Vietnam: 16~Regard and recoil at the produce markets

The next morning we tootled along to a restaurant to meet the chef who would be taking us on a tour of the Hoi An fresh produce markets.

Arriving at the market

He was an absolute hard case, Vietnamese with excellent English and fitted in well with the Kiwi/Aussie/Brit humour in our group. As we walked around he pointed out things of interest.

Our chef-guide showing us durian fruit. No taste test thankfully!

The markets covered a large area backing onto the river and roughly consisted of sections for fruit and veg, fish, poultry and possibly other meat as well. This was the most crowded place in Hoi An that we had encountered.

As with many other places in Vietnam, it pounded all of your senses at once. The sheer amount of activity to take in, the colour, the noise…

…and when we neared the seafood area, the odour. It was as you might imagine and I cringed when my foot half slid out of my shoe and into a lovely wet puddle. Hopefully most of it was water.

And from this appetising selection I would eat, hmmm... nothing. I'm a wuss when it comes to weird food, especially seafood

It was a fascinating place to watch this aspect of Vietnamese society in action.

After surviving seafood, we walked through poultry to be met with cages and cages of live chooks and ducks, and a cage of wee chickens – next to a plate of what looked like dumplings. No lingering there either!

Returning to the produce section was something of a relief after the other sights and smells. While not feeling especially hungry after that experience, our next planned activity was very much food-focused. We caught a nearby boat to take us there.

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This is part of a series recounting my 2009 trip to Vietnam.