We would like to introduce a luxury apartment has 119 sq m floor area with fully furnished. including:

- 3 bedrooms

- A living room, a dining room, and a kitchen are designed modernly and clearly.

- Wooden floor.

- 2 WC.

- Fully furnishes: 5 air - conditioners, washing machine, fridge, heater,etc.

Especially, the apartment has way into the fountain

Following some images of the apartment:

For more details, please contact to us as below:

- Mobile: 0967849961

- Email: luxuryapartmenthiland@gmail.com

- Skype: Đào Dandelion.

Serviced apartment for renting in Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay District - Cheap Price

The apartment has floor areas from 55 - 60 m2
Fully furnished
wooden floor
Facility: nice - view, good - location

For more details, please contact to us as below:
- Mobile: 0967849961
- Email: luxuryapartmenthiland@gmail.com.
- Skype: Đào Dandelion.

The apartment has 75 sq m floor area, including:
2 bedrooms
2 bathrooms
a dinning roo,
a living room
Fully furnished: heater, air - conditioners, washing machine,...
Facility: near park, airy, comfortable
Price: &700/month (negotiable)

For more details, please contact to us as bellow:
- Mobile: 0967849961
- Email: luxuryapartmenthiland@gmail.com.
- Skype: Đào Dandelion.

Apartment for rent in Huyndai Hillstate – Price: $ 650/month (negotiable)

The apartment has 139 sq m floor area, is in Huyndai Hillsate’s project Hillstate -  “ A tenement for human”. It is designed nicely, way to southeast, life space is about the rest;

Bedrooms are luxury and modern

Private elevator

Furniture is basic (included curtain, air – conditioners, lights, cabinet,), imported 100% from Korea.
Price: &650/month.

Following some images of the apartment:

For more details, please contact to us as below:

Mobile: 01658955306

Email: luxuryapartmenthiland@gmail.com

Skype: Đào Dandelion

Căn hộ cao cấp hoàn thiện, nhận nhà ngay!
- Thiết kế 2 - 4 căn/sàn, 1-2 căn hộ/thang máy.
- Không gian sống thiết kế như một khu nghỉ dưỡng.
- Khu dân trí cao - tri thức
- Đóng 30% vào ở ngay.

A luxury apartment for rent in the Lancaster, No. 20 Truc mountain, Ba Dinh District – Nice - View of Lake, Fully furnished, Price: $800/month.

 

Nice - view of the Lake

An airy living room 

The apartment has 46 sq m, included fully furnished : heater, air – conditioner, washing machine, TV, fridge,etc. All are modern and luxury. It suits for broad experts or households. Especially, it priorities for who need to rent long – term.

Price : $800/month ( more negotiable)

For more details, please contact to us as below:

Mobile: 01658955306

Email: daokimthoa93@gmail.com or luxuryapartmenthiland@gmail.com

A luxury apartment for rent in Ngoc Khanh, Ba Dinh District, hanoi – Price: 18 million VND/month.

The apartment has 140 sq m area, including:

Bedroom: 3

WC: 2

A living room

A dinning room

Fully furnished : heater, fridge, washing machine, Tv, etc.

Full facilities: vehicle, working because of its location is in the center city.

For more details, please contact to us as bellow:

Mobile: 01658955306

Email: daokimthoa93@gmail.com or luxuryapartmenthiland@gmail.com

Bún thang ("Ladder" soft noodle soup) must be ranked highly among the culinary specialties of Việt Nam. Part of the attraction of this dish is that it is not so easy to find and so one doesn’t get to taste it everyday. Moreover, bún thang might taste delicious in one place but not necessarily be as good somewhere else.

Bún, of course, is the Vietnamese word for round rice noodles; thang is a word of Chinese origin that literally means “a soup”, but the word also means “ladder” in Vietnamese. People say that eating bún thang is like climbing a ladder – just as you go up a ladder one step at a time, you eat one bowl after another of this delicious soup. Bún thang, then, has little to do with any ordinary soup or potage such as snake-headed mullet soup and water dropwort soup, or with the soup made of crab paste, nep-tunia and water morning-glory.

In some families, there are old women who know how to make a mouth-watering bún thang – what a pity they show their skill only once or twice a year, after the first three days of Tết.

People often have a party serving bún thang on the 4th or 5th day of the Tết holiday. When one feels tired of the square sticky rice cake or greasy food like pork pie, spring roll, trotter stew, meat pie, bún thang is the ideal dish. This delicacy satisfies all the requirements for an interesting soup full of sour, hot, and tasty flavors without being heavy or greasy. Of the persons who have mastered the art of cooking bún thang, Mrs. Sam in Hàng Bạc Street and Mrs. Mai Phương in Lê Văn Hưu Street are the most famous.

Like other kinds of noodle soup, this delicacy uses similar ingredients: round rice noodles blanched briefly in boiling water, broth, some protein, spices, etc. However, to make it perfect requires particularly strict and rigorous cooking techniques. A savory bowl of bún thang depends first and foremost on thang or broth.

The sweetness of the broth should not come from monosodium glutamate and should be free from the strong flavor of boiled ox or buffalo bones. Therefore, the broth has to be prepared form chicken broth cooked with prawns, shelled shrimp or sá sùng (sea leech), and the aforementioned bones. These ingredients together bring about the required sweetness, which is neither fatty nor smelly and result in a clear broth. The broth should be incessantly boiled right up to the time of serving. One has to disperse the heat by blowing at the bowl before tasting the soup.

On top of a bowl of bún thang lies a layer of different ingredients, not mixed randomly together, but arranged so each element occupies a corner of the bowl: shreds of pork pie and thin-fried egg, soft chicken fillets cut into shreds, fluffy shredded sea shrimp, each in its place, each set off from the other ingredients. Most of these have a yellow color, though with different nuances: the ivory yellow of pork pie, the bright yellow of fried egg, the plain yellow shredded sea shrimp, and the shiny yellow of chicken fillet – all situated against the background of very white rice noodles. Several kinds of herbs can also add color to a bowl of bún thang: the fresh green of coriander, the dark green of basil, the plain green of flagrant knotweed, the jet-black of pepper, and the bright red of chilly.

Bún thang, obviously, must be served in big bowls. Small bowls cannot keep the heat of the broth for a long time, thus reducing the deliciousness of the dish. The bowl of bún thang should also be filled up to the top with the broth, which is as clear and ivory-yellow as honey. The essence of this specialty, the quintessence which bún thang cannot stand without, is belostomatid, an essence squeezed from a particular kind of beetle. Just a little of belostomatid and a spoonful of shrimp paste perfectly highlight the rich flavor of the dish. The hot savour of belostomatid and the strong smell of shrimp paste, though they may be considered as two opposite musical notes, harmonize with each other to form a wonderful chord.

No one knows the exact birthday of bún thang. Decades ago, Mrs. Am’s was the most famous of numerous restaurants in Đồng Xuân Market. Since the first day of their marriage until their old age, many a couple went to Mrs. Am’s restaurant to taste bún thang every Sunday./.

After the recognition of Hoi An ancient town, Hanoi old quarter, Duong Lam village in Son Tay Town (some 60km to the west of Hanoi Capital) is the first ancient village recognised as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in Duong Lam, giving the village its prestige. Both men led resistance wars against northern invasion and after winning national independence, were crowned kings. After their deaths, the local people built temples in their honour.

The ancient village has a history of about 1,200 years with many houses dating back up to 400 years. One special thing about the village is that most of the buildings here are made of laterite and mud, two materials that are abundant in the area. Laterite is used on house walls, gates, wells, temple walls, and so forth. The mud is taken from ponds. Apart from its historical and tourism values, Duong Lam ancient village is an important place for scientists to study resident communities in ancient agriculture. The village gate, banyan, well, communal house are important factors in classifying Duong Lam ancient village.

Well

The common well was built in every hamlet in Duong Lam village. The well brings the name of the hamlet it is located. At present, each family possesses its own well but the common well has been protected because it maintains many imprints of the villagers.

Communal house

The communal house is a worshipping place of the god – founder of the village. The ancient village consists of 5 villages so it has 5 communal houses. Doai Giap and Cam Lam communal houses dedicate to Phung Hung – the national hero who won the victory against invaders under Duong Dynasty; Cam Thinh communal house dedicates both the founder of the village and great mandarin Cao Phuc Dien – the hero under Le Dynasty. Dong Sang communal house worships the God but it was destroyed by fire and was restored by financial support from people. The god Tan Vien Son was dedicated in Mong Phu communal house. So far, Mong Phu communal house is a gathering place of the villagers for cultural activities. The communal house was made carefully with sophisticated decoration details. It is considered as a flower of unique sculptural architecture.

Architecture of the house

The wooden house mainly has 5 or 7 spans with 2 wings. It has 5 rows of columns, sometime 1 row disappears. The house has specialized by sophisticatedly carved details in the form of flowers, leaves, clouds.

A system of wooden doors is very firm. Each span has 4 leaves of the door with upper and lower joints. Thresholds were made of firm wood above 40-50cm from the ground and 10cm from the floor. This distance helps to ventilate well, avoid humidity for the thresholds. The whole system of the thresholds is the tie system linking all spans together.

For tangible culture relic, Duong Lam has 21 relic sites, consisting of temples, pagodas and tombs and ten of which have been classified as national and provincial relics. For intangible cultural relic, Duong Lam has preserved various festivals, customs and literature on the people and land of Duong Lam through different period of time. For ecological environment, Duong Lam has many beautiful scenes linked with legendary stories such as Guom Hill, Ho Gam Hill and tales on the two kings Phuong Hung and Ngo Quyen.

In recent years, many relics in the villages such as Mia Pagoda, Phung Hung Temple, Ngo Quyen Temple and Mong Phu communal house have been restored. However, it is important to preserve not only the tangible cultural relics, but also intangible cultural relics and ecological environment and they should be carried out synchronously.

The construction of new cultural buildings which aims to honour the history, national heroes and boost tourism activity should be ensured the harmony between traditional and modern cultural values and the relations between preservation and development.

Nowadays, preserving, restoring and developing the value of Duong Lam ancient village are very important, since it contributes to preservation of the national cultural heritage.

“I wish I could marry you/ I will buy Bat Trang bricks to build our house” are the beautiful folk words honoring Bat Trang ceramic & pottery quality, the pride of northern Vietnam.

Bat Trang, a small village in the north of Vietnam, is about 13 kilometers south east of Hanoi center, on the other side of Chuong Duong bridge. Why is its name popular to most tourists to northern Vietnam? The answer is its ever famous ceramic and pottery products of high quality. If you have known about Vietnam, you may not be surprised that Bat Trang’s vases, bowls, dishes, and many other kinds of ceramic products have been exported worldwide. Should you would like to contemplate workers making ceramic products by hand, just come here! What’s more, you can also try it yourself!

History. Bat Trang village is said to be established in 14th or 15th century in several documents. However, according to the villagers, the village perhaps appeared earlier. There are always two stories concerning the village origin. One of these tells that under Ly dynasty, in 1100, when the nation was in its independence and initial growth period, there were 3 scholars who came back from their mission trip to China bringing the ceramic craft industry learned there back to Vietnam and taught the people of Bat Trang. In the other story, in the village history dates back to the 10th century, when King Ly Cong Uan relocated the capital in Thang Long. With the establishment and development of the capital, many businessmen, crafters from many areas come to settle down here to work and trade. In Bat Trang, there was a lot of white clay, so that many potters, among whom was Nguyen Ninh Trang family, came and built the kilns here. Accordingly, Bat Trang has gradually changed from a normal ceramic and pottery village into a famous ceramic and pottery centre until now.

As time went by, the village’s products have developed and become well known for the best quality, style and glaze, both inside and outside of the nation. Many of these are now customized for aristocratic families and religious needs. Its popular foreign markets are Japan (under the brand "Kochi (Giao Chi) ware"), the Netherlands, Britain, Portugal, Southeast Asia, etc.,

The famous ceramic & pottery products

Production Process. To produce a complete product, one must follow 3 steps. The first step is making the product frame. The artists select the suitable clay, treat it and start making a raw product. It must be repaired to get the best appearance. Secondly, they decorate and cover it with glazes. Last but not least, the raw products are baked in 3 days and 3 nights. There are several kinds of kiln, yet the temperature must be at 12000 or 13000. After baking, products are brought out, classified and repaired in case there are mistakes. And now we have the perfect product.

Popular product types. Bat Trang products are divided into 3 kinds based on the purpose of use.

Decorating the product

• Utilitarian wares: including plates, bowls, teacups, kettles, wine bottles, flowerpots, vases, jar… What differs is that they are thicker than Chinese ones.
• Cult wares: comprise lamp stands, candle holders, incense burner, altar boxes, swords… These are valuable for collectors because of inscription of the production years, the names of the producers and the potters.
• Decorative objects: house models, altars, statues and architectural fixtures.

The special trait is the diversified decorations on the products. Thanks to a long–lasting history and development, the village’s works have been accumulated with a lot of different special designs. One more thing that makes them distinguished is the glaze, which is of high quality and a variety of colors, such as blue, brown, white, moss green, in both breaking and melting glazes.

In fact, there have appeared a number of competitors both domestically and internationally who take advantages of high technology. Yet most customers prefer the craft products that contain historical and traditional values. Hence, it is no surprise at all that Bat Trang is still found in busy days and works. More importantly, the village is now so popular that absorbs a huge annual number of tourists to visit and buy ceramic goods.

Bat Trang ceramic village has become a popular destination for the young living in Hanoi (college or high school students) to visit during weekends. It has also become famous among foreign tourists who want to understand more about the historical and traditional values in each handicraft product. There are a lot of travel agencies that offer one day tour from Hanoi to the village at reasonable prices. Choose a Bat Trang ceramic village tour that best fits your time frame and visit this beautiful village and may be buy some ceramic goods as souvenirs for your trip in Vietnam.

“Perfume Mount is an ever wish/ With mountains, water, and clouds/ People always ask if this is the top-ranking cavern…” (extracted from “Perfume Mount passion” written by Chu Manh Trinh)

Overall view

Around 60 kilometers southwest of Hà Nội, Perfume Pagoda is one among the largest and unique religious sites in Huong Son Commune, My Duc District, old Ha Tay (or enlarged Hanoi), right banks of Day River, northern Việt Nam. It comprises a complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the limestone cliffs of Perfume Mount (Hương Sơn), scattering alongside the mountain up to the peak. The complex’s center is right inside Huong Tich cavern (or in other words, Inside Pagoda). Huge numbers of pilgrims flock to the site during Perfume Pagoda festival, which begins in the middle of the first lunar month and lasts until the middle of the third one (or from February till March) in order to pray for happiness and prosperity in the coming year. Also, it is a very popular opportunity for young couples to meet and for numerous budding romances to be formed. On this special occasion, a wide range of traditional cultural activities is incorporated. Perfume pagoda is not only a religious site, but a great sight-seeing spot inVietnam as well.

Starting the pilgrimage

Coming to Huong Pagoda, what should not be left home is a good camera, since you will regret unless you catch all the snapshots of this fascinating nature drawings!

Bến Đục (Pier Duc)

The very first starting point of the pilgrimage is Ben Duc (Pier Duc). Normally, it takes more than 2 hours to go from Hanoi to Ben Duc. During the annual festival months, Ben Duc is packed with thousands of row boats used for shuttling visitors. For many visitors, this one-hour boat ride on the Yen Vi Stream from Pier Duc is actually the highlight of the trip, and inspiration sources of quite a few famous poets.

Suối Yến (Yen stream)

Yen stream flows between two mountains for 3 kilometers. Nevertheless, sitting on the boat, leisurely enjoying the surrounding landscape, you may feel that the stream is endless. Despite a facilitated road from Pier Duc to Perfume mountain, most people choose to use row boats on Yen Vi Stream (or Yen Stream), which is by far a much more romantic and scenic route to Huong Pagoda.

While traveling along Yen Stream, tourists pass by stunning landscape of blazing green rice paddles studded with jagged limestone mounts to the base of Huong Mountain. If you are on a boat there, you can easily see on your left the Phoenix Mountain, and Doi Cheo Mountain, which looks like an Indian python (Tran). Also on the left are Bung and Voi, the two mountains associated with interesting legends. On your right is Ngu Nhac mountain with the Trinh Temple where visitors stop and burn incense for the God of the Mountain. Before reaching Tro Wharf where the tour begins, the boat also passes by the Deo and Phong Su Mountains, Son Thuy Huu Tinh Cave, Trau Cave, Hoi Bridge, and Dau Valley.

Chùa Thiên Trù (Thien Tru Pagoda)

Stepping inland, there comes an interesting informal protocol for tourists! The first stop before climbing up to Huong Mount must always be a visit to Den Trinh, which means “registration shrine”. The next point of interest would be a visit to Thien Tru Pagoda (chuà Ngoài - Outer Pagoda), which was built in the 18th century under King Le Thanh Tong dynasty. “Thien Tru” means a heaven kitchen, derived from the imagination of the locals in this region, of which the rock formations in this area look like chefs busily working in the kitchen. Thien Tru Pagoda is famous for Thuy Tien tower, a granite monolith. On the right is Tien Son grotto, popular for five granite statues and various formations on the walls of the cave. Coming here, pilgrims have chances to admire the pagoda’s beauty and wonderful local landscapes.

Động Hương Tích (Huong Tich Grotto)

After more than one hour along the stream and visiting the initial ancient pagodas from the riverbank, now pilgrims would climb up hundreds of stone steps, and then down 120 stone steps to Huong Tich Grotto, literally meaning "traces of fragrance". The path to Huong Tich winds its way through magnificently luxuriant landscapes. The moss-grown Huong Tich Grotto came to life thanks to the most venerable Van Thuy Thien Tran Dao Vien Quang Chan Nhan, the Chief monk of Thien Tru Pagoda. In front of the cave lie stone stairs. Stepping down the 120-step stairs, tourists will find the inscription "The first-ranking grotto under the Southern Sky" in Han scripts, which are traces of Lord Tinh Do Vuong Trinh Sam's calligraphy in the 3rd lunar month of the year of the Tiger (Canh Dan -1770). Getting into the grotto, you will find a purely cool atmosphere in a dim light before figuring out naturally architectural works such as Dun Gao (Rice) rock, gold and silver trees, Girl and Boy Mountains (in the shapes of a girl and a boy), and so forth. Yet, what is noteworthy is the statue of Avalokitesvara carved out of emerald stone on a rocky lotus, constructed in 1793, under the Tay Son dynasty, and a 1.24m bronze bell, moulded in the 3rd Thinh Duc Year (1655). The unique carving art together with the extremely magnificient works of Nature makes the Huong Pagoda complex the top-revenued tourism destination among others in Ha Tay, and the foremost destination of Buddhists in particular and tourists in general.

Saying goodbye to Perfume Grotto, now tourists may choose to further go up to the top Mount by climbing up hundreds of stone steps, all worn smooth by passage of countless feet, or take a short rest and complete the pilgrimage.

These days, the Vietnamese believe that Huong Son is Buddha's Heaven due to its sacredness and 100% natural works of beauty. Quite a few tourists would like to come back this mysterious and sacred mountain annually for religious reasons on the one hand, and on the other hand, for the enchanting natural landscapes..

During their stay in Hanoi, most tourists insist on a trip to Van Phuc Silk Village, the famous silk village of Hanoi to contemplate the genuine traditional silk-making industry.

Van Phuc Silk Village is situated on the banks of Nhue Thi River, Nguyen Trai Road, near Ha Dong city, 8 km southwest of Ha Noi. It takes you only 30 minutes by motorbike to go there from the centre of Hanoi. The village has been much well known for its traditional sericulture, weaving, and silk products. Tourists coming here are lured by various beautiful shirts, crafts, ties, dresses and many other things made of silk available in the village. What is special is that the silk is made by very simple looms, which is the genuinely traditional Vietnamese way of making silk.

The cradle of Vietnamese Silk 

For centuries, silk has always been considered an extreme luxury, on par with rhinoceros horn, ivory and precious handworks in Vietnam. It has long been a universal byword of luxury, often worn by the richest, most powerful citizens. Most visitors somehow have heard about the significant role of this kind of material in Vietnam, yet might wonder where the cradle of Viet silk is. The mentioned Van Phuc Silk Village is proud to be the origin of best silk and silk-making industry of Vietnam, which is attached to a long-lasting history of more than two thousand years. Though passing by lots of ups and downs, during the recent years, the village’s craft has enjoyed revival due to a surging demand for silk in both the domestic and foreign markets.

Today, the fine and lustrous cloth that originates from the cocoon of the silkworm is more affordable for "ordinary" folk. Furthermore, silk is currently enjoying a fashion renaissance, particularly since its many varieties can be made into a wide range of designs suitable for all facets of modern life. Should you intend to have a silk pair of formal clothes made, just come here and select your suitable materials, and professional tailors here will bring you satisfaction!

Ideal place for silk products & souvenirs

Like other visitors to the village, you will be surprised at this “silk shop town”, where almost all houses along the paths have been turned into shops selling silk products. Specifically, the village is now home to 1,280 households, 90% of whom are involved in silk production and business. The village makes more than 2 million meters of silk per year. Yet, more than that, you are offered a good chance to explore the Vietnamese traditional industry of silk-making.

No tourists here are uncontented with the glisten of various silk products. They are always confronted with an initially bewildering array of silk products, from raw materials, to garments, and a myriad of silk accessories. The local silk is known for its smooth and lightweight appearance, and qualities that enable it to be dyed more colors to suit a variety of skin tones. In order to cater for the changing demands and tastes of customers, Van Phuc silk producers are expanding their silk and garment repertoire: traditional glossy, embroidered silks, double layers, wrinkled silks, and of course, more colours, hues and weights, for which they have invented new techniques in dying and thermo-processing the threads.

If you are going to buy something from Vietnam as gifts for those at home, silk and clothes made of silk are available around in the village for your choice. Though the days when Vietnam's silk was reserved for nobility are long gone, what would never change is the sense of romance and luxury imparted by silk, a luminous cloth type. With 2000 years of history behind them, the silk weavers of Van Phuc Silk village are still busy, weaving dreams.

How to get there? With a view to reaching Van Phuc village, tourists should travel south west out of Ha Noi on Nguyen Trai Street until they reach the border of Ha Dong District. Then turn right and dive for about 3km. The village is on the left, some 8 km from central Hanoi. Motorbike, bus, or taxis are all of good use.

Or, tourists can book a day tours visiting handicraft villages around Hanoi to visit this village. Almost every handcraft or culture tours in Hanoi include Van Phuc silk village. As these tours offered are usually just one day tour from Hanoi, it is easy for tourists to arrange their time. 

Located in Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Ly Quoc Su Street starts from the intersection of Hang Bong and Hang Manh Streets and runs south to Nha Tho Street. 

Previously, it was part of Tien Thi Village in Thuan My Commune, Tho Xuong District and was called Rue Lamblo during the time of French colonialism. 

For centuries, the 250m long Ly Quoc Su Street has always been one of the most bustling and animated streets in the capital of Hanoi. Anyone strolling on the street shares a common feeling towards it: the past and the present, the old and the new harmonize to create the unique features. 

According to historical records, Ly Quoc Su means “The teacher of the court under the Ly Dynasty”. This title went to Nguyen Chi Thanh (1066-1141) who lived in Diem Xa Village of Gia Vien District (present-day Ninh Binh Province). He followed Buddhism and was known as Buddhist Monk Minh Khong. In 1136, he cured King Ly Than Tong of a disease that many famous doctors failed to do. For his unyielding virtue and talent, he was given the title “Ly Quoc Su”. King Ly Than Tong also provided him with a serene residential quarter near Bao Thien Pagoda, now Ly Quoc Su Pagoda on Ly Quoc Su Street, where he led a religious life. Ly Quoc Su died in August in Tan Dau Year (the Year of the Rooster - 1141). 

Ly Quoc Su Pagoda now preserves a stele with inscriptions made by famous Doctor Le Dinh Duyen in the 8th Tu Duc Year that tells about the pagoda’s great restoration. In addition, the Pagoda has many statues of the sculptural style of the Le Dynasty and a bell named “Bao Thap tu chung” (bell of Bao Thap Temple) which was cast in the Year of the Pig (1815) in the Gia Long Dynasty. 

The Street also boasts the ancient temple of Phu Ung at No.25 which was built by Phu Ung villagers in the 19th century to worship famous general Pham Ngu Lao.Together with the development of other streets inHanoi , Ly Quoc Su Street has seen great changes as well. Shops have mushroomed on the Street, selling various products, from European jewellery, costume, perfumes and decorative lamps to traditional Vietnamese items, such as brocades, embroideries, statues, etc. All attract much attention from foreign tourists.

The Street is also known as a “must-to-visit” cuisine address of both locals and foreigners with prestigious restaurants where delicious dishes are always available, such as Quangdong roasted duck, pizzas, ribs, Ly Quoc Su pho (rice noodle soup), Mrs. My porridge, cakes, fruits mixed with salt, sugar and fresh chilli, etc.

According to a legend, famous poetess Ho Xuan Huong (in the 18th century) owned a tea stall on the street where men of letters of the land of Ha Thanh (present-day Hanoi ) socialized. 

Located in the middle of Ly Quoc Su Street is Sao Viet Vistar Company Ltd., the sole representative in Vietnam of many sound, light and musical instrument companies from Japan, the US and Germany, which was established 20 years ago. 

With its historical and cultural values, Ly Quoc Su Street has become an indispensable part of Hanoi and an interesting destination for foreign tourists./.

Vietnam Pictorial

The house at 87 Ma May Street is typical of architecture in Hanoi ‘s Old Quarter. Mã Mây Street was once divided into two smaller streets: Hang May, which specialised in bamboo and rattan goods, and Hang Ma, which was named after Quan Ca Đen (the Black Flag Troops), who had their headquarters there during the French colonial period. Many local and foreign traders, who had converged there for business, gradually settled on that street.

The house at 87 Mã Mây dates from the end of the 19th century. At that time, only one family lived there, but then, five families lived in the house from 1954 to 1998. The residents renovated the house to suit their living needs, in the process damaging architectural elements typical of Hanoi’s Old Quarter. The Hanoi-Toulouse program also includes this house. Renovation began in May 1999 and finished that October.

This is one of the few old houses which are kept intact, now used as a visiting place to introduce the traditional architecture of Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Many exhibitions, workshops, cultural events are regularly held here. The house is a famous attraction to both local and foreign tourists, and an address where reproduce vivid picture of busy living, trafficking scenes of “Hanoi’s thirty six ancient streets.”

The name Hoa Lo, commonly translated as "fiery furnace" or even "Hell's hole", also means "stove". The name originated from the street name "Pho Hoa Lo", due to the concentration of stores selling wood stoves and coal-fire stoves along the street from pre-colonial times.

The prison was built in Hanoi by the French, in dates ranging from 1886–1889 to 1898 to 1901, when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. The French called the prison Maison Centrale - a traditional euphemism to denote prisons in France. It was located near Hanoi's French Quarter. It was intended to hold Vietnamese prisoners, particularly political prisoners agitating for independence who were often subject to torture and execution. A 1913 renovation expanded its capacity from 460 inmates to 600. It was nevertheless often overcrowded, holding some 730 prisoners on a given day in 1916, a figure which would rise to 895 in 1922 and 1,430 in 1933. By 1954 it held more than 2000 people; with its inmates held in subhuman conditions, it had become a symbol of colonialist exploitation and of the bitterness of the Vietnamese towards the French.

Known widely by the nickname ‘Hanoi Hilton’ given to it by the Americans during the Second Indochina War, Hoa Lo Prison was originally established by the French colonial government in 1896 for the purpose of detaining political prisoners and formed part of a northern network of ‘unjust and cruel prisons’ which included Cao Bang, Son La, Lai Chau and Hai Phong. Many leading revolutionaries were incarcerated here during the French colonial period, including Phan Boi Chau, Hoang Trong Mau, Luong Van Can, Nguyen Quyen, Nguyen Luong Bang and five future General Secretaries of the Communist Party - Nguyen Van Cu, Le Duan, Truong Chinh, Nguyen Van Linh and Do Muoi. Between 1964 and 1973 the prison’s inmates included several captured American pilots, notably Senator John McCain and Douglas 'Pete' Peterson, America’s first Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Most of the original prison was demolished in 1996 to make way for the Hanoi Towers (now Somerset Grand Hanoi) serviced apartment and office complex, but the southernmost corner has been preserved and reopened to the public as a memorial to the revolutionaries who died here in atrocious conditions. Visitors can view the original cells, complete with leg-irons, along with a selection of bilingual (Vietnamese and English) displays illustrating the horrors of life in the prison during the French colonial period.

Conditions were appalling; food was watery soup and bread. Prisoners were variously isolated, starved, beaten, tortured for countless hours and paraded in anti-American propaganda. "It is easy to die but hard to live," a prison guard told one new arrival, "and we will show you just how hard it is to live." The prison is really “A Hell on Earth”.

The Hanoi Hilton was depicted in the eponymous 1987 Hollywood movie The Hanoi Hilton. Hanoi Tower, built on the site of the infamous prison "Hanoi Hilton"; the entrance to the remaining parts of the prison visible in the foreground. By 1996, most of the walls of the Hanoi Hilton had been torn down to make way for new construction. Portions of the walls were retained for historical reasons. The Vietnamese also have bitter memories of the prison, for many communist revolutionaries were kept and tortured there. In 1998, the old front of the prison was painted and restored and the remaining portions of the prison were turned into a tourist site. Some of the cells have been opened and considerable information about Vietnamese prisoners is available. The information about the U.S. prisoners of war is unreliable. There is now a Hilton Hotel in Hanoi, called the Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel, which opened in 1999. It was built decades after the Vietnam War was over, but Hilton carefully avoided reusing the dreaded name Hanoi Hilton.

Hoa Lo Prison is a historical attraction to many local and foreign visitors. You should pay a visit to the prison to experience the history with your own eyes. There are many Hanoi city tours or sightseeing tours that include Hoa Lo as a stop in their itineraries. 

Hang Thiec Street is a craft street of tinsmiths which has existed for a long time in the Old Quarter. In the past it was in Yen Noi Village, Tien Tuc Commune of Tho Xuong District (present-day Hang Gai Ward of Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi). 

Hang Thiec Street

Most of the houses in this street are old and have small garrets which make the house look like “overlapping match boxes”. Hang Thiec Street is 136m long, stretching from Thuoc Bac Street to Hang Non Street. It is the place where tinsmiths make different items, such as oil lamps, candle stands, incense burners, tea pots, tea-set trays and tips of conical hats. 

After a period of development the craft also turned out other products from sheet metal, hence the street was called Rue des Ferblanties by the French.

Over the years Hang Thiec Street has virtually remained unchanged, with the craft of making tin products still being kept, turning out various kinds of utensils for daily use. 

On the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival the Street is busier because the craftsmen begin to use pieces of tin to make children’s toys, such as cars, trains, ships, planes, peach-shaped lanterns with a fairy inside, butterfly-shaped lanterns and a rabbit beating a drum. 

We visited the family of Nguyen Phu Dinh, one of the families still following the craft of their forefathers, on Hang Thiec Street. His two sons have inherited their father’s skills and become artisans with golden hands. 

Dinh said that payment for making tin products is low, so people who open shops on Hang Thiec Street are only engaged in trading. They receive orders for the products and have the orders filled by the tinsmiths in the rural areas.

When plastic utensils developed, Dinh and other craftsmen on Hang Thiec Street were concerned that the craft could be lost. Through many ups and downs now there are demands for tin products on the market. We saw many pails, buckets, basins and sinks made of corrugated steel piled in the shops and were told that these products would be supplied to different cities and provinces throughout the country.In the book “Old Streets of Hanoi”, American writer Lady Borton described the sound on Hang Thiec Street: “…

The roaring sounds of hammers striking against the metal resound from early morning to late at night. Vietnamese craftsmen have preserved their traditional craft until today…” 

Today coming to Hang Thiec Street, we clearly see that the essential needs and useful household utensils have a good impact on the preservation and development of the long-lasting traditional craft. 

Although the number of people who follow their forefathers’ crafts have become fewer and fewer, they have helped maintain the vitality of the craft streets in Hanoi and preserve its old cultural features, creating the typical characteristics of the thousand-year-old Thang Long./.

Vietnam Pictorial