The Old Quarter of Hanoi
The Old Quarter of Hanoi is a good place to stay, for it offers a wide selection of basic hotels with free Internet, quiet rooms, decent food, and cable TV. Also, the quarter is close to Hoan Kiem Lake, as well as many of the markets, scores of good restaurants, and several travel agencies who can arrange further travel, including tours, and confirm flights for visitors.
In the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Ma May is one of the principal streets, and branching from it is Hang Buom, another main street. The latter is particularly interesting, for it has on it an extensive collection of varied architecture, from pre-Colonial shophouses and Colonial villas to Soviet-era concrete slab buildings. Also on Hang Buom is one of the oldest surviving temples in Hanoi, the Bach Ma Temple, dating from the 18th century, but originally founded in the ninth century.
Dong Xuan, the largest covered market in Hanoi, is located on the eastern edge of the Old Quarter, not far from the Water Puppet Theater. It is three levels of food stalls and shops, spilling over with anything and everything you can imagine!
South from the Dong Xuan market, heading toward the lake, is the Museum of Independence, located at 48 Hang Ngang. The museum is notable as the site where Ho Chi Minh drafted his Declaration of Independence for the “Democratic” Republic of Vietnam in 1945. Admission to the museum is free, and on the two upper levels you can see how the father of modern Vietnam lived.
South still, a short walk from the museum toward the lake, lies a realtime shopper’s paradise!
© Indian Chief Travel Guides
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