Duc Vu – Maze Vietnam https://www.mazevietnam.com Your Travel Buddy for Every Step of your Journey Fri, 27 Jul 2018 09:44:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.15 https://www.mazevietnam.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cropped-logomaze-32x32.jpg Duc Vu – Maze Vietnam https://www.mazevietnam.com 32 32 Local Markets in Hanoi https://www.mazevietnam.com/2017/05/12/local-markets-in-hanoi/ https://www.mazevietnam.com/2017/05/12/local-markets-in-hanoi/#respond Fri, 12 May 2017 11:06:52 +0000 https://www.mazevietnam.com/?p=4326 Dusty, crowded yet beyond the joy that a place can be, Hanoi’s markets are surely

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]]> Dusty, crowded yet beyond the joy that a place can be, Hanoi’s markets are surely where the breath of life comes from.

Markets are something indispensable in the capital’s daily life but their stories behind are frequently omitted. As I swept through some websites, what I found was far more than what I had expected. There are some sources referred to the first existence of markets in Thăng Long (former name of Hanoi) in the 15th century. However, according to other researchers, those markets first appeared in the 11th century under the permission of Lý Thái Tổ Emperor. In the late 19th century when French colonialists invaded Hà Nội, these markets were one by one professionally commercialized with a wide range of products including some imported from Europe, India and Hong Kong with products like soap and perfume.  Nowadays, if you take a look around the city, you can definitely see numerous markets including the biggest such as Hôm, Đồng Xuân, Bưởi to smaller ones such as Bách Khoa, Thành Công, Trại Cá and other retailers along the railways, rivers or apartments.

What I find interesting about these retailers is that as long as they have goods, a wooden folding table, a conical hat and a few of other sellers, then they can turn the whole place into a spontaneous market. For the bigger ones, what you can find is uncountable, from accessories, garments, shoes to vegetables, fruits, poultry, cattle or even food stalls serving phở, crab soup noodles (bún riêu cua), beef soup noodles (bún riêu bò), fermented rice sheets (bánh cuốn), sticky rice cakes and so on. Trust me, that kind of food you can find in those local markets is the best.

To sum up, markets in Hà Nội have seemed to be a traditional beauty of the capital, and I just cannot even imagine when local markets are totally replaced by shopping malls only. That makes me ponder!

Here are some photos taken by our contributor Duc Vu in a typical local market in Hanoi.

To see more photos, check the open album below or go to Flickr: Photo Album Flickr (Please use the left/right arrows to navigate in the files of the open album)


All Photos taken by Duc Vu
Words by Trang Nguyen

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]]> https://www.mazevietnam.com/2017/05/12/local-markets-in-hanoi/feed/ 0 Ta Hien – Beer Street in Hanoi https://www.mazevietnam.com/2017/03/20/ta-hien-beer-street-in-hanoi/ https://www.mazevietnam.com/2017/03/20/ta-hien-beer-street-in-hanoi/#comments Mon, 20 Mar 2017 12:45:26 +0000 https://www.mazevietnam.com/?p=3780 ‘Let’s go to Tạ Hiện and grab some beer’ is a common invitation that you

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]]> ‘Let’s go to Tạ Hiện and grab some beer’ is a common invitation that you will get when you are staying in Hanoi. Tạ Hiện, a famous street of 266 m in length, is definitely a must-visit place in Hanoi Old Quarter. Not naturally that people call Tạ Hiện the “international intersection” because this is where they can see how the Western culture harmonizes with Eastern one. And sometimes you will even hear people call it the “Western street” or “Foreign street” – “Phố Tây” for each step of your way is probably a foreign guy sitting and enjoying his beer with some snacks.There is an interesting fact that I often hear from a group of people, mostly the elderly, that Ta Hien (Tạ Hiện) is pronounced Tạ Hiền. The second way of pronunciation is 100 percent untrue because the name of the street is originally taken after that of a famous general in Vietnam, Tạ Quang Hiện. However, Vietnamese people still sometimes use it just because it is easier to pronounce.
Personally, I think Tạ Hiện street is like a narrow or a mini version of a food heaven with lots of super small alleyways and twisted intersections, which I presume very fit for a curious explorer who wants to enjoy a little bit taste of rusticity. If you want some more adventure, come here at night but do not say that I have not warned you that it is very crowded! I used to come here with my friends at about 10 pm and it took me about 15 minutes to worn my way through the crowd and another 15 minutes to get back since there are lots of bars, beer, and clubs with flocks of people sitting on the sidewalks. Nevertheless, I did not regret about going there because the foods were great, the atmosphere was perfect and above all, I could make new friends. And sometimes it is great to talk to strangers in the middle of Hanoi. Now, take a look at some of the photos taken by Duc Vu at Maze Vietnam in Tạ Hiện!

To see more photos, check the open album below or go to Flickr: Photo Album Flickr (Please use the left/right arrows to navigate in the files of the open album)

Words by Content writer Trang Nguyen
Photos by Contributor Duc Vu

To see more photos about Tạ Hiện and other interesting streets in Hanoi Old Quarter at night, please click here

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