My first home in Sai Gon was on an alley across a side street from the Binh Tay
Market in Cho Lon. In the photo below, you can see the alley entrance.
I lived in the second floor corner room of the building just to the right of the
alley, overlooking the street (where you can see laundry hanging on the balcony).
The actual entrance to the building is a little way down the alley.
Cho Lon is historically the Chinese district of HCMC (Sai Gon). The name
means "large market", referring to the large Cho Binh Tay wholesale market.
The neighborhood is still largely Chinese, but my old neighbors moved out years
ago and other families have moved in since. Little things are different
but the overall character of the alley and the neighborhood are much the same
as they were more than 35 years ago.
