The authorities of Hoan Kiem District have submitted to the Hanoi People’s Committee a project to provide tours of Hanoi’s Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake by tramcar.
This project will be implemented by the Dong Xuan Joint Stock Company. The first 12 tramcars will be put into operation later this year.
These cars will have from 5-12 seats and be battery-operated. The estimated ticket prices are VND10,000 to 30,000 per ticket, depending on the tour. Visitors can also hire an entire tramcar at the cost of VND160,000 to 240,000.
Dong Xuan JSC will supply two tours by tramcar. The first tour will include some ancient commercial streets in the Old Quarter and the Dong Xuan Market. This tour will start from Dinh Tien Hoang Street and travel down Hang Dao, Hang Ngang, Hang Khoai streets and end at Dong Xuan Market, with five stops.
The second tour will bring visitors to other ancient streets like Ma May, Hang Bac, Hang Bo, Hang Hom, Hang Trong and relics like the Ngoc Son Temple, Kim Ngan communal house and the Temple of Le Kings, with ten stops.
There will be a tour guide on each tramcar who will introduce Hanoi’s history and culture to tourists.
Nguyen Cong Khoi, Chairman of the Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee, said that tramcar tours will help deal with traffic jams in the Old Quarter caused by groups of tourists on cyclos and pedestrians.
The Dong Xuan JSC’s director Do Xuan Thuy said that if everything goes according to schedule, the first 12 tramcars will be used in October. The company will put 20 more tramcars into use in 2010.