Hanoi’s Old Quarters — A Walk Through Time
Walking through the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarters is like stepping into a universe where time has slowed down to a crawl. In contrast to the tall concrete skyscrapers all around, here the buildings preserve the rich and varied history of the city, and the people still strive to cling on to the old ways of life amid the rapid growth and urbanisation of Hanoi. For the curious traveller, this place offers an opportunity to spend a day aimlessly exploring the labyrinth of narrow and crowded streets and offers a glimpse into the past by peeling back the many layers of its history.
We started our trip at the tranquil lake just south of Old Quarters — enigmatically named Lake of the Restored Sword, or Hoàn Kiếm Lake. The lake has an interesting legend associated with it. King Lê Lợi was believed to have a magical sword which he had received from a magical golden turtle. After defeating his enemies and ascending to the throne, the king returned the sword to the turtle in the lake.
A steel foot bridge leads to an islet in the middle of the lake with a serene garden and a temple known as Temple of the Jade Mountain. Here we found that giant softshell turtles did live in the lake. The preserved remains of the last two known turtles are displayed on the isle. The last turtle died in 2016 and was over two meter in length — a magical turtle indeed.
From here we headed into the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarters. While it was early in the morning, people were already beginning to stream onto the streets. We found ourselves walking in the middle of the street — navigating our way through a barrage of oncoming scooters — as the pavement was mostly occupied by groups of people sitting on tiny stools, merrily sharing the day’s gossips. Many of them were enjoying bowls of steaming hot Phở, which is a noodle soup with meat, usually beef or pork. Due to lack of space, vendors serve the customers outside — apparently, the Vietnamese take the phrase ‘eating out’ quite literally.
Street food is one of the main attractions of Old Quarters, and we had come here with the intention of trying as many dishes as possible. Apart from Phở, which is a staple here, we also tried the Bún chả, a mouth-watering combination of grilled pork and rice noodles, and it was simply heavenly. Bánh mì, a crisp baguette filled with meat, is also an option. Vietnamese cuisine is diverse and what we sampled was just a small subset of the most well-known dishes. There were vendors selling all sorts of exotic dishes, and on the menu were a variety of gastropods that we, regretfully, could not muster the courage to try.
Coffee is by far the most popular beverage here and is part of the Vietnamese culture. Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee producer, and, on every street, we found shops selling different types of coffee, including the world-famous weasel coffee — better known as Kopi Luwak. Weasel coffee has the distinction of being the world’s most expensive coffee and is harvested from the poop of the Asian Palm Civet.
Another highlight is the Egg Coffee, a preparation of coffee with whipped egg yolk and condensed milk, which is unique to Hanoi. We visited Giang Café — the place where egg coffee originated. Their website says:
My father developed the recipe in days when milk was scarce in Vietnam. He used egg yolks to replace milk.
This charming café is hidden behind a narrow passageway. The waiter directed us to the first floor, which was packed with young people enjoying their coffee, seated on stools that were barely six inches tall. We were pleasantly surprised that the egg coffee didn’t have the eggy taste that we were expecting — it tasted more like a thick and creamy cappuccino.
Most buildings here are shophouses comprising of a shop on the ground floor facing the street. In between these shops are dark and narrow corridors, barely wide enough for a scooter to go through, that lead to a common courtyard and multiple closely packed residential apartments. It is not uncommon here for occupants to share facilities like kitchen and bathrooms. This communal way of living makes life in Old Quarters Hanoi very close knit, and we found everybody cordial. The residents typically do not speak English, but they find ways to communicate with tourists: when we purchased a bottle of water the shopkeeper used a calculator to show the price.
The long history of this region has resulted in a kaleidoscope of different architecture styles. In ancient times, merchants constructed temples to honour the deity associated with their trade. Some of these temples are still standing and provide a calming relief to the otherwise busy commercial centre. French influence on the architecture is also discernible. The French colonised much of Vietnam from the late 19th century to the mid of the 20th century as part of French Indochina. This colonial past gives many of the buildings here a distinctly European flavour, like the St. Joseph’s Cathedral — the oldest church in Hanoi.
Buildings here are tall, narrow, and stacked closely together like books in a bookshelf. This has led to some of the most creative use of indoor space that we have ever seen: the Airbnb we stayed in was hardly the size of a room, but within that space the owner had managed to fit in a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, a hot tub, and even a small pond with fishes! Do check out Hao’s place on Airbnb if you are ever in Hanoi.
For centuries these streets have been the commercial center of Hanoi. And it still is. People throng to these streets for shopping. Old Quarters comprises of thirty-six streets, each dedicated to a different craft. Hang Gai Street, for example, is known for silk — a great option for a souvenir. There are many other souvenir shops in this area. Figurines, lanterns, masks, stamps also make for terrific mementos.
Another unique souvenir are old propaganda posters. Made from rice paper, these replicas of the war time Communist propaganda during the Second Indochina war — better known as the American War in Vietnam — are a collector’s delight. The artwork included scenes depicting the shooting down of US-AF planes by the People’s Army of Vietnam, posters deriding President Nixon and captions extolling the virtues of Communism and Hồ Chí Minh. Another poster that stood out to me was that of the Trưng sisters riding a war elephant into battle. In 40AD, the Trưng Sisters, led a successful rebellion against the Chinese Han Dynasty, and are considered national heroes.
When night falls everyone heads to Hanoi’s famous Beer Street for one large party. The entire street is taken over by the pubs that line the sides of the road — leaving very little room to walk. Amid the bright lights and loud music waiters try to woo tourists. The entire scene was surreal.
Tired of roaming the streets on foot we decided to retire early to bed. The party at Beer Street was sure to continue late into the night, but we had to head to Ninh Bình early next morning. Old Quarters’ narrow streets — so full of life, history, and culture — left a lasting impression on us. I remember thinking that this trip couldn’t possibly get any better. Little did I know Ninh Bình was going to prove me wrong…
This article is the first of a two part series on our trip to Vietnam in October 2022. To read about our visit to Ninh Binh click the following link.
