Getting up at 4.20 AM was no laughing matter, but needs must. By 4.50 we were on our way to witness Hanoi both waking up and finishing its night shift.
Hanoi 5.00 AM
Our first stop was Long Bien Bridge and then onto Long Bien Market. They are located next to each other and both unique in their own way.
The Lord Bien Bridge is more than a century old and built in the French colonial time by local Vietnamese workers. It survived the Vietnam War after being bombed several times.
Hanoi’s first steel bridge has a road either side of the rail track for motorcycles and bicycles to cross, but no other vehicles are permitted. Pedestrians can also walk over the bridge which spans the Red River.
Peering over the edge you can see down into the market as well as the main carriageway full of lorries, vans and scooters with market-workers negotiating through the traffic with their carts.
Darkness soon fell away as the sun began to rise and its already 30 degrees.
Back at ground level we made our way to the market. Many women have carts and a shopping list to buy the produce for a particular company or establishment.
Long Bien Market is a very local and authentic wholesale market and not designed for either tourists or the feint hearted. The market is almost 25 years old and is one of the main arteries of the city. The peak hours are from 2 AM to 4 AM, when shop owners, local vendors, smaller markets and restaurants come to bargain for fresh food for the day. We went into the market just before 6.00 AM and it was still going strong.
How is it possible to look this happy when you’ve been working all night??
The market collects food from all over the Red River Delta and northern provinces, such as rice, vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs and fish. Every night there are hundreds of trucks carrying these products from a lot of different provinces to the market.
The produce looked very high quality and there was a complete cross section of people working there - young and old, male and female.
Hidden away were a few card games as well as a few discarded ones. Gambling is illegal here in Vietnam.
As the market began to wind down, just time for a few more purchases.
7.30 AM Time to go for breakfast.