I’m back in Hanoi, this time staying long enough to reconnect with the city rather than just passing through. It’s a place of contrasts: motorbikes racing down leafy boulevards, crumbling colonial buildings beside luxury shops, and ancient temples tucked between street stalls. For over a thousand years, Hanoi has been Vietnam’s political and cultural center. Capital to emperors, colonizers, and revolutionaries.

I set out before sunrise, hoping to snap photos of Long Bien Bridge just before rush hour. Built by the French in the early 1900s and heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, Long Bien is a weathered iron span that has carried generations of commuters across the Red River. It links the Old Quarter to Hanoi’s outskirts. Unlike the sleek bridges farther downstream, built mainly for cars and motorbikes, Long Bien still carries trains, and even makes room for pedestrians.

On my final day, I spent the morning walking down Trang Tien Street, one of Hanoi’s oldest and most prominent roads. Long before the French arrived, it was home to royal compounds, lakeside markets, and early urban life, a center of power dating back to the Vietnamese dynasties. During the colonial era, the French redeveloped the street and its surroundings, transforming the area into what became known as the French Quarter, a showcase of European urban design. At its head stands the Hanoi Opera House, framed by wide boulevards and grand facades meant to project elegance, order, and influence.