A Voyage to Vietnam: Hanoi Heritage House

After settling down in our Hanoi guesthouse, and gathering the courage to be brave against the plethora of motorbikes zooming outside, we started exploring Hanoi. And one of the first things we checked out in the Old Town was the Heritage House. This is one of the most well-restored properties in the city, and is sitting right in the middle of the backpacker district.



This is a traditional merchant's house, in a style typical to the times back then. The property is actually rectangular, with a lean facade but a long back. There are actually several segments: there's a front segment, with several floors, a middle courtyard, and a back segment, again with several floors. The rooms are divided by these high steps, so the house is definitely not wheelchair-friendly. The high steps are apparently intended to prevent bad energy flowing though the property.



This house has interesting interiors. The beds are hard and sparsely decorated, and the furniture and other artefacts are quite very interesting to look at. From what I understand, this is a typical living quarters for someone with a relatively well-off lifestyle back in those days.

The house is located in 87 P Ma May, and can be visited in about 30 minutes. They have a fancy gift shop at the front, but we didn't really find anything we thought interesting.