Vietnam Urbex
Abandoned Floating Restaurants in Hanoi, Vietnam
The startling discovery of 200 tonnes of dead fish in the West Lake led to the closure of several floating restaurants and cruise ships in Hanoi, Vietnam. Workers collect dead fishes floating in the polluted West Lake in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham Abandoned since 2016, the derelict ships lie rotting away and becoming more dilapidated by the day.
Abandoned Hotel in Da Nang, Vietnam
While riding the 21km Hai Van Pass road, through the Truong Son Mountains in Da Nang, Vietnam, I came across two abandoned buildings. The first was the caretakers house of the Hai Van watch tower, a military structure built by the Nguyen dynasty on the top of Hai Van pass in 1862 to protect the imperial city of Hue and supervise activities in Da Nang harbour. The second building was a hotel back in the day, tucked away along the Hai Van Pass. As I mentioned before, in my post about the Franciscan Ruins in Da Lat, I don’t feel very comfortable going into abandoned buildings alone in Vietnam. It’s actually the only country where I’ve been cautious about exploring alone, mainly in case I run into someone and can’t communicate with them (English-speaking Vietnamese people don’t exist in Vietnam) and there are lots of stray dogs here. In fact, stray dogs are more of a worry to me than falling roofs or holes in the floor! But although English isn’t their strength, the Vietnamese are incredibly kind and helpful towards tourists. As an example, while I was standing at the wobbly iron gate obstructing access to the overgrown driveway
Abandoned Hanoi Rock City, Vietnam
Founded in 2010, Hanoi Rock City in the West Lake area was the city’s first and only independent live music stage. Since then, HRC has been a major player in putting Hanoi on the music map for touring artists as well as emerging as a frontrunner in providing a solid, stable and dynamic creative platform for homegrown, grassroots talents across an eclectic array of live and electronic genres. However, a few years after establishing the iconic venue, HRC moved its base of operations 100 metres down the road. The reason why is unknown but presumably to expand their customer capacity as their current location is much bigger in size. If anyone has more details on exactly when and why this site became abandoned, email abandonedworldphotography@gmail.com. Enjoy the photography slideshow below and don’t forget to follow Abandoned World Photography for regular urbex updates on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Abandoned Lideco Bắc 32 Mansions, Hanoi, Vietnam
Abandoned Lideco Bắc 32 Mansions, Hanoi, Vietnam Towering brick buildings, thin staircases, and stone floors covered in algae represent the failed mansion project that was once supposed to house the elite in Hanoi. The ghost town of Lideco Bắc 32 is to date, the largest abandoned site I’ve ever seen. Between 2008 and 2013, the bare bones of 650 French-style mansions were built (walls, floors, and staircases), but nothing else. Now, most of the 5-story houses have been left to rot and crumble, while they lie dormant on the Hanoi retail market, going for €400,000 per property (approx.). At present, only 100 of the houses are currently occupied and kids roam freely around the grounds playing football. Local men fish in the artificial lake, pet cows are tied up outside the abandoned houses and lots of hens cluck their way around the site. This 38-hectare “city within a city”, worth $35million USD, is a ghost town that could potentially be housing hundreds of homeless people in North Vietnam. I’ll be interested to see what it transforms into by 2025. Enjoy the photography slideshow below and don’t forget to follow Abandoned World Photography for regular urbex updates on Facebook, Instagram and
Abandoned Hotel, Hoi An, Vietnam
One will find a strange collection of buildings along the road between Da Nang and Hoi An, Central Vietnam. One of these is an abandoned hotel – a white-washed medium-sized building in the middle of a seriously overgrown field. I have no idea how I spotted it while doing 80km on my scooter. Perhaps my urbexadar pinged? Ooo that’s a new word! :P I signalled to my buddy to do a U-Turn and we went to check it out. Previous Next
Abandoned House in Da Nang, Vietnam
While riding the 21km Hai Van Pass road, through the Truong Son Mountains in Vietnam, I came across two abandoned buildings. The first was the caretakers house of the Hai Van watch tower, a military structure built by the Nguyen dynasty on the top of Hai Van pass in 1862 to protect the imperial city of Hue and supervise activities in Da Nang harbour. Previous Next
Abandoned Franciscan Mission Ruins, Dalat, Vietnam
The stunning Franciscaines Misionnaires de Marie ruins caught my eye when I was driving around Dalat on the back of a motorbike. An urban explorer always spots an abandoned building from far away! As I wasn’t sure about the safety of heading into abandoned buildings in Vietnam alone, I hired a bike and an English speaking guide who could translate for me if I ran into trouble. It was worth paying the 250,000 Vietnamese Dong because we were stopped as soon as we approached the entrance. But as soon as Hanh (my guide) explained I wanted to take photographs of the old Franciscan Mission buildings, I was granted permission and in we went. I could have kissed him! Originally a monastery, chapel and house for monks and nuns, the architecturally stunning buildings were used by the Franciscans until the end of the Vietnam war in 1975 after which they housed the Lam Vien Hotel, Thang Long School and Tran Phu High School. Most doors in the buildings, including the crumbling chapel, are heavily locked and there’s a scary white dog chained up outside one of the rooms. I didn’t dare walk past him! I believe the buildings were also used
