Organised chaos: Life in Hanoi

Photographer Mate Valtr travelled to the Vietnamese capital in February 2016 to explore and document the bustling city.

Dubbed the ‘Paris of the East’, the town is famous for it’s artisans and merchants. The Old Town has changed little, with each street specialising in a particular trade.

Valtr said: “Experiencing Hanoi means to accept a certain level of madness and chaos, with flocks of motorcyclists ruling the roads, food hawkers popping up out of nowhere, cooking right on the streets and ubiquitous elder tea drinkers.

“What makes life here different from the usual western town, is the fact that a big deal of life is happening directly on the streets.

“People eat there sitting on mini stools, no matter if they are workers, or a business woman in a perfectly cut suit. Everyone is equal when enjoying their daily bowl of Pho.”

Although daily life in Hanoi is incredibly varied, much of it takes place outside on the streets.

The Czech photographer said: “In a way it seems like time has stopped in Hanoi - you won’t find any subway as a mean of public transport.

“Even some old systems remained unchanged - for example streets of the Old Town were historically a place for specific guilds, and even nowadays one street sells exclusively silk and cloth products, the other bamboo, another only silver and so on.

“Hanoian people are cheekily indulging in many outdoors activities and so you can see avid book readers on the benches alongside the mythical lake in the centre of Old Town, old ladies practising power aerobics to modern trance music, and kids roller-skating in front of a communist monument.

“Even though crossing the road might sometimes seem like the act of a madman, the whole town is actually very comfortable for walking.”

To check out more of Mate's incredible photography take a look at his Instagram page: http://instagram.com/matevaltr/