Urban alley

This alleyway is actually the main street of one of Hanoi's urban villages. Most of the village alleys are narrower than this. It's easy to see why the motorbike has taken off as the main means of motorized transport. A few of these alleys have been widened, but the process involves demolishing houses, or parts of them, so it is difficult to achieve over the short run. While the narrowness of the backstreets means that the relatively few arterial roads tend to be clogged with traffic, it also makes for a more peaceful atmosphere inside the village.