Hoa Lo Prison +

AJ’s Story:
We arrived in Hanoi right on time at 11:55 am. They say the trains are always on time here, I now know why; they wait at each stop for seemingly forever. It’s easy to be on time when you are always slow. We both have a bit of cabin fever after being trapped in the small car for 16 hours. We rushed down the busy Tr?n H?ng Đso Street desperately in need of a warm shower.

Fresh and showered we met our tour guide Hang (Hana). A young college student with ample knowledge of the city and customs of the Hanoian people. She took us to the Hoa Lo prison first, colloquially known as the Hanoi Hilton. Originally a prison built by the French to house political prisoners during the French Colonial era. Later it would contain American Pilots who were captured on North Vietnamese soil. Propaganda lined the prison wall decrying the harsh treatment by the French against Vietnamese people and highlighting the tenacity of the prisoners in the people’s struggle against colonial oppression.

As we made our way to the next section of the prison the information highlighted the ethical treatment of US prisoners held in prison during the Vietnam War (I’ll let you do the wiki research on your own to see a less biased opinion). The majority of which were B52 bomber pilots who had been shot down over Vietnamese soil while dropping bombs on the northern Vietnamese cities. It made me think about learning US history in the Southern United States. We learned that states rights and the transcontinental railroad location led to the civil war, not just slavery.

Later we went to the temple of literature, a place devoted to rest and relaxation for students preparing for tests. In Vietnam the student is represented by a catfish and when the student (catfish) graduates they become the dragon. After the temple of literature we went to the Hoan Kiem Lake which is very beautiful. The roads surrounding the lake are blocked off for walking on the weekends. We ended the night with a conversation over a delicious egg coffee.

Jaimie’s Story:
I hate to admit I didn’t know much about the Vietnam war prior to our visit to Hanoi. I knew it was ugly war, a lot of people lost their lives and the outcome was not in our favor. I remember seeing images of the hippy movements, talks about the draft and draft dodgers but I really never dived too deep into that part of my history book. It’s almost like we ran out of time before we reach that section of U.S. history in school and I never took it upon myself to learn on my own.

When we arrived in Hanoi, AJ told me we would be going on a prison tour. I was excited as I like prison tours. We waited in line for two hours before dawn to see Alcatraz on our trip to San Fransisco, it was a great tour. I assumed this one would be similar. Before leaving I was messaging with my mom and I mentioned that we were going to see the prison after we checked into our hotel. She asked me, “Oh are you going to the Hanoi Hilton?”. Showing how little I know about the war, my response was - “No we aren’t staying at a Hilton. We are at the Lapis.” Uh, duh.

Come to find out, we were visiting the Hanoi Hilton and that term was very commonly known to both Americans and Vietnamese. In fact, the Vietnamese used it as propaganda to their people to underscore how wonderful American POW were treated, like they were at a Hilton. Our student tour guide, Hana, mentioned this when she was giving our tour. She also showed us photos of American soldiers playing badminton, having a Christmas feast and the plethora of supplies they were given, like bowls and tooth brushes, etc. Several rooms of the museum were devoted to showing how well these prisoners were kept and how nice their lives were there. “See,” she said, “that’s why they called it a Hilton.”

While I didn’t know much about the war, this struck me as off. I didn’t argue with our very kind guide, but it seems like the museum was trying a little too hard to get this message across. Later in our room I sat and did some research on Hoa Lo prison, the war and John McCain who was famously held here in Hanoi. Unsurprisingly, Hoa Lo was nothing like a Hilton and our pilots were undoubtably tortured, starved and beaten, many did not survive.

It’s interesting, propaganda, how it’s written for each audience. Hana very much believed that what it said in this museum was the truth. She trusted what she read in her history books and did not question the motives of its authors. It makes me wonder what truths might be rewritten in our history books, the stories we may never know.

Today taught me a little about the war and also gave me an even deeper respect for the late Senator John McCain. I always liked him. He was a republican but had a lot of middle of the road ideas and usually seemed willing to reach across the aisle. I knew he was a war hero and that he was captured, but learning about his story brought profound respect and admiration for him and everything he went through. When I get home I plan to read his book, “Faith of my Father’s”. I also want to learn a lot more about the history of Vietnam.

After our tour, Hana brought us to two other sites: the Temple of Literature and Hoam Kiem lake. These places were much more beautiful and significantly less depressing than the prison. The temple was absolutely beautiful and Hana was very knowledgeable. She explained to us the history of Confucianism in Vietnam and the various practices and beliefs that went along with it. I particularly liked learning about the sacred animals: the turtle, the dragon, the unicorn and the phoenix.

After our tour she took us to a popular coffee shop where we tried egg coffee for the first time. It’s basically egg yolks beaten with sweetened condensed milk and poured over coffee. It was actually delicious! Apparently this was the same coffee shop Donald Trump visited on a recent trip to Vietnam, but we didn’t hold that against them. Throughout the day we learned a lot about Hana’s life in Vietnam and she asked a lot of questions about us. It was a special opportunity to hear what life is like for Vietnamese people.

One funny thing Hana mentioned, in Vietnam, they believe if you play basketball it makes you taller. So, they encourage their children to play so they grow very tall. I told her my brother plays and he’s 6’4”. See, it works!