I’m generally loathe to drag my personal life into this space, but yours truly had the good fortune to holiday in beautiful Vietnam last month and I return with stories to share and advice to dispense. Obvious highlights included the exotic street food (both yummers and inexpensive), the beaches (absolutely stunning), the historic and cultural attractions (sobering but shot through with a potent optimism), and the moto-madness that gives pulse (and soundtrack) to the country’s largest cities, Saigon and Hanoi, but naturally enough, I also mixed in a bit of t-spotting on my travels.
From humble tourist tees to curious, lost-in-translation slogans to bootlegged street gear, I’ve compiled 15 of my finds below (in no particular order, mind you). Some are directly topical, others a bit less so…
1. If any one t-shirt dials in the manic quality of life on Pham Ngu Lao, the hub of Saigon’s backpacker district, this is it.
Just Say No
2. Purchased by the author as a keepsake. Total price: $80,000 dong (VND), or roughly $4 (USD).
''Speak politely to an enraged dragon.'' -- J.R.R. Tolkien
Detailed closeup:
Keep the dragon close to your heart.
3. BURN!
Death Before Disco
