MAY 2023 · ESCAPE
Old quarter and backstreets of Hanoi
Hanoi Old Quarter, Vietnam
The train tracks run through an alley in the Old Quarter. The rails are set into the brick at ground level and the buildings are a metre or two from the line on each side. When no train is coming, which is most of the time, vendors set up along both edges and tourists walk down the middle. At intervals, a train moves through — slow enough that vendors pull their stalls back a metre and then replace them once it's past.
The lanes are narrow enough that workshop doors opening onto the street feel like an invitation inside. You pass a cluttered storefront packed with motorbike parts, the inventory catalogued by some system invisible to the outsider. You pass a metal workshop, tools on the walls, the work visible from the pavement. The narrowness makes everything public.
The narrowness makes everything public.
Hanoi Old Quarter — May 2023
On blue plastic stools in a shaded section, vendors sit in a row. The stool and the lane produce each other: low enough to fit in a tight space, portable, cheap, easily arranged and rearranged. On another street, garden nursery plants and flowers are displayed on the pavement, a motorbike loaded with goods parked beside them. Everything happens at street level.
At one alley entrance, brick walls and a narrow track, shuttered storefronts and the overhead wire tangle above. A single person stands on the tracks. The scale is immediate — the lane is exactly wide enough to walk two abreast if one of you turns sideways.
The motorbike is the unit of logistics. Cargo arrives loaded on bikes, riders navigating between the vendors and the pedestrians. A motorbike transporting something large moves through in black and white, the goods stacked higher than the rider. The guild street system that organised the trades centuries ago now operates on the same footprint with different contents — the form holding, the commerce adapted.
Hanoi Old Quarter alley with train tracks, vendors and visitors on both sides
Vintage locomotive moving through street-level tracks in Hanoi Old Quarter alley, vendors pulling back to let it pass
Cluttered workshop storefront packed with motorbike parts and merchandise
Motorbike vendors transporting large cargo loads on city street in black and white
Colorful street market stall with shopkeeper and child in red dress walking by
Motorbikes and merchandise scattered on narrow street with workshop buildings
Garden nursery plants and flowers displayed on busy Hanoi street
Street corner with vendor stalls and motor scooters parked along alley
Pedestrian walking past vendor stalls with hanging red lanterns and signage
Narrow brick alley with train tracks, shuttered storefronts, and overhead wires
Street vendors sitting on blue plastic stools along shaded alleyway
Old apartment building facade with open windows overlooking narrow street
Single person standing on brick train tracks running through Old Quarter alley
Metal workshop with open storefront displaying tools and metal goods
Shaded street corner with multiple vendors seated on stools and motorbikes
Vendor stalls and merchandise displayed under trees along street sidewalk
Interior workshop space visible through open storefront with various supplies
Street market with vendor preparing goods at wooden stall
Alley entrance with metal gate and vendor stalls arranged along street
Narrow street lined with shuttered shops and parked motorbikes
Storefront with hanging merchandise and goods stacked on sidewalk
Street vendor stall with colorful goods under covered market area
Workshop entrance with metal work and equipment visible inside
Alley lined with vendor stalls, parked scooters, and hanging signs
Busy street market with multiple vendors and shoppers in cramped space
Overhead view of crowded street with vendors and motorbikes
Street vendor at stall with merchandise arranged on display
Pedestrians walking past open storefronts in narrow Old Quarter alley
Vendor tending shop stall in shaded Old Quarter street
Market street crowded with shoppers browsing vendor stalls
Street corner with multiple vendor stalls and foot traffic
Alleyway with decorative elements and vendor stalls along sides
Shop entrance with colorful merchandise displayed outside
Street vendor preparing goods at outdoor market stall
Narrow alley with parked motorbikes and shuttered storefronts
Old building facade with weathered walls and vendor stall below
Market stall with hanging goods and merchandise on display
Street vendor surrounded by product displays in busy market area
Alley scene with vendor and parked motorbikes
Workshop storefront with open doors and merchandise visible
Street market with vendor tending stall in shaded location