Train Street, Hanoi, Vietnam

by docdivatraveller - April 27, 2025

The most famous/ infamous place in the capital city of Vietnam . Before the era of certain spots in far off (read international) places became viral on the internet, people used to rely on mouth to mouth experiences. (Including gossip too). So when my best friend visited Vietnam in 2017, while listening to her travel stories, the one experience that struck to me the most was watching the train go by from a feet distance. And ever since, I wanted to visit the Train Street of Hanoi.

So when we visited Hanoi in 2022, it was on top of my list. However, a year back, a Korean tourist had fallen on the tracks and gotten injured. Since then, the train street was closed for tourists. When I read about this online, I was absolutely disheartened. We planned to go to the site to see what could be done.

We saw police and barricades and a sign for fine on trespassing. There was no way to go on the tracks. Sadly, we went back to Hanoi sightseeing.

That day during the night, we decided to take a chance. It was 9 PM and the next scheduled train was at 9 30. As expected, there was no police. The barricades and the sign were there for sure, but the cafe owners were standing outside, ready to lure the visitors to their own establishment.

We went to the very first cafe on the street, Cafe Dong and ordered the very famous Egg coffee. Soon, all the cafe owners got high alert and signalled all the tourists to vacate the tracks and sit on the chairs. The train was about to arrive.

I stood with my phone, ready to capture the coming train but was not at all prepared for what I saw next. Within a second of the hooting of the train, the train literally stormed right into our faces (metaphorically) and I was completely taken a back! It was exactly a feet away, I could literally touch the train (and broken my arm obviously) and we could see all the passengers inside. And the train was gone in a few seconds. It didn't even slow down while going through that track.

The next train was scheduled after half an hour. Since our first experience was a blur, we decided to wait for another one. In the meantime, we enjoyed our egg coffee, which might sound weird but it was nothing less delicious than pudding itself. They serve the cup over hot water, which cooks the egg.

The next time, I enjoyed the train swooshing by. I was not taken aback, because I was prepared. It was a fantastic feeling.

Then we (all the tourists) came out, as if released from a jail and started walking on tracks. There were numerous cute cafes, all along the track. We walked and took innumerable pictures.