Le Cong Kieu St- Saigon

Just in from a 10 day trip to the USA and slowly sliding back into life in Ho Chi Minh City. There is a process to arriving in Vietnam. After doing this a few times...I have decided you must take in Vietnam very slowly...the rush, rush, beep, beep of the city will come soon enough. One has to accept the heat, let in envelop you and take you on it's course.

Everything has it's time and place in Vietnam...

Before I left, I took a quick browse through what the local expats call 'Antique Street' and the local Vietnamese call Le Cong Kieu St, Saigon.

If you are confused about the use of 'Saigon', I was too, at the start. The city is separated into Districts, 24 in total. There are seven named urban districts, seven numbered districts and five suburban districts. I live in District 2, where many expats live. Life in the central city, in the day of Saigon, was predominately in District 1. I have been told (by Vietnamese) that many local Vietnamese still refer to District 1 as 'Saigon'. Our driver, Mr. Khai, never refers to Ho Chi Minh City...it is always Saigon to him. Ask anyone and you may here a different version of this story...it sounds good to me.

Le Cong Kieu St is small and filled to the brim with shops, butting right up against each other. I was a bit frustrated as I discovered that there was similar merchandise in every single one. Will you find 'antiques' on this street?...you could, if you had a specialist with you. Would you find mostly reproductions?...most definitely. Bargaining is essential and I had little time on this trip. I wanted to take in a quick 'look see' to determine if it was worth coming back to....I decided it was.

Apologies for the shots...iPhone is not ideal when you are snapping pics on the move.

and because I am easily distracted.... I can never resist a bicycle pic.

Fortunately for me...there are plenty to choose from in Saigon.

More on Le Cong Kieu Street....here

Photos by Jeanne Henriques