Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Apart from Hoi An, Hanoi is Vietnam’s only city where ancient streets can be found. These streets still keep the same appearance that they had at the end of 19th century. According to historical sources, they have been the true core of Thang Long since its foundation about a thousand years ago.

The area occupied by these ancient streets forms a triangle with its top at Hang Than street and its base at the axis of Hang Bong - Hang Gai - Cau Go street, the eastern side being a section of the Red River Dyke and the eastern side being Hang Cot, Hang Dieu, and Hang Da streets.

Read the rest of this entry »

List of hotels in Hanoi

Read the rest of this entry »

Location: Yen Phu Incense Village is in the Yen Phu city gate, located on the edge of the mysterious West Lake in Tay Ho District , Hanoi.
Characteristic: Besides the ornamental fish breeding, inhabitants in the village have done incense for long time.

According to the some documentation and the village elders, Chinese handed down the work of making incense since the 13th century. The Buddhism and the custom of burning incense was developed here and many other places. In the 20th century, making incense developed strongly and not only attracts people in this village but also in the other villages like An Duong, Nghi Tam with a large of people.

Read the rest of this entry »

Location: Vong Village is in Cau Giay District, 7km from centre of Hanoi.
Characteristic: This village is famous for com making.

A legend tells that in the autumn of a thousand years ago, there was a torrential rain accompanied by severe winds in Vong Village, on the outskirts of present-day Hanoi . At that time, the paddy was just about to ripen and the storm threatened a big loss. The villagers had to collect and dry the young rice as alternative food to avoid starvation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Characteristic: The area of Tay Ho, Quang Ba, Ngoc Ha, Huu Tiep, Dai Yen were the flower-growing land. Overtime, Hanoi has come into its times of modernization and industrialization. The traditional surrounding flower villages have been turning into “villages within the city”.

Referring to the traditional flower villages in Hanoi, people speak the most of Ngoc Ha. It had become a flower village since the establishment of capital city. This village has developed continuously by the experience of history and time, and has always been considered as a big flower village supplying fresh flowers for Thang Long - Hanoi City and its vicinity. In 1954, there were in this village up to 500 households involved in planting flowers. Every morning, from the early time, the Ngoc Ha flower market was full of buyers and sellers, even coming from Vong Village (Dich Vong - Cau Giay District) with their tuberoses.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dinh Cong Jewelry Village
Location: Dinh Cong Jewelry Village is located on the To Lich river bank is Dinh Cong Thuong Village, also called Dinh Cong kim hoan (Jewelry). It belongs to the present Thanh Tri District, Hanoi.
Characteristic: The name of the village shows us it is already famous for jewelry handicraft.

Read the rest of this entry »

Location: In Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.
Characteristic: The village of Ngu Xa appears as a small peninsula near the Truc Bach Lake. It‘s where many sophisticated bronze products were produced for the needs of the ancient capital of Thang Long.

An old saying in Hanoi goes “Glossy silk of Yen Thai, pottery of Bat Trang, goldsmith of Dinh Cong, bronze-caster of Ngu Xa”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Location: Bat Trang Pottery Village is located in the south east of Hanoi, passing Chuong Duong Bridge turns right and go about 10km along the dike of Red River. Bat Trang belongs to Bat Trang Commune, Gia Lam District, Hanoi.
Characteristic: This is a pottery village with a half-millenary historic development.

Some decades recently, the vitality of this village is still blown up by the thousands of pottery-kiln on fire day and night.

Read the rest of this entry »

Location: The ancient quarter is located on an area of about 100ha, within the territory of Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi City.
Characteristic: Geometrically, the ancient quarter has a shape of triangle, whose peak is constituted by Hang Than Street, eastern side by damp, western side by the streets of Hang Cot, Hang Dieu, Hang Da and based by the axis of Hang Bong, Hang Gai, Cau Go Streets.

According to the assessment of some historians, the ancient quarter made its appearance immediately after the Thang Long’s establishment, i.e. nearly a thousand years ago. Most of houses presently existing within the ancient quarter’s borders have, however, their age of only more than 100 years. In this quarter, those houses that keep an air of anxiety are no longer so numerous. It is just the phenomena of extension that has sharply and negatively deformed its spatial appearance. Under such circumstances, the embellishment and preservation of this quarter has required great efforts.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ancient houses in Hanoi

Location: The ancient quarter is located on an area of about 100ha, within the territory of Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi City.
Characteristic: Geometrically, the ancient quarter has a shape of triangle, whose peak is constituted by Hang Than Street, eastern side by damp, western side by the streets of Hang Cot, Hang Dieu, Hang Da and based by the axis of Hang Bong, Hang Gai, Cau Go Streets.

Read the rest of this entry »