Photo courtesy of williewonker
Walking in the Old Quarter, the first thing that comes to mind was that it feels as if I’ve stepped into the past. I wasn’t around in the late 70s, but from impressions told to me by my parents, pictures, and films, the feel of everything here seems 1970s.
Shophouses, crowded streets, 1920s art deco architecture, street stalls… This was probably what the streets of downtown Singapore looked like twenty odd years ago. The closest thing to the Old Quarter we have back in Singapore is probably Katong. Only the architecture is vaguely similar though.
In the trains, the PA system plays 70s style guitar music, complete with foreigner-induction of the history of Hanoi, its legends, and how proud they are of their city.
The train rolls by the countryside: verdant paddy fields, farm animals like ducks, water buffaloes, and the occasional herd of goats dot the greenery.
Shops here close from 12-2pm for an afternoon “siesta”. Once I had to knock on the shutters of a photocopy shop for 15 minutes at 1:30pm, then had a half dazed, post-nap young woman open up the shutters, simply because I had to get something printed urgently. Really felt bad about doing that.
Life seems alot simpler here in Hanoi, what with people playing chess at parks in the afternoon, drinking green tea, and afternoon siestas.
Try really hard and you can actually ffind 1980s priced food on the streets of Hanoi. A bowl of piping hot beef noodles cost no more than a dollar and a half. Coca Cola served in glass bottles.
On The Road Again 