Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets on Weekends @ Old Quarter in Vietnam

A question I was often asked after my trip to Hanoi was:

"Where would be a good area to stay?"

My answer, if the intention is to stay over the weekends, would be Hanoi's old quarter as some vehicular roads in that area would be converted to pedestrian streets from 7pm on Fridays till end of Sundays! Trust me, it's a lot more relaxing when you don't have to worry about cars and motorbikes zooming past you.

Bonsella Hotel is right at the border of the Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets and this made it extremely convenient as vehicles can still use the nearby roads and that's helpful when we were scheduled for a day trip to Halong Bay on a Saturday. 

So let's proceed on a photo tour, where I would showcase "life" on a weekend at Hanoi's popular old quarter area. It's really an eye opener, and I think it's brilliant for the authority to allow this on a weekly basis since 2016. 

Space in front of Shark Jaws building; usually filled with motor vehicles, you can see the street hawkers in full force although what you see here paled in comparison with the streets nearer to Hanoi opera house. 

Shark Jaws building; known officially as Ho Guom Plaza, it's the same place where we had our first Vietnamese grilled fish and hotpot. I also went Laika Cafe on my last second day to take some time-lapsed videos. 

Iconic vermillion red bridge at Hoan Kiem Lake; this linked to a little island within the lake that housed a temple known as Ngoc Son Temple. Despite staying so near, I paid a visit only on my last day! 

Looks like clay figurines on sticks; I wonder if these were popular with kids nowadays. Well, there were some popular characters like Luffy from the One-Piece manga.

Entrance for Ngoc Son Temple although not the one that required a ticket to go in. The official ticketed entrance would next to the vermillion bridge. 

Had ice cream from an ice cream truck by Kem Tươi Plo.

Click here for more information. :) 

Not hard to recognize the character this street performer was masquerading as; Sun Wukong! This kind of reminded me of what we encountered along Nguyen Hue Walking Street at Ho Chi Minh City.

Trees of sausages and fishballs! To be honest, they didn't look too appetizing and it's fair for me to say that they would likely turn cold very quickly in the cool Hanoi climate.

Notice the word "Singapore" on the signboard for three shops! In Singapore, ice cream sold with bread etc were more commonly sold from mobile stalls; didn't know they had such following overseas. You can click here for my post on such traditional ice cream in Singapore. 

The Note Coffee cafe - listed as one of 50 Most Instagrammable Cafes in the World! Check out my post here for more photographs. p.s. don't be deceived by its messy, ugly facade. 

I went back to Bonsella Hotel to pick up Alex who couldn't withstand the constant walking, and had to take a nap. I was out again in less than 30 minutes, with Alex, and chanced upon a street barber!

This time round, I walked the other way, away from Shark Jaws building and along Hoan Kiem Lake. Even though I had jogged around the lake a few times, it had always been contained with the lake's perimeter. 

Hoan Kiem District Police station; likely a heritage building with French influences. Even the words commissariat de police means police station in French. 

This should be a new hotel that was undergoing renovation. I tried searching for its name on Google Map but couldn't find anything! If pricing is less than S$100 a night, I wouldn't mind staying there on my next visit! 

Kiddy rides here were on another level altogether! There were two wheelers, four wheel drives, ambulance, police cars, sports cars etc. 

What caught me by surprise were the "tankers"! 

Accidents do happen, despite the much slower speed. As pedestrians, do still walk with care as many of the young "drivers" have no inkling on safety. And I didn't see them accompanied with parents. 

McDonald's! Alex had to go up and grab some comfort food. Thank god the queue appeared too long; I wouldn't want to waste time having food in a fast food restaurant that I can find in Singapore! 

View of the street from second level of McDonald's.

It was interesting, and funny, to note that in the two times I visited Vietnam; I had spoilt two pairs of slippers. I guess I do walk a lot in Vietnam and that's not exactly good news for Alex, especially when we are planning for a trip to Danang next March! 

Helium balloon sellers. I am not against the sellers; however, I think helium balloons shouldn't be sold given their environment impact, and that they can be stuck on trees, resulting in municipal headaches. Click here to read more. 

Congregation of sellers! 

For the above, it would be cotton candies! 

French fries from this stall right next to the original store for Kem Tràng Tiền. The fries cost 45,000 dong (about S$2.50) and I didn't quite like as they were bland! Alex opined that they were healthier and texture remained crispy throughout. 

Seemed like some fashion photoshoot for young kids. I always wondered if this is something that a kid has to go through; maybe times are different now. Back when boomer here was a child, playing games with friends were the most enjoyable activity on weekends. Wait, I wasn't good looking too. Haha.

Buying cut / sliced fruits from the street hawker. I may not be a clean freak but my sensitive stomach always warns me the perils of eating something unclean.

I always wonder if it is a male or female under the costume. As such costumes can weigh a ton, I have always assumed that there's a higher male proportion. 

Well, who said adults can't have fun!? I am too embarrassed to do so although if someone is willing to pay for me; I am game to give it a try! 

These boxes of Lego characters cost just 50,000 dong for three! That's like only S$1 per box and you can find many familiar characters like Crayon Shinchan, Hello Kitty, Doraemon, Super Mario etc. 

Street of portrait sketches! The one thing I really wanted to do was to have caricature drawing of myself in every foreign country so that I can eventually frame them and put them up on my empty walls. At the moment, I only had one from Krabi! 

Hoa Phong Tower that borders Hoan Kiem Lake.

This street appeared quite happening! 

Curiosity drove me to take a closer look! 

A street filled with book stores! In the past, I would have stepped in to take a look and maybe buy books from my favorite authors. Sadly, I don't really read much nowadays. 

Coloring activity for families with young kids. One thing about Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets is that it was well received amongst the local population, especially families with young children.

Known as the oldest fountain Hanoi with a history of more than 120 years, its unique feature was the four toads spraying water at the 3.5-meter tall central column; hence the name, the toad fountain that's housed within the Toad Flower Garden. 

Tonkin Palace, built in 1919 to house the French governor. It's now used "as the State Guest House of the Vietnamese Government". Doesn't matter much for me as even if it is for public use, stingy me wouldn't pay for the likely high accommodate rate it would rightfully command. 

Meditators. Honestly not a good area to meditate given the noisy environment.

Children playing football next to the Sword Lake Octagon House; latter was said to be a heritage building but online information on it didn't mention much on its origin. 

Lý Thái Tổ Monument - the 10.1 meters tall bronze statue of Emperor Ly Thai To, who founded the city of Thang Long (former name of Hanoi) in Year 1010. This differs from the nearby King Le Thai To Monument which honored a king a few centuries later.

The square in front of the Lý Thái Tổ Monument.

With the icon of  Hoan Kiem Lake right in front! 

I guess this was a school trip. 

Again, the dreaded helium balloon. 

There's an iconic structure at Hoan Kiem Lake and there's also an iconic tree! Facing the Turtle Tower, people were drawn to the pretty red flowers that blossomed from the thin branches jutting out from its large, thick trunk.

Building for the People's Committee of Hà Nội. 

Only thing I noticed? The portrait of Uncle Ho Chi Minh!

Gentleman with his fluffy pomeranian.

Henna but missing the stall owner! In Singapore, we always prefer a more structure way of operating a business although I think it does stifle creativity and entrepreneurship. 

With exposed roots that had creeped to the road, this tree would have been deemed dangerous here on our little red dot. It has the potential of resulting in car accidents, injuries to cyclists and maybe even pedestrians. However, this begets the question; who is there first? The tree or the road?

Martyrs Monument - according to a Tripadvisor's reviewer, it's also known as "Suicide Monument and commemorates the Vietnamese soldiers who died fighting for independence".

Kids playing safely on the road.

A pop-up flea market that sold a mix of both traditional Vietnamese craft and also contemporary items that would, hopefully, draw the younger generation. 

There were many such narrow hotels at Hanoi and you have a lot of choices within the old quarter. I was drawn to the name of this classic street hotel as the streets in the old quarter would have fallen into my category of classic. 

We returned back to the Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets at night as it was Sunday and would be the last night we could enjoy the streets with no vehicles as we would be flying back to Singapore in a few days' time. 

Street performers with one of them using this one-string instrument known as Dan Bau that I remember from the Water Puppetry Show @ Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre! 

The happening Beer Street! Compared to the night we visited, there were more tables and chairs out on the street! Guess the authorities wouldn't come by since this Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets initiative was official.

In the cool weather, it was just so relaxing to stroll along the streets! Maybe it's just me since I really do enjoy walking, but I guess it's also more comfortable since the chance of sweating was so much lower.

Cheese ice cream as a reward! At 15,000 dong, this tasted better than the two other ice creams I had on the same day; it wasn't as creamy though. I also had a grilled meat skewer purchased from a stall near Shark Jaws building. 

Do also check out the nearby Weekend Night Market that stretched for about 700 meters! Those thinking that it would be food, food and more food, would be assured that food stalls constituted a very small percentage; less than 5%.

Ending this post with a picture of Shark Jaws building and the fountain at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. In usual times, it's hard to get near to the water fountain, given the never-ending vehicular traffic! 

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Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam