Www.onlinetravelvietnam.com: Just like Ho Chi Minh City’s backpacker streets of Pham Ngu Lao and Bui Vien, Ta Hien Street in downtown Hanoi is famous among foreign tourists as a place to trade travel stories and drink some of the world’s cheapest beer.

Thanks to backpacker bible, The Lonely Planet, Ta Hien is dubbed as ‘the first street that backpackers visit when they arrive in Hanoi and the last place they see before they leave’.

The 200-meter long strip of broken pavement and sullen houses in the heart of Pho co (Old Quarter) plays home to hundreds of travel agencies, budget hotels, cheap eats, hawkers and any business that is likely to ply a few dollars from the price-conscientious backpacker.

But the real meet and greet spot of the city is bia hoi (draught beer) corner, an intersection that serves up cool, pints of oddly tasting beer for as little as VND3,000 (16 U.S. cents) a glass.

At the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets, the four bia hoi shops are teaming with groups of backpackers who have settled into Hanoian streetlife. But when sunset falls, the “international crossroad” starts to come alive.

It all starts at about 8 p.m and goes until midnight. People gather, drink beer, chat and sing.

Bia Hoi Hai Loan is a tiny spot, a little over ten square meters, just enough space for a glass cupboard and several beer buckets. The owners are a middle-aged couple who stay busy from late afternoon until midnight serving bia hoi for customers perched on flimsy plastic chairs.

English is not readily used, instead punters and sellers communicate with their hands. Though the shop is always crowded, the owners, for some reason never hire staff, preferring instead to let customers seat themselves.

The husband pulls the beer and his wife collects the money. There isn’t much chit-chat. It’s all business.

Food isn’t served, unless one is partial to dry, fried, flattened squid and roasted peanuts.

Within view of Hai Loan beer shop are Ngoc Anh, Thanh Thuy and dozens of others all selling the flat formaldehyde-laced brew that the area is famous for.

The bia hoi shops all have the same features. Gutter seats, cramped space and a bevy of foreign punters on tap.

Each of the bia hois sells over 100 liters of beer by evening’s end. Taking a large sip of beer, James from Australia, told Vietnan News Agency he came to the street every night to watch Hanoi’s old quarter at work.

Beer shop owners said they do not sell food as they just don’t have enough space; thankfully, this has allowed other street vendors to make a living.

Dried fish, squid, fresh fruit and some of the best grilled sandwiches in the city are the most popular snacks to drink with beer for backpackers. Vendors offer grilled squid at between VND30,000 ($1.6) and VND50,000 ($2.8).

Hai and Loan, the couple who own Bia Hoi Hai Loan, said they started their business 20 years ago, but still could not explain why the street was so attractive to foreigners.

The answer probably is found in the Lonely Planet, a ritual or right of passage for most young ‘travellers’ reluctant to forge out on their own in what can be a daunting new world.

Source: Tuoi Tre