They’d NEVER get away with this at home!! How often do you do a double take, on your travels, at those iffy situations and locations you find yourself in.
I do feel, at times, that we have lost the plot here with Health and Safety – protective fences and barricades, handrails everywhere, safety notices at every turn….. All for good reason, I acknowledge – with so many idiots pursuing civil claims due to their own negligence ( I know – not everybody… but you know what I mean!).
So I’m trying – and failing miserably – to visualise Hanoi’s TRAIN STREET here in Dublin!
It’s not so much the train line itself as what has developed around it. After all, it IS merely an ongoing regular train service running through the city. No big deal about that!
The single track line was built by the French in 1902, connecting Hanoi to Saigon. Sometime in the 1950’s, buildings were constructed along the line in central Hanoi for railway workers and their families. This was a tough neighbourhood – but unremarkable – right up until 2013 when an couple of enterprising travel guides organised a local photography tour including the trains and Train Street. The published photos attracted a lot of interest and caught the attention of the TV Travel Channels. A trickle of visitors became a flood – then along came Instagram!!
By 2017, the local residents were in on the act – converting their cramped houses into cafes and lining the route with chairs and stools. To be fair to the Authorities, they did react when train drivers started reporting near misses and emergency stops on the tracks. The first ordered closures and erected barriers occurred in 2019. Enforcement has fluctuated since then with periodic clampdowns – travel agencies have been instructed not to include Train Street in their itineraries while the cafes seem to temporarily comply only to reopen and continue on as normal!
Our visit to Train Street…
Our first morning in Vietnam included a city tour of Hanoi and our guide, as we drove over a section of track, mentioned that the train passed through at 3.00pm. We decided we’d offer up our first – and only! – afternoon in Hanoi to go back for the spectacle.
We arrived back about 2.45pm to find barriers manned by police who were never going to let us through. The train was due at 4.00pm apparently – so much for our tour guide!! We were approached by several women offering us seating at their shops. With the deep suspicion and distrust of new arrivals we shunned their advances – to be honest, we didn’t really know what they were saying (lost in translation!)
A couple of tourists directed us around the corner and a few hundred yards along the street to the next junction. This was better – now we could see the scene – stools and chairs lined along the side of the track and those already seated enjoying their beverage of choice. Of course we were going to pay ridiculous money for the privilege but hey – it’s warm, we can sit down and we’re more than ready for our first Hanoi beers! (which were still far cheaper than home!!)
The atmosphere was great – lots of chat and banter. Nobody doing anything silly or dangerous – everyone just loving the fact that they are actually there. The cafe owners kept an eye out that no one sat too close to the edge. You actually had to admire them – building something out of nothing! As 4.00pm approaches, police move nearby barriers to stop pedestrians crossing the tracks.
And suddenly its here.
For some absurd reason (never having watched any YouTube clips!) I’d assumed the train would pass by relatively slowly! Eh – NO! It shrieks past – noise, wind, heat, vibration – and in 30 seconds it’s gone! Nothing left but a cheering crowd with beaming faces!
All of us wishing we could do it all again tomorrow!
What a great experience