Wandering the streets of Hanoi

I’m a big fan of just wandering, exploring random streets with the hope of stumbling across something different. Before heading out of Hanoi on an overnight train, we had a brilliant day of wandering, with a little help from the LP.

We learnt that the Vietnamese can produce amazing patisserie and French bread, not that I could eat them but the lovely aromas reminded me of childhood holidays to France. I can only assume the bakery skills are one of the left over products of French protectionism (or colonisation, dependent on whose opinion you prefer). We also tested out an ice-creamery, ordering scoops that were sculpted into comedic Vietnamese objects like a trishaw complete with a cone hat.

Our wanders took us into the maze of the Old Quarter where streets were divided up into particular trades: streets of floristry, haberdashery, paper and metal works among them. It was people watching at it’s best. The metal work street was my favourite with sparks flying everywhere and saws eagerly cutting through pipes in every shop, one after another. Pots of food and the small stools full of people slurping down the Pho blocked every pavement. We went down one street and I noticed something was wrong: it was quiet, too small for mopeds to zip down and devoid of eateries for just a few moments of peace.

To see how people used to live in the Old Quarter, we visited Memorial House, a restored traditional dwelling complete with age old crafts. This house was part of a group producing votive paper and fake bank notes used as offerings in temples. The style was very similar to the house in Melaka, with a shop opening at the front and a large open courtyard in the middle of the dwelling acting as an air conditioning system. One room upstairs was completely dedicated to remembering past members of the family, with a temple like ambience.

Walking out quite calmly into four lanes of whizzing traffic, I didn’t really want to move on from Hanoi yet. I could have just stayed, watched the world go by and slurped down a lot more noodles.