Ho Chi Mihn City sidewalk

The theme letter for our ‪‎travel pics this week again is V, for Vietnam.

Our second last picture is in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as its better known to westerners.

HCMC is the name given to the city by the winners of the Vietnamese civil war – but just to confuse matters, the two names are used almost interchangeably.

As someone who spent his teenage years in Brisbane (before 1988 Expo led to a push to allow al fresco dining) I still find the encroachment of tables, and chairs, and things onto pavements to be a little confronting.

But in Vietnam, the footpath is considered just another extension of the building behind it … so you’ll find everything from motorbikes to cooking stoves in the path – along with people dining, and displaying their wares, and chatting, and congregating.

Here a friend, my wife and my sister negotiate the pavement in a typical Saigon scene.