Many peddlers quietly make their way around Hanoi's Old Quarter in hand-pulled wagons or baskets slung over their shoulders

As I wandered through the narrow alleys of Hanoi's Old Quarter, what caught my eye most were the street vendors—silent figures pushing carts or balancing baskets on their shoulders. Though the neighborhood is in the heart of a tourist zone, it still breathes with the rhythms of everyday life. These vendors don’t sell souvenirs or flashy trinkets; their carts are filled with ingredients that head straight to the kitchens of local homes.

The woman in this photo is one of them. Her cart is neatly packed with ginger, sweet potatoes, garlic—humble but essential ingredients. She doesn’t call out to tourists. Instead, she exchanges quiet words with familiar customers, her movements shaped by the pace of the neighborhood.

Behind her, shops selling medicinal herbs and traditional remedies line the walls. A few local women, likely regulars, sit nearby on low stools, chatting easily. The whole scene feels perfectly stitched together—a tapestry of daily life. For an outsider like me, it’s as if I had stumbled into a moment from a film, quietly unfolding in real time.

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