The area is famous for its streets that are packed with century-old shop-houses specialising in a particular trade… such as shoes, bags, toys, medicines, metals and bamboos etc. The speciality of each street is reflected by the road names.
The Old Quarter is also called the 36 Streets… perhaps the number of streets when the French started to rebuild the area in the 19th century.
These days there are probably more than 40 streets in Old Quarter, but most of the streets are quite short and could be easily navigated on foot.
I was a bit lazy to walk though, as the summer heat was killing me; so I decided to try the cyclo ride instead, which cost me about US$4 for an hour tour around the area…
I want that spiderman kite, lol. Those masks are pretty cool too.
That spiderman has a batman wings… how odd is that? :p
Lol, that ‘is’ odd. Spidey doesn’t sport a cape or wings as far as I remember. Just sticky spiderweb in his wrists to swing from building to building.
wow, it does look very charming esp the greens in the old houses… the trishaws. and the masks! vietnam is opening up, and if done well, will be a big tourist attraction & for biz too :)
Ya, Hanoi is a nostalgic place. Old houses, plenty of trees, and old style living. It is growing fast into tourist city… I actually have a feeling that Hanoi is already on par with Kuala Lumpur in terms of tourists numbers.
[...] I think most of the locals are not using it though; it’s more for tourism instead. I had a ride in Old Quarter during my Hanoi visit in July 2008; but the racers didn’t have the leisure as I did, as they [...]