Bánh mì is a Vietnamese sandwich built on a French baguette, which arrived in Vietnam in the 1860s with colonial rule. Early on, bread was a luxury, but during World War I bakers began mixing cheaper rice flour into the dough, which also made it fluffier, and ordinary Vietnamese could finally afford it. Until the 1950s sandwiches stayed close to French tastes, such as ham and butter. The 1954 partition of Vietnam sent over a million migrants from the North to the South, and their food shaped Saigon's new sandwich culture. In 1958 the Hòa Mã bakery in Saigon became one of the first shops to sell bánh mì thịt, and vendors layered herbs, pickles, chilli and meats on the baguette. In the 1980s and after, the sandwich spread through Vietnamese American communities and beyond.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.