The Hanoi Hilton

The front entrance

Leg irons and sleeping area

No trip to Hanoi for an American would be complete without a visit to see the Hỏa Lò Prison or what was sarcastically referred to as the Hanoi Hilton.  The prison is now a museum.  

 

The name 'Maison Centrale' in French means Central House.  This is where the most dangerous prisoners were housed.

Like the Opera House, it was built over a hundred years ago.   It held political dissidents who opposed French colonization.

 

Electric wire and broken glass atop the wall

The conditions during the French rule were extremely brutal.  Prisoners were packed into small rooms and bound with chains and rebar leg irons.  The conditions reminded us of our visit to the Khmer Rouge S-21 prison in Phnom Penh described in a previous blog.  There was torture and even a Guillotine on site.  Much of this remains today in the museum.

This is the real deal.  Left by the French

In 1945, there was a famous escape right out of the movie Shawshank Redemption where 16 death row prisoners cut a hole in a sewer pipe and escaped. 

 

They later became independence leaders and later officials of the newly formed government. 

 

The sewer pipe used in the 1945 escape

During the Vietnam War, American pilots were held here for interrogation and internment.

 

The most famous prisoner here was Senator John McCain.  There are storyboards displayed showing that the pilots were treated very well and that their activities were like those at summer camp.   

Anti-American Propaganda

 

We know from debriefings from released prisoners that it is total propaganda.  There was torture and harsh conditions but not as bad as when the french ran the place.

See how much fun it was to be a POW

They even have a flight suit displayed that is claimed to be John McCain’s even though he said that his was shredded from his ejection and that it was cut off of him by the medics because of his injuries. 

 

They probably just bought a flight suit on ebay. 

The John McCain Storyboard

Much of the prison has been torn down replaced by apartments.  The only original part that remains is the museum.

 

More Propaganda

 

The apartments that replaced much of the prison

 

 

 

 

 

'My Village' at the Hanoi Opera House

The Hanoi Opera House

The Hanoi Opera House was built over a hundred years ago during the Vietnam’s French Colonial period.

French Architecture

It is on the east side of the giant “Square of August Revolution” six road roundabout.  (August, 14 1945 was when the revolution against the French was launched by Ho Chi Minh)

We went to see the show “My Village” sometimes referred to as the Bamboo Cirque de Soleil.

Inside

The play was a story about ancient Vietnamese Village Life.  The entire set was constructed from bamboo poles that were remade multiple times into different structures that the actors/dancers/acrobats would use.

It was a fun and interesting night into the culture of Vietnam.

The Cast

Vietnam

 

We thought we could do a grand tour of Vietnam on the way home to the US.  We wanted to take the train from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi and see all the places in between.

 

No Significant Landmarks

Big mistake.  Just that train ride is over a thousand miles and it would have taken weeks to do it justice.

Instead, we chose to focus on Hanoi for a week since Hanoi is less urban unlike the business metropolis of Ho Chi Minh.

We stayed in the Old Quarter which is really the tourist district.  Restaurants are plentiful and so are the scams.  

Even the cars just turn an push their way through

It would be very easy to get lost in Hanoi since everything looks the same and in the beginning we had no landmarks.  We’re not very good city dwellers.  But after a day, the layout became more user friendly.

A little park along Hoan Kiem Lake

The Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake

The traffic on the other hand is crazy.  There are no breaks in the traffic so you start walking across and hope that the herd of motorcycles will go around you which they usually do.  You never stop nor turn around in the street because the motorcyclists have already planned there route to avoid you and they don’t have time for last minute corrections.

Hoan Kiem Lake is a significant landmark when walking south.  It is surrounded by grassy park areas and street side bars and restaurants.  It is really quite beautiful for a city.

It's about a mile long and provides a refuge of sanity from the crazy traffic while walking around the town.