Hanoi unveils electric coach tours of old quarter

Hanoi tourism authorities have launched two new tours of the 1,000-year-old old quarter, home to 36 old streets named after guilds, by electric vehicles.

Coaches, begin rolling along Hanoi's old quarter Saturday, is a brainchild of the Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee and Dong Xuan Joint Stock Company.

They will use 20 battery-powered coaches, each of which can carry 12 passengers, on two routes around the old quarter.

One will take people around Hoan Kiem Lake, or the Lake of the Returned Sword, and the other to some of the guild streets, food courts, and historical relics.

They will leave at 20-minute intervals from 8:30am to 11pm every day.

A ride costs from VND10,000 (53 US cents) to VND30,000.

The old quarter, situated near the equally historic Hoan Kiem Lake, was created in the 11th century, when the 100-hectare area was home to 36 guilds, each of which gave its name to a street. Thus, there is a Hang Bac Street which was once home to silversmiths and a Hang Mam Street named for fish sauce.

There are 4,000 houses here, a fourth of which are more than 100 years old.