The street

Tube house

A Saigon tube house is only a few metres wide at the front but runs a long way back, pressed tight against its neighbours. The ground floor is living room, garage and corner shop all at once, closed off by a folding iron gate that clatters every morning and every night.

Many houses squeeze in a mezzanine attic (a “gác xép”) with a low ceiling, a steep wooden ladder and stifling summer heat. It was also where kids went to hide: reading comics, writing diaries, lying still to hear rain drum on the tin roof. This Gác Xép is named after that attic.

Do you remember? Where was your favourite hiding place at home as a kid?

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