Hidden behind the noisy and bustling scene of the bustling business scene, of a row of shops sprouting up in Hanoi’s old town are small alleys, shabby houses have attached to people. decades ago.
Old town is the first place to visit for tourists from all over the world when coming to Hanoi. They are curious about the old beauty of Hanoi, a thousand years of civilization. However, hidden behind the noisy and bustling features of the shops growing up close by, are the dark, microscopic alleys. 
Those are small, deep alleys, just one person. Entering each small alley is like stepping into a tunnel, groping forever without seeing the sun. 
Especially, in Hang Buom street, deep and narrow alleyways appear alternately. The way a large frontage house to an alley. The narrowest section width is nearly 50-60 cm. 
Ngo Brick Street, Hoan Kiem District – this place is known to many people for its tiny alleys when their width is less than 50 cm. Through this dark “tunnel” are the houses lurking behind. 
These small alleys form hundreds of hundreds of years. Hanoians are also accustomed to this cramped lifestyle. Households enjoy the same living space and collective kitchen. Every house door is close together. Few people can imagine that in that seemingly small alley, there are people who accept to live with darkness and humidity. 
This is house No. 34, Phat Loc alley, according to people living here, the house of Hoan Kiem factory is considered to be the oldest and the worst in Hang Buom ward. 
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuan lives in a 12m2 house at 32, Phat Loc (Hang Buom Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi) for nearly 40 years. “I have lived here since the day I came back as a bride. This house my mother-in-law rented from the State, only 12m2, but for 4 generations … “ 
“Now the house has deteriorated a lot, the walls are loose, damp, when there are heavy rains, the house leaks, the windows are beaten by the wind”, Ms. Tuan said. 
Her husband spent more than 10 years, Mrs. Tuan alone took care of the whole family. She said: “There is no new rent, but living conditions like this are too much, I just hope to have a policy of relaxing people so that the whole family can move to a new place”. Because the house is so small, she makes use of the area next to no one to rent. 
In the same situation, living in house 34, Phat Loc, is still a lot of tenants. Ms. Zhao Tieu Hoa (77 years old) shared: “I have been staying in this house for 70 years. Now the children also live in this house “. 
Despite her old age, Ms. Hoa is daily groping for her way in the dark “cellar” going up and down to cook rice in the first floor collective kitchen. Over half of her life, with Mrs. Hoa, life is like that. “Enough, do not want to change anymore”. 
This is the house of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ty (85 years old) at 96 Hang Buom. The house is only 9m2, and below is the kitchen, the toilet, above is the attic for her to sleep. 
“I have lived here since 1957, the day before, a family of seven lived here. Later, my children got married to live separately, I lived here alone. Sometimes my children and grandchildren would come home to visit their mother, ”said Mrs. Ty. 
According to observation, in these lane areas there are many degraded houses, in addition to the interlocking electrical system, the tubular house has no escape route, the fire alarm system is not equipped with potentially many fire risks. explosive. 
According to statistics in the Hoan Kiem district, there are more than 1,000 alleys and alleys so small that only one person can pass. There are even alleys that people passing by have to stoop, wriggle, look very miserable, but it is normal of the people of the old town. 
Living so cramped, dark, but many people still accept and satisfied because it seems to have become a habit, a cultural feature of Hanoi Old Quarter.
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