Hoa Lo Prison, AKA Hanoi Hilton

Not all the sights we visit are of the uplifting sort: Auschwitz, the Dokumentation Center, etc. Hoa Lo Prison, aka as the "Hanoi Hilton," is another such place, with unpleasant and disturbing memories for two nations. Humanity at its worst, but also perhaps its best.

It began in the late 19th century as a French prison, said to
be the largest in Indochina

Having destroyed a culturally significant village and its
monuments (click to enlarge)

As it was

Much of Hoa Lo was razed after the war, to make way for
the Hanoi Tower and other new structures

What remains is now a museum; note the broken glass still surmounting the
walls

 

Essentially there are two sections of the museum: political prisoners during the
French colonial regime, exceptionally brutal and repressive, from all we have seen,
here and in Laos; and the American POW section

A life-sized sculpture/diorama of the political prisoner section, late 1940s perhaps

Solitary

The almond tree

In the women's section

Women and their children, of course

The guillotine, in use until the French withdrew in 1954

Now in the American POW section, first, a bit of "history"

World condemnation of the Vietnam War (or, the American War, as they call it)

American condemnation too

Peace monument

The US' first ambassador to Vietnam was Douglas Peterson, an alumnus of Hoa Lo

Effects of US POWs

Photos of the happy times US POWs had at Hoa Lo--all very much disputed
by accounts of privation, torture, abuse, and disregard of Geneva Conventions

John McCain; being rescued; being treated by Vietnamese
medical personnel

A place of great pain and dispute...still

Temple Of Literature

We knew it was not going to be "literature" in any Western sense. A better rendering might be Temple of Learning. From the 11th century on, it was a school of higher learning, created to educate prospective mandarins and then to select the best of them, on behalf of the king/emperor/whatever. Mandarins were the high officials who governed the realm, its provinces, etc., on behalf of the monarch. All very Chinese and indeed very Confucian, reminding us of some of the things we saw in China years ago. No mention of Homer or Dante or Shakespeare. But very old, as these things go.

Entrance

Good signage throughout, in Vietnamese, French, and
English (too)

Click to enlarge and be enlightened

And beautiful landscaping too

One passes through a series of buildings, gates, courtyards, reflecting the various
stages of learning

I particularly liked the bit about the humanities...

Near the end, a small forest of stelae, on which are inscribed
the names of those who passed the rigorous exams

Thus; click to enlarge

Apparently they had no notion of students' privacy

In the final big courtyard; the Court of Sages (I liked that)

Much Chinese bonsai around; penjing it's called, and these are very large specimens

Confucius (?)

Roof detail

Tree always wins over stone

In the final hall, an interesting set of traditional musical
instruments, perhaps between performances

Helpful model of the complex

Drum house

Hanoi Motorbikes

All the guidebooks warn you, but you have to experience the motorbike thing to understand, especially in the old city, with its density, narrow streets and alleys. Our hotel had a very useful information sheet for tourists (and in English too), the first item of which was "how to cross a street in Hanoi." Paraphrasing a bit, it said "appear confident and determined, look both ways, proceed when there is an opening, try to cross with a group, do not back up or return to the curb." There are occasional cross-walks and occasional cross-walk lights, which occasionally work. Many of the streets are one-way, but some motos do not appear to be bound by such rules. Also traffic lights. Many motos freely make right-hand turns on red, or left-hand turns on red, often without stopping or looking. The traffic light T-shirt pictured below captures much of this. All part of the experience, I guess. I count it our best experience in Hanoi not to have been injured. And we've consistently heard that HCMC is much worse. Something to look forward to.

On Hang Bong Street, our home

Unusual child-seating; usually the toddler is just squeezed in at the handlebar,
between the driver's legs

Massing for attack

The old city has sidewalks, but they are used primarily for
motorbike parking or restaurant seating or shop-keeping or
most anything but pedestrians; most of your walking is in
the street; shared use