as they'd never pass an FDA inspection. I wouldn't call them filthy – after all, that's where I buy my groceries – but you might lose your appetite. All over, hose water flows into basins of live fish that still swim around unawares, or flop around if they don't have much water. In one market, a fish flopped out into the street in front of me before the owner casually picked it up and tossed it back into its container. In another, I bought a fish that wouldn't stop squirming as the vendor tried to weigh it, so she clubbed the scaly little rebel. I remembered the incident recently, when I walked by a couple of live, skinned frogs still wriggling in their bins.

If you think that’s fun, you’d love buying raw meat. Just as vegetables are occasionally laid out on the bare ground, meat is usually placed right on the counters and nothing else. Buyers and sellers alike finger the meat liberally. That can’t be avoided, but at least I’ve learned to bring exact change: I don’t want a woman to hand me change after she’s been handling raw meat all day.