Explore Saigon's Most Dangerous District with Nick McGregor!

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“Saigon’s energy makes you feel ten years younger—it’s like being awake for the first time in years.” - Niall Mackay

One of the things I love to do the most is take visitors to District 4 - the most “dangerous” district in Saigon!

District 4 is real, raw, and gritty and it’s so different from the rest of Saigon.

Walking or riding through the backstreets of District 4, seeing life spill out onto the roads, the markets, the food stalls—it’s like being thrown into the Saigon of the past.

In this episode I take Nick McGregor, a visitor to Saigon for the first time around District 4, on the back of my bike as I show him my favourite spots and what to do during a monsoon…

• Niall Mackay

Key Takeaways : 

• District 4's Transformation - What was once known as Saigon's most dangerous area is now a hub of local life and affordable street food.
• Street Food Gems - Fried rice cakes with egg (bột chiên), local juices, and strong Vietnamese coffee are must-tries!
• Cultural Observations - The chaos of Saigon’s streets and the unique rhythm of life—grandmas in pajamas, anyone?
• Safety in Saigon - While Saigon might feel chaotic, the city is incredibly safe with mostly opportunistic petty crimes.

Chapters and Timestamps:

06:30 – First impressions of Saigon: Hanoi on crack
13:45 – The gritty charm of District 4
21:10 – Street food break: Fried rice cakes & fresh juices
30:10 – Cultural quirks: Traffic, grandmas in pajamas, and Saigon’s rhythm
34:00 – Debunking myths: Is District 4 really dangerous?
37:00 – Conclusion: Saigon, the city that never sleeps

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Initial Impressions
• 2:49 Meeting Nick and Exploring Saigon
• 4:31 Saigon's Energy and Expat Life
• 8:22 Historical Landmarks and War Stories
• 12:31 District 4: The Most Dangerous District
• 14:01 Local Markets and Authentic Vietnam
• 17:49 Navigating Saigon's Streets
• 18:49 Language Challenges and Street Life
• 19:25 Food Adventures and Refreshment Break
• 21:24 Freshly Squeezed Memories
• 21:46 First Impressions of Saigon
• 22:05 Exploring Saigon's Party Street
• 22:47 Navigating District 4
• 24:18 Discovering Local Delicacies
• 28:41 Language Lessons and Local Interactions
• 33:16 Reflecting on the Saigon Experience
• 33:39 Wrapping Up the Adventure

Transcript

Niall: 0:00

How's that? Oh,

Nick: 0:01

oh, dude, so good.

Niall: 0:03

Hello! This is how your clothes get delivered. For most people here, it doesn't seem like anything extraordinary. But when you send it back home, people are like, what the f**k is happening? Yeah. It What are your initial thoughts on Saigon?

Nick: 0:16

It's like Hanoi plus add some crack. Right,

Niall: 0:20

Whoa, whoa, whoa. But this is my favorite. Good. Good? Really good. Yeah, really good, right? I've not had that, yeah. Bye. Ciao. Ciao.

Nick: 0:33

My God, dude.

Niall: 0:43

Oh shit, alright, that's not, it's a one way, I forgot about that. Welcome back to A Vietnam Podcast with me, your host, Niall Mackay. Thank you so much for tuning in to another special episode of the Saigon Sunday Sessions. These come out every Sunday, bit more casual, bit different. They are on YouTube, so if you want to watch this video, then go to YouTube. But thank you for listening. You know that I am a podcast guy at heart, and doing videos kills me a little bit inside, but it is the way the world is. So if you want to see these videos, go to YouTube, go to VNAM Podcast. I'm really excited for today's episode. This is a first, so I'm meeting somebody right now that I've never met before. I'm going to take him to the most dangerous district in Saigon. So a couple of years ago, I think maybe a few years ago now, I can't even remember, post or post or pre COVID, Adrian and I met this lovely couple when we were out for a drink, Lydia and her partner, Nathan, I think is his name, if I got that and they were super lovely, we met them a couple of times, we hung out with them, and recently she got in touch with Adrian, she said, Hey, my friend is coming to Taigon, he's coming to Vietnam, do you guys want to catch up with him, and of course we said yes, we love when people visit, it's been a long time, Since people visited, so frequently more and more people are coming back before COVID loads of people visited. But more and more people are coming back, and we always love showing people this city. And now that I am doing a VNAM podcast, more, doing more YouTube videos, of course, I took this opportunity to take them around Saigon. So we're gonna jump on the bike and I'm gonna take him maybe a little bit around District 1 first. We're gonna go for some coffee, some food and we're gonna head out into District 4 which is known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City's most dangerous district. Alright, let's go meet Nick

2:22

Good to meet you. Where are you from? I'm from Kentucky, United States. Ah, nice, nice. Alright, and you've never been to Saigon before? No. Alright, I'm going to take you around District 1, and I'm going to take you to the most dangerous district in Saigon. Sweet. Sounds good? Yeah. And I'm hungry and I'm thirsty, so we'll get some coffee and some food on the way. Sounds good. Sounds good? Alright, let's do it.

Niall: 2:42

Oh shit, alright, that's not, it's a one way, I forgot about that. I was talking to someone today who had an accident and broke his foot because he came around the corner and there was a guy just parked his bike in the middle of the road You've done the Zhang loop? Yeah, I really wanted to drive it. But I heard some horror stories where, this Australian guy tore his kneecap open, and, another person like, kind of like ran off a ramp, or like a railing, and ended up breaking their back. some of the scenery up there, when I came back and you, you're probably the same, there's no point even talking about it. It's so stunning. You can't describe it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, there's no adjectives to describe it. How beautiful this is. Yeah. And you can see all the picture. it's classic. Like you really just have to go. I talked to a bunch of people that didn't want to do it. Cause they were like, Oh, everyone does it. I don't want to do it. And I was like, there's a really good reason. Everyone does it. Yeah. Yeah. No, we did it a few years ago and we were just blown away. Some of the valleys and the viewpoints and things like that. Oh, it's incredible. I had a really private group, it was me and one other guy it was this 50 year old from like, Sacramento. And he was polyamorous and he kept wanting to bring it up and it's no big deal. Yeah. But it was, he had so many interesting things about him. He had a cool job. He traveled a lot, but he kept bringing it up. I was like, dude, I don't care. I spent five days with this guy that I didn't really like and still loved it. So we are going to go through like district one. It's just a big city, but it's pretty cool. I forget sometimes like the amount of motorbikes. It's pretty unique, Maybe not unique, but it's unique to where I'm from. Yeah, what's it like where you're from? very, it's very much a driver centered city. but cars, not motorbikes at all. Yeah, yeah. Lots of highway. I bike a little bit, but that's pretty rare. Not many people do. but yeah, I mean it's, it's classic U. S. like highways and Yeah. Big cars and trucks and that kind of thing. Yeah. I know, I get so used to living here that I forget that, this is batshit insane, really. Yeah, man. Absolutely crazy. I was starting to get used to it until I almost got hit. Yeah. This guy's just got, dry cleaning on his bike. He's just delivering some stuff. Some of the stuff on bikes, you're like, this is crazy. This is how your clothes get delivered. You can get some really cool footage on the motor, like on scooters and motorcycles. I think for most people here, it doesn't seem like anything extraordinary. But when you send it back home, people are like, what the f**k is happening? Yeah. That's what I'm saying, I get so used to it I forget, and then sometimes I'm like, That's what I love when people visit as well, cause you kind of have a moment of like, Oh yeah, this is not normal, this is absolutely crazy, but, It's just our normal everyday life. Yeah, I like it though, I don't know, makes me feel like I'm awake, you get complacent, and you feel like you're Sleepwalking almost sometimes. I love that because, so we talk a lot about Saigon has this energy, that's why a lot, there's a lot of expats that love it here and have been here for a long time and there's something about Saigon and Vietnam that just makes you like fall in love with the place. Yeah. And it's the energy, but that's a great way to put it as well. Like it makes you feel awake. I've said before, I feel like 10 years younger living here. Really? Yeah, because of the energy. Like it's, it's like this till like 10 o'clock at night, midnight. So it's from 6am to midnight, just nonstop. Yeah. There's always you've probably seen already. I mean you were in the crazy party district last night Yeah, that's like times a hundred, but the rest of Saigon is like that as well, but just not as crazy Yeah, I could tell that was like the dial was turned up on that. Yeah, but It was clearly catered towards tourists, but it was still it gave you still an idea of what this place is like Even if it's the most maybe obnoxious or extreme version of it. Yeah The clubs were I don't really like clubs. They were like exhausting for me. I was literally holding my ears the whole time. I looked like such a loser. I tried to get some earplugs. I couldn't get any. So I just ended up leaving. No, we went, we never really go to that area. So when we first came here, we would go there and it was not as crazy as it is now. Oh really? So it's actually more catered towards Vietnamese people, I think. Really? Because, so what happened was during COVID and the lockdown and whatnot. Obviously there was no tourists, so a lot of places had to change the way they operated. And I don't know if you noticed, but the last time I was there, it was just mostly Vietnamese people. young Vietnamese people love that loud noise, they love the clubs. Yeah, it's really like a lot, I don't know if maybe it's changed in the last few months because things change so quickly here, but. I think it may have been a function of the group I was with. Maybe. it was like a bar crawl group, Ah, I was mostly with foreigners. You were probably with foreigners, but did you, you might have seen like lots of young Vietnamese out there. I did, yeah, I did. They love those clubs. Yeah, for sure. And you see all the like go go dancers and things like this. Yeah. If you look at them though, they try to grab you and bring you in. So I was just trying not to even look. They're there for a reason. It's pretty funny. so we don't ever really go there. We actually were there a couple of weeks ago for a Christmas, or it was like a, an event, and there's a really good taco place near there. Okay. So we went for some tacos, and you can see the, it's just crazy. Hmm. But that's really extreme, and it was extreme when we got here eight years ago, now it's like times a hundred. where we're going right now, this was what the end of the war happened here, basically, so this is now called Le Zouan. It was something different back in the day. But the tanks rolled up to here. This is the Independence Palace. And the tanks from the north rolled up this street, broke down the gates, and that signaled basically like they won the war. That was the end of the war in Vietnam. Hmm. So we're going up somewhere like really iconic right now. We'll stop for a second up here. This is the Independence Palace, or it's got another name and I forget right now. We've actually never been inside. Oh yeah. Not meant to be very interesting. We've had mixed reviews, like you were talking about reviews. Oh yeah. but overall it's not meant to be that interesting. So we've never actually been inside, but I always think this street is really interesting because there's a lot of history here. So back behind us is all the, embassies. There's American Embassy, French, English, all of that, British Embassy. They're all behind us. The American Embassy was, again, I don't know if you've seen the pictures, but on the day that war ended, April 30th, 1975. The helicopters were taken off from the roof of the embassy behind us. Yeah, really famous. Yeah. It's a really famous visual of that. So that was all just in this, this area here. I think it's still the same location for the American embassy. I, I haven't been doing much history stuff or war stuff. I've, I've done next to none. Yeah. all right. We'll stop here for a second. I'll let you off. You can take some pictures and whatnot. Alright, go check out the Independence Palace. This is pretty much all you need to see, I think. Alright, I'll get a picture. there's not much crime here, but there is phone snatching around here, bag snatching, but I feel like it's more opportunistic crime than, there probably are gangs and things like that, but like I said, just don't hold your phone out. You just got to be wary of your surroundings and things like that. But generally, Vietnam is just so safe.

Nick: 9:44

I've had really good luck. I've actually had people, More worried about me getting stuff stolen than any real risk of getting stuff stolen.

Niall: 9:51

Yeah,

Nick: 9:51

people keep Grabbing my phone and like doing basically what you said saying keep it on you, keep it close, that kind of stuff.

Niall: 9:58

But I was talking to my sister. Have you heard about in London, there's like a rampage of people jumping on e bikes and they'll pull right up to you and they're silent. not like a bike like this, like a, just like a mountain bike kind of e bike thing. Yeah. And they'll jump, they'll come up behind people and then just grab their phone and take off. And so that's happening in London. there's these gangs of people that are doing it. So we don't really have it. That's what I mean here. It's more opportunistic. There's not like gangs of people going about trying to steal your phone. What we're doing here, this is Win Way Walking Street. So this has been completely paved. They were doing it when we first got here eight years ago. So the whole thing is about two or three kilometers long, I think. I need to look that up. It goes from here to the river. That's the seat of government for Ho Chi Minh City. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. It's one of the remaining kind of French style buildings that are left. You can see how beautiful it is. We're going to drive by it. And there's a statue of Ho Chi Minh that you can see right there. Yeah, it looks very European. Yeah, so mostly they've toned down a lot of these buildings. Like

Nick: 10:58

that, even that. Yeah, and

Niall: 11:00

we got the Opera House as well. So we'll go around by the Opera House, which is also European. So I don't know if you'll get a chance, but the Bamboo Circus is pretty much like their Cirque du Soleil. It's really cool.

Nick: 11:12

Okay.

Niall: 11:13

Then this hotel here, the Hotel Continental, was where, I don't know the book The Quiet American by Graham Greene. That's a strong wind. It's not normally this windy. That might mean there's going to be a big rainstorm coming in. Okay. These clouds are a bit worrying, but we'll see how we go. Okay. This is the Wing Way walking street I was telling you about. So at the very end, it's that, Ho Chi Minh City's people committee building, people's committee building. this is all the main part, but we're going to go over this bridge into District 4. Okay. This building's been abandoned. It's been like this since we got here. It's the eyesore of Saigon. I cannot imagine how much that real estate costs. Look at the prime location.

Nick: 11:54

Yeah.

Niall: 11:55

And it's just sat empty. Did

Nick: 11:57

it run out of money or what? Yeah. Something like that.

Niall: 12:00

I don't really know. We'll go through a bit of district four and we'll get some food and a coffee. This bridge, I think, was designed by Gustav Eiffel.

Nick: 12:11

Is D4 quite a bit cheaper because of the perception of it still?

Niall: 12:15

Yeah, way cheaper. we used to live here, it's definitely a good area to live in because it's so close to District 1, but it's not District 1. Okay. Uh huh. But it's definitely a bit grimier, I guess you could say, a bit more gritty, yeah, a bit more real. It's definitely improved a lot since we've been here, but it's not changed that much. There's some nicer shops. When my parents came to visit years ago, I put them up in a hotel near here, and I'd read the reviews. I even went to the hotel and checked it out. I didn't realize it was a brothel. they get their money's worth. Oh, they loved it. They're pretty cool. They didn't care. Yeah. When we checked in, as soon as we checked in, there was a bunch of like Chinese businessmen and all these beautiful Vietnamese women came down the stairs. And I was like, Oh God, they said they would walk by the rooms in the morning and they'd be like, use condoms on the floor. So we're into D4 right now. Okay. I'm gonna drive down here. So you're staying near Bintan Markets, which is like a real tourist trap, but it did used to be a traditional market. And every district at the heart of it will have a market that's almost identical to Bintan, just a bit smaller. Okay. So that's what we're gonna go check out right now. This is the District 4 market. I think there's several of them. Let's go. When we used to live here, we would come here and get chicken and groceries and it's super cheap. Before we started going to the supermarket, now we, now we live a pretty normal life. we go to the supermarket, but when we first came here, that, that was an anomaly. there's not many supermarkets around here.

Nick: 13:52

Yeah.

Niall: 13:53

So you just buy your fruit and veg. We knew the chicken lady, she'd recognize us. It's how we kind of learn numbers and how to name the food and things like this.

Nick: 14:01

Have you guys had any problems with, food poisoning and that kind of thing? Luckily, never. Really, never? Yeah, never. Do you think you're just, hearty, and that's why?

Niall: 14:08

No idea. But, never had it. Never had a problem.

Nick: 14:12

Okay.

Niall: 14:12

can't really complain. I thought, But then you got this meat that's hanging on a stick.

Nick: 14:17

Yeah. You see it

Niall: 14:17

there?

Nick: 14:18

Yeah, I saw

Niall: 14:18

it. And then, this used to be a chicken lady up here. You got, just a chicken. Look here. Yeah. Just hanging out. So I actually do not know how we never got food poisoning, or how we've never had it. Because we used to shop at these kind of places. I had a conversation last week with a food scientist on the podcast, and even she didn't really have an answer as to why. There's not mass food poisoning, but it does make me think we are, mollycoddled in the West. We're too overprotective when you see these kind of places here and there's no problem. Last time I brought someone along here, it was in the morning and this place was absolutely packed. There was fish going along the street in front of us. It was pretty funny. There was room for one bike. There was heaps of people. It's a lot quieter now and a lot easier. I just got to tell you, this is As, as real as it can get. Yeah, this is cool. Without being, I hate that, authentic Vietnam. But this is proper, authentic Vietnam. And it's just a stone's throw from District 1.

Nick: 15:19

Yeah, we're barely 10 minutes away from where, not even 5.

Niall: 15:23

And if you weren't a tourist, you wouldn't, there'd be no reason to come here. Unless you're on, they do photo tours here. If you're on a photo tour. They might bring you to somewhere like this, where you can get some really cool pictures. But I'm not a photographer, obviously. Is that squid there? Yeah, look, there's squid in there. Oh, yeah, yeah. Got your fruit and veg. Yeah, this used to be our neighborhood for a couple of years. It's cool. We used to drive down here every day, basically. yeah, hopefully this is a bit of an experience for you. Yeah, no, for sure. This is cool. Even when I come here, I always find it a bit of an experience. It's so different. Like I said, yeah, it's literally a stone's throw across the river from district one. This guy wasn't even looking right. You see that?

Nick: 16:09

Yeah.

Niall: 16:09

So I learned my lesson really quickly on the first day we got a bike, which I didn't drive when we first came here. Cause I was like, fuck that, I'm not getting on a bike.

Nick: 16:16

Yeah. It's, it's sketchy. I drove even in Catba where it's not even that crazy. And I, I still almost wrecked.

Niall: 16:23

my first day on a bike here. I turned away and looked over my shoulder for a split second and nearly ran into the back of somebody. And then right away I was like, Oh shit, you literally cannot take your eyes off the road. it might not look like I'm doing much, but I'm constantly like staring straight ahead. Staring a little bit. Yeah, sometimes I'll be on the back of a bike or in a taxi and I'll notice something, and Adrian will be like, How have you never noticed that before? And I'm like, because when I'm driving, I'm literally staring straight ahead. I don't see anything else.

Nick: 16:55

Does she drive?

Niall: 16:56

She drives as well. Yeah. Okay.

Nick: 16:58

I'd be pretty hesitant to start driving.

Niall: 17:01

I said that as well, and then it took three months, and I was like, fuck it, I'm getting on a bike. It's the best thing you can do, it really is amazing. Hello! Xin

Nick: 17:10

The language is challenging, huh? I would have thought, I, I, would have thought one, both of you at this point, but, I think if it was me, I'm not good at learning languages, so I would have a really hard time too.

Niall: 17:19

I'm not good either. This here is why I think there's such an energy in Saigon. Like we're in the middle of nowhere. Life is on the street here. Nothing's inside. Everything's outdoors,

Nick: 17:30

the

Niall: 17:30

food, the repair shop. That's where this energy comes from, I think. But then, I've never even seen this building. Look at this. This is a brand new high rise. So suddenly you have these really nice, modern buildings.

Nick: 17:43

mixed in with everything

Niall: 17:45

else. That's what makes Vietnam really special. I'm getting hungry. Let's find some food. Okay. So right now we are on the western tip of District 4. We've been all through D4. The most dangerous suburb in Saigon. We've

18:01

So, Nook Meal? Nook Meal. Nook Meal, Mop? Yeah. And what do you want? Do you want a passion fruit drink? Uh Or an orange juice? I think I'm alright. I think I'm alright. I'd love to get yours though, if you don't mind. So, you want the same thing? Yeah, sure. Let's get another one. It's one of my favorite drinks. It's so cheap. It's, I don't understand why it's so cheap. 10k is like 45 cents. Yeah, it's nuts. And it's so good. Yeah, so they got, Chendai is passion fruit. Rao Ma is like some vegetable drink. Okay. That I've never had. Mia Kui, I actually don't know what that is. Chad Tack is like a tea, I think it's peach tea, which is quite nice. And Kam Vat is orange juice. But these are the oranges, see the green things? Oh, I actually would love that. Well, whatever. You can ask him. It's so cheap. Uh, Kam Vat. Kam Vat. Kam Vat. Kam Vat? Yeah, yeah, don't worry. Please, please. Condom. Condom. I'm trying to say no sugar. This is why I say the language is so difficult. I can't even say no sugar properly. Wow. He doesn't understand me. I finally asked, he understood me, I said, Cơm đưng. Cơm đưng. Cơm đưng, which means, Cơm đưng. Cơm đưng. Means no sugar. I had to say that about five times before he finally understood me. This is why Vietnamese is so difficult.

Niall: 19:21

taking a break from the bike. I'm pretty exhausted. How long have we been on the bike now?

Nick: 19:24

30 40 minutes.

Niall: 19:26

Is that

Nick: 19:26

all? Yeah, I think so. Tiring.

Niall: 19:29

It's time for a refreshment break. A 10k Nook Mia. I don't understand how this is 10k. Yeah, it's nuts. It's nuts, right? Yeah. Like

Nick: 19:37

40 cents and it's so amazing. Or a coffee for a dollar. Yeah. It doesn't, I don't know how to stay in business.

Niall: 19:45

I just got freshly pressed. Freshly squeezed. Freshly squeezed. I remember the first time I took a picture and sent it back home to somebody, they were like, what are they? I was like, oh, those are oranges, which is weird that they're green. How's that? Oh,

Nick: 19:56

oh, dude, so good. Amazing, right? Yeah, it's crazy. And that was so good. Not even a dollar.

Niall: 20:03

That was 20k, so 80 cents. so you've just arrived in Saigon last night. Yeah. What are your initial thoughts on Saigon?

Nick: 20:12

it's like Hanoi plus add some, add some crack. Right, the energy's, the energy's tight. oh, very good. Yeah, the energy is heightened. the walking street, what did you say? The party street?

Niall: 20:28

Yeah,

Nick: 20:29

it's, just, similar to the walking street in Hanoi, but, add louder speakers, more aggressive people pulling you away. yeah, it's just, everything's heightened, but. I still like it. I don't know. I still like it. I love that Hanoi on

Niall: 20:44

crack.

Nick: 20:46

Yeah. High, high energy. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Niall: 20:49

Where you were, Boi Vien, is, that, that is like nuts. Yeah, I don't think I'll go back. That's even Saigon times 100. Yeah, don't go back. Yeah, I don't think I'll go back. You only need to go once.

20:58

So now you're getting the full Saigon experience. Yeah. We've just stopped for a drink and we were about to take off, go get some food. Rain's out. Let's see how long this lasts for.

Niall: 21:08

All right, we are in the heart of Saigon's most dangerous district, District 4. We've waited out the rain with an oatmeal. Beautiful Buddhist pagoda next to us. We're going to go through here because there's some food down here. We're going to see if we can get a snack. I'm going to give you a bit of a drive through some of District 4 that we haven't seen. We just had a massive Afternoon Rain Shower. So this is really good, it's closed. Curry is basically curry and Ga is chicken. So it's chicken curry there.

Nick: 21:37

It's really

Niall: 21:38

fucking

Nick: 21:38

good.

Niall: 21:39

What time have we got? About 4 o'clock? 4. 15? We're in Uh, we're in there. This is just mental, innit? Yeah, it's crazy. So we're right outside of school, which is not helping the amount of traffic, So this is where we were thinking of coming tonight, but we're not gonna come now. This is a food street. Which is, Really good at night. Loads of good food. OC means snails, and so they specialize in snails. You can see the amount. It's just all food. It's really good at night. But yeah, so apparently when District 4 was more dangerous, areas like this were a bit of a no go. And it was a really dangerous place. Now, not so much. But it's still really different to District 1, and you can't believe that District 1 was just, was just around the corner. So let's go down here. I'll take you a bit of a, a back way. So yeah, we've been like up and down these back streets. Never felt scaled, but maybe we should. But it's pretty cool. The coffee's really strong here, so it's easy to get a little over caffeinated. So my, when we used to live in this neighborhood, my favorite coffee place was just around the corner. We came back here about a year ago and it was still there. It's a little bit late in the day, but if it's still there, I'm going to get one. Is there a lot of turnovers to like shops and stuff? My assumption is that things stick around for a long time. Yeah, kind of like yes and no. There's a lot of stuff that just stays forever and then there's other things that change, that seem to change on a daily basis almost. It's a bit mixed. coffee guy was right there. I think he's still there. Let's go up this street. Have you had Ben Flan yet? What is it? Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's why I was indicating. was acting like that was your fault. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I'm pretty sure we can get a sweet snack up here. Have you had Ben Flan before? I don't think so. It's basically like a custard pie, almost. Why is this taxi going up here? You see this? This is This is what you deal with in Saigon. Why is this massive taxi? Driving a small alley. Yeah. Yeah. What are you doing, man? You can see the looks on everyone else's faces. They're also like, what the fuck are you doing? It's Saigon. It just works somehow. He's just completely blocked. So what happens if another car comes in the other direction? Yeah. Major traffic jam. And that happens all the time. there's a traffic jam right now. What do you think of all the grammars in pajamas? Hadn't noticed until you said it. No, you hadn't noticed it yet? No, I don't really notice. I remember asking somebody at what age do you get pajamas, because it seems to be like as soon as you hit a certain age you get the full pajama kit. I think it's like The matching tops and bottoms? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. No, I literally have not noticed. I cannot believe you've not noticed that. Yeah, grandmas in pyjamas. I remember one time. Maybe instead of checking out the grandmas. Yeah, I remember one time years ago we saw like a sexy grandma in pyjamas. She had a low cut top on and like her kind of cleavage and it was like whoa. It's the first time I've seen a grandma in sexy pyjamas. Look at this taxi. He's fucked it up for everyone. Why did he come down here? Yeah. getting mouthfuls of exhaust as well. Yeah. It's interesting because, just, just how rude some of these, the way people drive and, even like lines they'll cut. Yeah. There's no, there's no like cue for them. Yeah. which is really frustrating for me. You get used to it. I'm not from here, so I, Even if you are, even if you are from here, you don't say anything. You don't say anything? You just let it happen? Yeah, you just yeah, you can get annoyed about it. Yeah, it's crazy, right? It's all because of this car. You all Oh, we're gonna get this. This is my favorite. Bok Chin. Yeah. Let's go. Xin chào. Bok Chin. Mop, and seven takes. finally. We've found what I've been looking for. We've been searching all over District 4 for bop chin. Mop, ah, mop. Bop chin is like, Rice flour cakes, fried. with an egg. But this is my favorite, but it's so unhealthy. Look how much fat is in that. So when I was trying to bulk up a few years ago, this was like my meal of choice every night. And I bulked up, but I also got fat as well. All the eggs are high protein. Also the eggs, all of the eggs here are good. Like they look good. Yeah. Back in the States, orange yolk that's gonna be, that's a dollar per egg. Really? Yeah, that's like an organic egg. We'll go inside. Yeah. A bit of chives. Add a bit of chives as well. Oh, okay. And then some pickled veg too. It's just savory. It's not sweet. Yeah, and then they're gonna add some see that sauce there They're gonna add some sauce and chili. Oh, yeah. Oh, it's so good. This is my favorite. I never get to eat this I've never seen so much bopjin in one place So good, I'm so excited we found this Have a seat. Oh my god, I'm so excited for this. This, honestly, I have not had this in ages. It's so good. That juice was awesome. What's that? The juice. I'm just still thinking about the juice. Hello. The juice was so good. Thank you. You're welcome. I would add some chili to it. You've got one too, right? No, we're going to split it. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Xin chào. Yeah. these are all the women, so I should say Chi Oi, I think, right? All right. How are you? I'm good and you? Ch ơi! Ch ơi! Ai bia? Ai bia? We're gonna put a little bit of this into this. Ai bia? Ai bia? Ai bia? Ai Haidegan? Taiga? Oh not Taiga. Ok, Haidegan's ok. How much spice do you like? I like spice, yeah. The spicier Come on Niall, Hi Lida. Come on. Hi Lida is one of the only things I know. Hi is two, Lida is glass of ice. Glass of ice. So I asked for two glasses of ice there. Alright, this is the magic sauce. I don't even know what's in it. But it is amazing. Alright. You go first, let me know what you think. Alright. Bòc chín is my favourite bài bào. Come on. And then, oh, have you got used to beer with ice yet? No, I have not had it since I've been here. You've not had it since you've been here? No, I didn't have it. You don't have it in Hanoi? No. Maybe I was just in too touristy an area. So this is like standard here. These beers aren't chilled. They're not cold. They're not cold? Like very slightly cold. And then you get a glass of ice. And then this hot temperature, it's like, One of these things in the beginning, you're like, It's so weird. It's winter up there, so maybe that's part of it. Maybe. They don't You just become used to it. You're like, beer with ice? Yes, please. Oh! Oh, you blew it? Fuck. It's good. Good? Really good. Yeah, really good, right? I've not had that, yeah. looking better with chopsticks. And this is, what is this? I think it's jicama. Okay. I don't think it's pickled actually. Is that right? Oh yeah. I love this. And like I said, I don't get it very often cause it's not the healthiest, but fuck me, it's good, right? Yeah. Hello. Hello. Do you speak English? Do you speak English? Yes. Can you teach him some Vietnamese? I live here, he's visiting. Shh. Can you teach him some words? But don't teach him Do Ma, that's too bad, okay? Hahaha. All right. I got that. Hahaha. That was really good. Don't teach him that. Ha ha ha. Nong Wah. Nong Wah. This is Nong Wah. Nong Wah. Cheers. Yo. Hai, Ba, Yo. Hai, Ba, Yo. Mop Hai Ba Mop? Mop. Mop. One. Oh, I thought it was M O T. Okay. It is spelled M O T, but it said Mop. Okay. In the South anyway, the North may be different. Mop Hai Ba And then Yo. Hai Ba What, how do you say it? Zo in the North. Yeah, we say Zo. Zo, yeah. So South is Yo. So don't say that. Yeah, yeah. So it's a little pronunciation differences. Just means cheers. So one, two, three, cheers. Mop Hai Ba Yo. Yo. Okay. I barely have it down up there. I'm already like mixed up here. Yeah, you'll be. It's funny, it's a little bit different. Alright. Finish these beers and we'll go? Yes. You're a YouTuber, are you? Yeah, I'm a YouTuber. Oh. Okay. a Vietnam podcast. I got five new followers now. See, now I'm admitting it. Before people would be like, are you a YouTuber? I'm like, no, but now it's Yeah, you gotta spread the word. Yeah, I know. So people don't really know what a podcast is. So last week I went to someone and they were like, oh, you're the YouTuber? And I was like, no, the podcaster. And they were like, oh, just leave it. It's fine. Yeah, I'm a YouTuber. we go? Yeah. Are we gonna go back into the madness? Alright, bye! Bye. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Is that not nuts?

Nick: 31:05

I'm good. How are you?

Niall: 31:06

mental, innit? Yeah. Hello! You can't say anything else, but, wow. Wow. Oh shit, shit, shit. Yeah, hold on to your seats.

Nick: 31:18

Hold on to my butt. My God, dude. I'm not going to lie. I wish I could have got video of that, but I was so worried about getting hit. Oh, you weren't filming? I'm filming, I'm filming, but it's just, I couldn't get, I couldn't get video of exactly what was happening there.

Niall: 31:33

even for me, that was pretty scary. Alright, so we're leaving D4, the most dangerous district in Saigon. What do you think about it?

Nick: 31:42

yeah, yeah, that was a unique experience. That was really neat. The little alleys, crazy drivers. that's everywhere, but yeah, no, really cool. Cheap food. And did you think it was

Niall: 31:53

dangerous? I didn't think it

Nick: 31:54

was dangerous, no. Pray not.

Niall: 31:55

Yeah. You Come back into District 1. All right. We're finished our day around Saigon. We've been to the most dangerous district. We've seen all the attractions. We're going to drop Nick off at his hotel. All right. So what do you think of Saigon so far?

Nick: 32:13

Yeah, it's great. Yeah, yeah? Yeah. Loving it so far. I've seen a variety of things. I've seen maybe the most, arguably the most tourist stuff and then maybe the least tourist anyway, But yeah. You gave me the true experience.

Niall: 32:26

Are you ready? I think we're going to take you out to Phan Viet Chan tonight. Yeah, we're going to have a different experience. Phan Viet Chan tonight. Remember, follow, subscribe, turn on notifications. Join us on Patreon at vnampodcast. com. Sorry, Patreon. com forward slash vnampodcast. Go to vnampodcast. com. Share this podcast with other people. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed this episode. Cheers.