ASIA TRAVEL EXPERIENCE BLOG

Ta Hien street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter is virtually an alleyway but in terms of tourism its something of a thoroughfare – especially in the evening time. It’s no wonder why the locals refer to the street as ‘Pho Tay’ (Foreigner street).

The street is awash with souvenir shops, bars and small eateries catering for both local residents and backpackers. For those travelling on a budget, the local cuisine is a both a culinary as well as a fiscal delight with banh my trung (egg sandwiches) and bowls of noodles available for less than a dollar. And then there’s the beer.

At the crossroads where Ta Hien meets Luong Ngoc Quyen, you will find a bunch of small shops selling bia hoi, Vietnam’s so-called ‘fresh beer’, which is made daily and costs from VND3,000 – VDN6,000 depending on the brew.

The ultra-light beer is not an award winning beverage and your average Oktoberfest punter might turn up his nose at a glass, but in Hanoi’s hot and sticky climate, bia hoi is a simple and pleasing thirst quencher – and again, for those who are minding the pennies, it’s enticingly cheap.

In the evening time hordes of tourists with plenty of young expats and locals gather at the crossroads – the spot has even become known as ‘bia hoi corner’ in expat circles. Gulping down beer and snacking on peanuts or grilled squid, the punters sit on tiny plastic stools and watch the world go by. It’s a great meeting point for travellers or for anyone who is new in town and short on drinking buddies.

At VND3,000 a glass the bia hoi on Ta Hien is certainly amongst the cheapest brews in Hanoi but it’s also not the best in quality either. Not that anyone seems to mind. On any given night, the sidewalks are overflowing with drinkers. Vietnamese teach the tourists how to ‘tram phan tram’ while the foreigners return the compliment and teach the locals ‘bottoms up’ or ‘down the hatch’.

Bia hoi corner can get so popular that at times the local police will turn up to reprimand the shop owners for encroaching onto the streets and blocking traffic. It’s not uncommon for plastic chairs to be confiscated. But minutes after the sidewalks are cleared, they usually start to fill again, and so it goes, a continuing cycle of cat and mouse through the evening.

“We like this lifestyle and this sidewalk bia hoi,” says Cindy, a British tourist who has been in Hanoi for a week. “The beer tastes very good and it costs so little.” The most popular sidewalk beer shop might be Hai Loan Bia Hoi – it’s a small, grubby looking place and there’s barely enough room for everyone to sit down. Some customers will even stand while quaffing bia hoi.

Across the way Cool Beer Ngoc Anh and Cool Beer Thanh Thuy also do good business. There are no tables, just plastic chairs. The only place with a toilet is Thanh Thuy so if you’re drinking at one of the other places you have to pay a small fee.

Many of the shop owners speak little to no English. Drinkers communicate with simple hand gestures or pidgin Vietnamese. “Most of foreigners coming here know how to order in Vietnamese or understand when I ask ‘may coc?’ (how many glasses),” says one young woman working at Cool Beer Ngoc Anh.

Bia hoi has no additives or preservatives and is essentially made to be consumed on the day that it leaves the factory. So as a result, there is no stocking of bia hoi, and outlets must forecast accordingly in an effort to gauge how much they need for a day (We’ll have to guess what happens to the leftovers).

“Although the seats are small and there’s no space it does not matter because the bia is ngon (tasty) and comes quickly,” says another tourist, Kirk. “Drinking bia hoi is a great way to discover Vietnamese life, too.”

With the din of the traffic and sometimes a raucous atmosphere, understandably it’s not for everyone, but generally young backpackers seem to enjoy the cacophony of beeps and shouts.

“Vietnamese are a lot more animated than most races when it comes to boozing,” says Kirk. “You have to shout to hear yourself speak!” Tourists are invariably fond of the street life. As they drink, vendors come and go selling fruit or squid. Postcard sellers work the crowd. But eventually the shops have to shut up shop. After 11pm the kegs will be drained and the crowd will be drifting away, heading for home or in search of a late bar for a nightcap.

TO/ASW

Hanoi, the city of almost 1,000 years, boasts ancient temples, pagodas and splendid landscapes in harmony with the luxury hotels and restaurants of the developing time. Among all this, the ancient quarter of Hanoi with its narrow streets holding old houses and traditional craft villages, seems to be the most attractive site in Hanoi.

Locals do not know exactly why foreign tourists like visiting the old streets. Some say because they are located in the center of the city, some say because of the 18th and 19th century French architecture. However, there is more to it. Tourists can enjoy things that are available only there. Those things are sidewalk beer and pipe tobacco.
The area is rather small but always jubilant as foreign tourists and sidewalk beer shops appear almost everywhere.

Sidewalk beer shops have no tables, just some small chairs for people to sit and place their mugs and enjoy a pipe of tobacco. The pipes, usually made of bamboo or clay, typically consist of a small chamber (the bowl) for the combustion of the tobacco to be smoked and a thin stem (shank) that ends in a mouthpiece (the bit). Pipes can range from the very simple machine-made briar pipe to highly-prized handmade and artful implements created by
renowned pipe makers which are often expensive collector’s items.

The buzz created by the harsh tobacco and the icy crisp beer more than offsets the cold of winter in Hanoi. Moreover, while enjoying beer and tobacco on the sidewalk, tourists can discover the daily life of the residents, busy and bustling.

Beer at sidewalk shops is just VND3,000 so it is not a luxury beer with a fragrant flavor but it has its own rustic and simple flavor that tourists cannot find anywhere else. “Traveling is to explore distinct things, different from home, that is why I like sidewalk beer,” said a tourist in Hanoi.

Hanoi is getting colder and colder as winter comes and this is an ideal time to enjoy sidewalk beer together with pipe tobacco. Why not take a tour of the ancient streets and experience these exotic flavors to remember Hanoi forever?

SGT