It’s early morning and the city is awake and busy as if it never went to sleep. As we pull up at the market we are greeted with smiles and curious gazes. Chợ Gò Vấp (or Go Vap Market) is filled with locals selling and buying fresh fruit, meat, fish, spices and several other products that we Westerners will usually find in a grocery store. Underneath conical hats smiles emerge, urging us to buy whatever they are selling. Since arriving in the Tiny Dragon of the Southeast, this is the hospitality that we have been receiving – friendly and helpful attitudes with not even one sign of being hustled.

Walking through the market, cameras in hand, we get asked for photos. People laugh at the person whose photo gets taken; they laugh at us for taking photos of the (still very much alive) fish swimming in a tub and for not understanding what they say – our Vietnamese is limited to hello, thank you and counting from 1 to 10. Everywhere people laugh. There is truth in the saying that laughter is infectious. A man with a chicken on a leash comes running up to us, holding up a peace sign – photo ready. Husbands call us to take pictures of their wives. And just as we are about to leave a teenage boy throws his arm around me and demands his picture to be taken as well.

Although the language barrier is quite prominent (thus the demand for foreign English teachers) one thing is certain: a smile is understood in any language.

Background
A travel blog by a married couple travelling through Southeast Asia

Conrad & Mareli are two recently married individuals hailing from sunny South Africa. They recently decided to pack up their lives and travel through Southeast Asia, starting in Vietnam. Visit their website (http://www.findingcloudcuckooland.co.za/) where you can follow their story, look at their photos or just drop in to say hello. They are photographers, designers, organisers and are always on the lookout for new opportunities and adventures, so please don’t hesitate to contact them!