This is Hanoi Train Street located in the Old Quarter. For outsiders this might
seem like a bizarre place to live but for the few Hanoians that reside on the
small stretch of track this is their home. Tall, narrow buildings tower over
both sides of the path while at ground level people live out their lives on
their doorsteps. The people here seem to have developed a hormonious
coexistence with the coming and going of the train. Ss it passes people re-emerge
from their homes ready to carry on with their day.
I arrived a little early so I could see how the people here live with the
regular coming and going off the city's rail service. Tt was the calm before the
train. A few women were cleaning up, kids on their way to school, guys getting
ready for work while tourists sat atop the rails chatting as if it were a
regular street. Then suddenly the locals got up and started moving their
belongings off the track. Years of living on the train's timetable seemed to have
cemented it in their minds and turned their body clocks to know exactly when
the train will arrive.
As the Train sped past the buildings with just inches to spare,
pedestrians press themselves tightly to walls with a startling look as the
carriages narrowly missed the end of their nose. The Train is gone as quickly
as it arrived. Within seconds of its passing children bounce back towards the
center of the track once again to play. The community emerges to carry on with their
day as if nothing ever happened. It is this
spectacle that has recently seen more and more tourists flocked 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. If you get past the idea of the two steal lines that stretch
down its center, this is really just another Street in Hanoi, only rather than
dodging a constant barrage of motorcycles, you have the train a few
times a day the contend with.