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  • This is Hanoi Train Street, located in the Old Quarter.

  • For outsiders, this might seem like a bizarre place to live, but, for the few Hanoians that reside on the small stretch of track, this is their home.

  • Tall, narrow buildings tower over both sides of the path, while at ground level, people live out their lives on their doorsteps.

  • The people here seem to have developed a harmonious coexistence with the coming and going of the train.

  • As it passes, people re-emerge from their homes ready to carry on with their day.

  • I arrived a little early so I could see how the people here live with the regular coming and going of the city's rail service.

  • It was the calm before the train.

  • A few women were cleaning up, kids on their way to school, guys getting ready for work, while tourists sat atop the rails chatting as if it were a regular street.

  • Then suddenly, the locals got up and started moving their belongings off the track.

  • Years of living on the train's timetable seemed to have cemented it in their minds and turned their body clocks to know exactly when the train will arrive.

  • As the train sped past the buildings with just inches to spare, pedestrians pressed themselves tightly to walls with a startling look as the carriages narrowly missed the end of their nose.

  • The train is gone as quickly as it arrived.

  • Within seconds of its passing, children bounce back towards the center of the track to once again play.

  • The community emerges to carry on with their day as if nothing ever happened.

  • It is this spectacle that has recently seen more and more tourists flock to Train Street, hoping to capture that perfect Instagram pose while walking the lines or witness the madness of a speeding train rushing just inches from the buildings.

  • I have to say, that is why I visited.

  • I wanted to see this unique place for myself.

  • If you get past the idea of the two steel lines that stretch down its center, this is really just another street in Hanoi.

  • Only rather than dodging a constant barrage of motorcycles, you have the train a few times a day to contend with.

This is Hanoi Train Street, located in the Old Quarter.

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