Vietnam has an interesting and varied history, some of which hinges on conflicts the country has suffered under. This Vietnam holiday aims to visit key historical sites to provide an insight into the clashes along with allowing plenty of time for general exploration of the country.
The places to visit in this Vietnam and Wars tour:
Hoa Lo Museum (called the “Hanoi Hilton” by American pilots during Vietnam War), well-known as one of the most inhumane prisons with terrified punishment, Hoa Lo Prison, aka Maison Centrale, is a symbol of strong will of prisoners and their sacrifice for their communist ideals.
Hoa Lo Prison (now it is called historic relic Hoa Lo Prison) is located at address 1 Hoa Lo Street, Hanoi. In the past, this land was a village specializing in making all kinds of casserole, portable earthen stove,…. so this place is called Hoa Lo village (Hoa Lo means “ fire earthen stove” in Vietnamese). When the French occupied Hanoi, this was moved to another place to get land to build courts and prisons. Because this prison was landed on Hoa Lo village, people called this place “Hoa Lo Prison”.
Hoa Lo prison was built by the French in 1896 and was named “Central Prison”. The location of the prison was located on the full land of Phu Khanh village. The total area of Central Prison and the neighboring roads leading to the prison is 12.908m2.
Hoa Lo Prison has an important role in French colonists in suppressing the antagonist of the colonial system. So they built this prison in a large area with strong and complex defense systems. The building process was not completed, but in 1899 the French had to use it immediately because they wanted to capture people fighting against them. Many years later, the prison regularly was renovated, repaired, increased the cell area, etc. In 1912, the prison repaired the warehouse into a children’s capture place. In 1917, they rebuilt toilets and filtering holes. In 1945, they raised the wall surrounding the prison up to 1.5m high. The original design of the French only contains 450 prisoners, but in fact, they had up to 2,000 people.
The most famous thing in Hoa Lo Prison is the guillotine. The guillotine was designed from 2 to 4 m high by wooden columns. The above is a large blade held by latches. The under are two semicircular pieces of boards combined into a perfect circle. Its purpose is to keep the heads of dead prisoners ahead.
Also in Hoa Lo Prison has a dangerous place called Cachot. This is considered the hell of hell. It has detained prisoners who have opposed behaviors, or dangerous offenders. It is extremely dark, cramped and airless. Cachot is a horrifying nightmare with prisoners. This is where the tortured, beaten scenes took place. Most of the prisoners at this place after a short time are so crazy, mangy, etc.
We continue our Vietnam and Wars tour to Vietnam Military History Museum- where you can find documents from the Vietnam War, Indochina Wars, and thousands of years of war with China. Most tourists have more or less heard of Vietnam’s historical and heroic struggle against mighty invaders from France and the USA. They, as a result, now flock to Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular so as to figure out how such a small country as Vietnam could win over in the past severe resistance war!
Hence, in order to retain and preserve the factual objects, artifacts, and vivid proofs of the great national heroic struggle, the Ministry of Defence, under the Vietnam Communist Party’s policy, had the building of the Army Museum (to be changed into Military History Museum in 2002) constructed at the end of 1954, and held its opening ceremony on 22nd December, 1959 on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army foundation.
And Huu Tiep Pond in Ngoc Ha Village, where a part of a B-52 bomber that was shot down in 1972 is preserved. Here we share with you the story about what happened during the bombing campaign called Operation Linebacker II. One of the massive B52 bombers was shot down and landed into the lake.
The most exciting part of the trip is passing by Hanoi’s crazily busy streets, which are always full of motorbikes, and then going through pleasant tree lined streets dotted with small parks and yellow colonial-era villas. Today, these one-time colonial villas house foreign embassies, a university, and various government buildings.
We will drop you off at your place of choice, as the tour ends!
