Old Quarter Streets

Two weekends ago, we decided to walk through Hanoi's Old Quarter. Eric has been to Hanoi a lot, but admitted he'd never done the 'tourist thing' and actually gone on the self-guided walking tour of Vietnam's most famous shop-a-thon. So off we went.

Hanoi’s Old Quarter is the oldest continuously developed area in Vietnam. Its history spans over 2,000 years. Located between Hoan Kiem Lake (or the Lake of the Restored Sword), the Long Bien Bridge, a former city rampart, and a citadel wall. The Old Quarter started out as a swamp full of crocodiles and snakes, which later evolved into a cluster of villages made up of houses on stilts. Later, Chinese administrators who occupied the area unified the villages by building ramparts around their headquarters.

The Old Quarter began to acquire a reputation when the Vietnamese attained independence in the 11th century and King Ly Thai To built his palace there. In the early 13th century, the collection of tiny workshop villages around the palace walls evolved into craft cooperatives, or guilds. Skilled craftsmen migrated to the Quarter, and artisan guilds were formed by craftsmen originating from the same village and performing similar services. Members of the guilds worked and lived together, creating a cooperative system for transporting merchandise to the designated streets in the business quarter. Each guild was set up on a different street. The streets were named after the merchandise sold or the work carried out. For example, you’ll find the 'blacksmith' street full of metal workers and the 'shoe' street' full of...you guested it. Shoes.

In today's Old Quarter, you can still find any type of trade, and some streets still sell the original merchandise it was named after. Personally, it took some time to soak up the atmosphere and to get used to the noise, smells and chaos.

Eric and Pearce standing at the original entrance into the city.


Wendi and Pearce checking out the selection at the Old Quarter Market.


Eric and Peace deciding on what to buy...live baby crabs, eels or prawns. Pearce turned his nose up on all three "Eheww Mamma".


The parking situation: park where you can. Who needs side walks?


Pearce making friends with the locals.

We bought several gifts for some of our readers, including you, Connor. And we also had the worst chocolate ice cream of all time. All in all, it made for a good use of about five hours. Not sure if I'd want to live there. But shop? Absolutely.