Hoa Lo Prison

Aka Hanoi Hilton. One of the comments I've made several times while in Vietnam is how emotional I've felt seeing all these places that were very front and center to pretty much everyone in my generation some 50 years ago, and I wasn't even here then. None more so than this place. Only about 20% of the prison as it existed then remains, as much was demolished for redevelopment (a shopping mall and apartments; welcome to the 21st century). At least the rest is preserved as a memorial. Mostly it recalls the French incarceration of locals before 1954. However, the Vietnam War era gets a nod (see the 5th picture).
The 1st picture is the front gate. 2nd is the inner gate. 3rd is a cell block. 4th looks at an emaciated prisoner through the bars in the Judas window of a cell on death row. There is a guillotine preserved here, too. 5th is the room that remembers the prisoners held here until 1973. Last is an area dedicated to a peace memorial, remembering much of the antiwar sentiment of the 60s and 70s as a word to today about the need for peace.Read more