Hanoi Weekend Night Market @ Old Quarters near Hoan Kiem Lake in Vietnam

Some streets at Hanoi Old Quarter would be closed to motor vehicles on weekends in an initiative known as Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets and one of the things that arose was the weekend night market! 

Almost 700 meters long, the night market (highlighted in yellow) started from the intersection of P. Hàng Gai, P. Cầu Gỗ and P. Hàng Đào (near Shark Jaws Building) and all the way to Dong Xuan Market, along P. Hàng Đào, P. Hàng Ngang, Hàng Đường and P. Đồng Xuân. 

Under the the cooling spring weather, it was comfortable going through all the stalls, and it helped that many were not selling food as it was mentally torturing to be faced with so much delicious looking food, and yet not having the stomach capacity to try ALL of them. 

Anyway, photo-loaded post for your reference, and let the photos do the writing instead, metaphorically. Serious, how much can I write with just a photo of the hat rack? 

Since my hair is easily flattened and I am under the impression that keeping them covered would result in my hair not being able to "breathe", hence resulting in hair loss etc, you don't really see me wearing any hat / cap. 

I did regret not buying these rubber sandals / slippers! Cute designs (although it might be embarrassing to wear them out) and cheaper than in Singapore. 

Bundles and bundles of socks! 50,000 dong for 10 pairs, meaning each pair was just about Singapore 30 cents. I have an anxiety with socks whenever I am with Alex; still remember the time he bought 30 pairs of socks in Taiwan!? 

Clothes; now that I am older, I am happy going for plain tops without any / much designs. And honestly, having a few favorite tops from Uniqlo would be sufficient. 

Not many stalls selling counterfeit branded bags even though I have never seen the need for it. If I am really in need of branded goods, why is there a need to buy counterfeit products? *shrugs*

The small haversacks had extremely adorable designs! 

Cute boxer briefs!

p.s. the one with the face of stitch.

Comic figurines of characters that I am acquainted with! When I was younger, I always said I would buy them to decorate my own house. Now that I have my own place, I have scrapped the idea as it's a fact that they would attract dust and increase the time needed for me to clean up! 

Gigantic lego figurines. I do notice they are the rage in recent times; to me, they face the same challenge of eventually collecting dust. Maybe a large one, as a welcoming mascot to the house, is a more palatable solution.

The streets were flanked on both sides with permanent shops and some would also open to attract the crowds visiting the weekend night markets. This "lego" store had the more massive figurines; maybe I should consider if there's a one that meets my requirement; piggy bank in the shape of a pig. 

Random stuff like lacquered boxes, spinners, hair clips with a cute duckling, wooden statues (the pigs are not piggy banks, sadly) and combs, iron-on patches, sunglasses, perfume, soft toys etc. 

Recent fascination for crocheted / knitted stuff, which I didn't understand. However, there was apparently a huge market for them, and some of my friends are apparently hooked on knitting / crocheting. 

Guess these were lucky wood / stone that can be strung up as bag accessories or even house decorations. Since I don't recognize the words, I didn't bother checking further.

Nice, bamboo cups! Those who have been to my house before would know I am not big on wood-colored materials, preferring to go with dark colors, where possible. Maybe my next home would be wood themed. 

Exquisite smoking pipes! While I don't smoke, I smoke before and am always curious about such smoking pipes. Such pipe smoking is said to be a culture of Vietnam; you may read more here. 

A discussion I just had with my sister; would you dare to buy luggage when you are overseas? I am not keen as there's always the question mark on its quality, especially when you can bargain heavily! No guarantee on warranty too! 

Paintings; as mentioned always, my house is dark color themed and to add "colors", I am inclined to use paintings. Problem with me is that there has yet to be one that I find to be suitable. Maybe I should just use photographs.

3D cards and these were in designs related to Vietnam; like notable attractions and even daily farm life in Vietnam. Issue is; no many people would use physical cards nowadays.

Occasional food stalls; we didn't see that many in this night market.

Watches of just a few dollars. 

I am happy with just an Apple Watch.

Touristy items. When people ask if Hanoi Old Quarter is touristy, my answer is "yes". However, being touristy also means more convenience for the travelers and in this case, not necessarily a lot more expensive as there are also more competitors.

I spotted piggy banks! A bit regretted not buying the pink one with long eye lashes as I just purchased one pig earlier in the day at the piggy bank street in Hanoi. 

Wooden plaques that were generally in the Vietnamese language. 

Cute corgis in one of the shops! Dog eating is not that uncommon in Vietnam but many pet dogs can be found roaming in such ground floor stores. Aren't the owners worried?! 

This gentleman in black was so tall! Although I am envious, I have long accepted my height and can even make fun of it. Furthermore, given how clumsy I am, I would have hit my head numerous times should I be so high up! 

Beggar on the street. Face was blurred for privacy. She wasn't being a nuisance and just quietly sitting down with an overturned non la. 

More photographs of the night market; maybe because it was a Sunday night, it wasn't as crowded. In actual fact, the Hanoi Walking / Pedestrian Streets were more crowded in the afternoon. 

Ending the post with a photograph of Dong Xuan market, signifying the end of the night market. In summary, the night market should be penciled in as part of your itinerary, and maybe after dinner as it was nice to walk without motor vehicles, and a great way to digest after a heavy meal. 

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