Clothes are hurriedly unpegged from the clotheslines spanning the width of the street, children are ushered indoors and mopeds are wheeled to the relative safety of doorways. In just a matter two minutes, this Hanoi neighbourhood goes from a bustling hive of activity to an eerie ghost town. All shops are closed without warning and the residents disappear.
At first, you can feel the slight rumbling underfoot, and then the high pitched screeching of wheels on the track. Then comes the horn blast, echoing off the narrow alleyway as one final warning for anyone that remains outdoors. The train speeds past the buildings with just inches to spare. Any remaining pedestrians press themselves tightly to walls with a startling nonchalance as the carriages narrowly miss the end of their nose.
The train is gone as quickly as it arrives. Within seconds of it passing, children bound back towards the centre of the road to once again play amongst the sleepers. The community emerges to carry on with their day as if nothing had happened.
This is Hanoi’strain street’, located in the Old Quarter, just a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake. For an outsider like me, it seems like an extraordinary place to live, but for the few Hanoians that reside on this small stretch of track, it is their home.
Tall, narrow buildings claustrophobically tower over either side of the path while below, people live out their lives on their doorsteps. Fragrant aromas emanate from pots of broth cooking in porches, mixing with the smog, exhaust and odours of street food to create a bouquet so uniquely Vietnamese. Women wash their laundry in basins propped against the rails before hanging it along the width of the street to dry and men with oil-soaked hands tend to their mopeds. I even saw one man with a bowl of soapy water shaving his head while sat between the sleepers. If you get past the idea of the two steel lines that stretch down its centre, this is really just a Hanoi street like any other, only rather than dodging a constant barrage of motorcycles, you have the twice-daily train to contend with.
It is this spectacle that has recently seen more and more tourists flock to train street, hoping to capture that perfect Instagram pose while walking the lines or witness the madness of a speeding train rushing just inches from the buildings. I have to say that is why I visited. I wanted to see this unique place for myself.
I arrived a little early for the train, overestimating how long the walk from my hostel would take. However, my punctuality proved to be an advantage as I got to see how the people here live with the regular coming and going of the city’s rail service. It was the calm before the train. A few old women shuffled over the tracks to water their plants while people sat atop the rails, chatting as if it were a regular street. Then, all at once, without even a cursory glance at a watch or clock, people got up and moved inside. Years of living to the trains timetable seem to have seared it in their minds and tuned their body clocks to know exactly when the train was to arrive.
The people here seem to have developed a harmonious coexistence with the coming and going of the Hue to Hanoi train. As it passes, people re-emerge from their homes into the trail of exhaust and smoke, ready to carry on with their day. While to me this was an unusual sight, to the people that live on Train Street, it was just a normal part of everyday life.
Where to find Hanoi’s Train Street
Train street is situated between Le Duan and Kham Tien street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. It takes around 30 minutes to walk from Hoan Kiem lake. I recommend putting Ngo 224 Le Duan, the name of the street, into google maps and letting that guide you.
There is a similar spot directly west of Hoan Kiem lake, between Trần Phú and Điện Biên Phủ streets that is a shorter walk from the old quarter. This is the street that I visited
When to See the Train
The train travels down Ngo 224 Le Duan each day at 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm as it makes its way from Hue to Long Bien railway station. I recommend getting there early but make sure that you are in a safe spot for when the train passes. The train isn’t likely to stop if you are caught in the middle of the track when it passes. Getting a cool photo isn’t worth the chance of death.
2 Responses
This is utterly fantastic! I’m so cross that I didn’t get to see this when I was in Hanoi but entering the streets at 40 degrees celsius in high humidity probably would have made me pass out before I even got there! Great descriptions, mate!
I can’t believe I missed this spot when I was in Hanoi years ago. There’s always somewhere you just never hear of until you are home. Oh well, now I know for next time, and it looks like the train street is a spot worth seeing!