As you browse the stalls of Ho Chi Minh City’s markets, you’ll find the sort of wares once whispered about by the merchant ship captains who plied the waters of the Far East. There are delicate balls of dried tea that, once dropped in hot water, unfold to reveal brilliant flowers. There are lacquered serving trays covered with gold leaf and wooden chopsticks inlaid with jade. There are, too, rows of fruit grown in the hot climates of Southeast Asia, spiked and oddly shaped, wild specimens of an exotic world.
