The Times of India, a Indian English-language daily newspaper, has picked three reason to make railway track in the middle of a residential colony become the new attraction in Hanoi tour.
According to The Times of India, one of the reason is the Train Street in Hanoi. It is a humble, narrow residential strip with a railway track passing through its center.
“The houses are built so close to the rail line that they are hardly 1.5 to 5 m away. The residents have become so used to the sound of trains’ arrival that they casually clear off the tracks for the train to pass through,” The Times of India wrote.
That’s why this place started attracting the attention of tourists. Now, considering the fame of this bizarre place, tourism companies organize tours to this offbeat site, according to The Times of India.
In addition, the daily also picked a normal day on the Train Street is one of the reason why should visitors choose it. It is a normal thing for people to carry out their daily chores like cooking, washing, chatting on or around the railways track, until a whistling train dramatically shows up at a certain hour of the day.
“While, for the residents, it is just a sight they’ve got used to, the star-struck tourists enjoy their ‘wow’ moment whilst passionately clicking numerous pictures. Once the scene is over, life goes back to what it was,” the site added.
According to The Times of India, the third reason is the way to watch the trains at the Hanoi Train Street.
“If you are heading to Hanoi, do spare some time to watch this unofficial tourist site. Going by the popular word, the trains chug through between 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm local time every day,” The Times of India wrote.
“So, it is better to arrive at about 2:45 pm to witness the ‘miracle’. And if you wish, you may choose to spend some time grabbing a drink or a bite at one of the tiny cafés located along the railway tracks,” the site added.
The number of tourists to Hanoi in the first half of 2018 was estimated at 13.1 million, up 10% from the same period last year. The city received about three million foreign tourists in the period, up 26% year on year, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.
The number of domestic tourists to Hanoi in the first half of this year was estimated at 10 million, up 6% year on year. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at more than VND39 trillion (US$1.7 billion), up 9.3% from the same period last year.